There's a lot of dialog about outsourcing and selecting outsourced partners but little if any dialog takes place around the need to retain an Outsourcing Advisor who can help with the entire Outsourcing setup and management. When companies decide to outsource, selecting an outsourcing advisory firm (like ours - :)) is critical to the success of the process.

So what does an outsourcing advisor do?

Well, outsourcing relationships are complex and especially when the team tasked with finding the right partner has never done this type of due diligence before. Vendors are of course going to want contracts put in place that are favorable to them. Companies sometimes don't even know the questions to ask when dealing with an outsourced vendor. That's when an independent third-party can help.

However choosing the right sourcing advisor may be difficult. Do you go for the big-dogs or do you go for a smaller company? Advantages and disadvantages of choosing the right sourcing advisor range from not being cost-effective, lacking experience, lacking depth of knowledge, or being such a big dog that your firm doesn't receive the adequate hand-holding necessary.

Here are some guidelines to follow when evaluating Sourcing Advisors:

• Big versus small: Big names may sound attractive but sometimes smaller firms, albeit one's with experience, can be a better choice. A big name advisor may charge you a lot of money and may not always fit your needs. A smaller boutique firm on the other hand may be more affordable and may work with you closer to help you achieve your goals. Smaller firms may not have the depth of knowledge though so do your due-diligenceand look at small and large firms to select the best fit for your company.
  
  
• Define your goals: You need to define your goals before you bring in a sourcing advisor so that your goals are the reason for the project and not the other way around. You may need to save money or you may want to focus on core internal skills, outsourcing simply to leverage external expertise or it may be a combination of those two and other goals. Whatever they may be, get them defined up front so that your goals are known to the advisor before you select one.
  
  
• Get the right individual assigned to your project: So it's not just important to hire the right firm. You need to also make sure that the person/persons assigned to you fit your needs and the "synergy" so to speak is there between them and your team. It's important to have chemistry between the advisor and the internal project team because without that, the team may end up at odds with the internal advisor making things rough when the external teams come into the picture.Most importantly, make sure that the company doesn't assign a rookie who has never led a project similar to yours. 

Continue reading the guidelines in our next week's blog.....choosing an Outsourcing Advisor Part II