Armada Data Solutions

Blog Series: Outsourcing Services – The Right (Armada) Way

I recently stumbled upon an interesting article I shared with our management team, but thought, why stop there. Alike every social media enthusiast out there my first instinct is to blog about it, so here we are. The article “Top 10 Problems With Outsourcing Implementation (And How To Overcome Them)” written by Shawn McCray from TPI published by SSON, outlines the commonly overlooked critical success factors that plague outsourced service provider relationships and processes.

Over the next few weeks, a selected few members of the ADS team will weigh in to tackle some of the problems addressed in this article. I’m up to bat first, so here it goes..

Problem #1 – Post-Contract Processes and Decision Rights Not Understood

PMO 101 – Communication. Too often channel sales teams issue POs and wipe their hands clean of delivery and lack follow through to ensure THEIR customer realizes the value of their investment.  It is critical to project success to not only remain engaged post-sale, but even more critical is the communication during pre-sales to identify a simple process from sales handoff through engineering implementation.  This process should include defined roles and responsibilities, scheduling expectations, change control steps, etc.

One of our overused statements here at the office is – Keep it Simple Stupid – KISS it. An engagement process doesn’t have to be difficult, but it needs to be identified, agreed upon, and followed. If there is one lesson I’ve learned while being surrounded by extremely bright engineers – keeping things simple is not just an approach, it’s a lifestyle.

Problem #2 – Little or No Support from Client Leaders Receiving Service

I’m sure all channel sales reps can relate to the fact that some clients’ stakeholders lack the internal buy-in from those who are actually receiving the outsourced services purchased. This can be cumbersome not only in the pre-sales process (when they are brought in at the eleventh hour), but later during project kickoff, implementation, and post-implementation. Some emotional stakeholders have the misguided “territorial complex” simply because they were not involved in the decision making process; hence, project delayed by roadblocks and even worse, communication gaps and barriers.

Back to the KISS it model – communication is crucial. Roles and responsibilities of all parties must be agreed upon and expectations must be clearly defined in order for the project to be completed on time and on budget.  It’s all about going back to the basics – PMO 101.

Armada practices what we preach – do right by the customer and all channel parties will succeed. In order for that success to be achieved with efficiency and all parties to be profitable on service engagements, the KISS it approach is our sales and operations teams claim to fame.

Stay tuned for other Armada folks “Unusual Insight” on more common outsourcing implementation problems….

 - Kristin Tofanelli, Channel Marketing & Sales