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How do I Outsource IT and Communications?

  1. Produce a Request for Proposal
    1. Define your requirements and the scope of service that you require.
    2. List how many people and their total salary and benefit costs, along with length of employment for any people that would be included in the outsourcing agreement.
    3. Provide a background to your business, describing your company's culture, numbers of people and service locations. List the IT and Telephone systems, along with a network diagram will be required by the potential suppliers.
    4. Ask for at least three references from current clients of comparable size and industry. You will wish to speak to these references.
    5. Ask for a Service Transition plan, so you can assess the impact on your business during the start up of new service. Also review their plan to assess how complete it is.
    6. Ask for their standard contract terms and conditions. Ask for their Service Level Agreement. These can often be negotiated, but are helpful for you to assess their starting point and also how complete they are.
    7. State a deadline for completed tenders and detail any specific format or detail for the response. Two or three weeks are ample. It will be useful to invite the suppliers to meet face to face so they can ask you questions they may have.

  2. Create a scorecard.
    1. This will allow you to assess each supplier for those factors that are important. Price will be an important factor in your selection, but you also need to assess their capability.
    2. Assess their pre-sales performance, if they don’t deal with your new business enquiry efficiently or miss deadlines this could reflect on their service performance.

  3. Select at least three potential suppliers and a maximum of five.
    1. Ideally obtain these through recommendation; ensure they have experience of your industry and that they cover the service locations you have.
    2. Speak to each company, giving them a brief outline of the scope of your opportunity. Only invite those that create a good impression and can meet your needs.
    3. Send a letter to each giving a brief outline of your requirements and ask them to confirm if they are interested and who will be dealing with your opportunity.

  4. Assess each proposal and rate the scorecard
    1. Ask suppliers to clarify any points in writing that you may have.
    2. Shortlist three suppliers and invite them to present their proposal. Set the agenda and highlight specific areas you want them to cover. Two hours per presentation is ample.
    3. Prepare your questions in advance.
    4. Speak to the references that each supplier have provided. Don’t rely on purely email communication of your questions. You get so much more through a face to face visit or at least telephone dialogue.
    5. Remember to keep scoring their pre-sales performance.

  5. Short list to two suppliers
    1. Appoint one as preferred supplier status – start detailed negotiations with a tight deadline (two weeks maximum).
    2. Inform the other that you have shortlisted to two companies and you will be in contact in a couple of weeks to inform them of the next stage. This is a delaying tactic, keeping them warm in case you cannot agree terms with your preferred supplier.

  6. Sign contracts
    1. Involve your legal advisors, but don’t allow them to spoil the spirit of the service project.
    2. Key points for consideration
      1. Contract length – if the scope involves people transferring then your supplier will seek a minimum of three years.
      2. Contract termination – don’t allow the contract to automatically roll forward.
      3. Performance measurement – agree how you and the service provider will measure performance. This must be clear for you and the supplier. It must be measureable.
      4. Charges – understand clearly what is included in the price and what is excluded.
      5. Penalties – what penalties, how they are calculated, their value and how will they been passed back to you if the service provider does not meet its commitments. Consider bonus payments for exceptional service performance.

  7. Communicate to the business
    1. If people are transferring to a new supplier, you must involve your HR advisors at stage one.
    2. You should inform those people involved in TUPE at an appropriate time. Your HR advisors will be best placed to advise on this. Note there is a statutory period of consultation needed before they can transfer. If you can be open at an early stage and include people involved in the selection process then this is the best situation.
    3. Inform the whole business and set expectations as to what is going to change and in what time frame. Approach this from their point of view.
    4. Introduce the new ICT partner to your business. The supplier will have a service transition manager and team, start building the relationship with them and the business.  

  8. Start monitoring and measuring the service.
    1. It is reasonable to give the new service partner time to get up to speed with the service commitments, but it doesn’t mean you can start measuring from day one.
    2. Completing a colleague subjective measurement survey before going live and then after three months will give you some valuable feedback.
    3. Meet with the ICT outsourcing supplier weekly during startup, then monthly after the service is bedded in.

If you have a large IT department, then you are advised to engage with a specialist outsourcing procurement consultancy. The National Outsourcing Association has a list of specialist consultancies that can help www.noa.co.uk 

If you are looking to Outsource all or part of your IT Support in London or throughout the United Kingdom and would like to meet with one of our consultants for a no-obligation discussion please call us on 08000 321000, email us at [email protected] or request a call-back.

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