Forrester's Best Practices Framework For Outsourcing Deal Assessment

With at least US$120 billion per year spent on outsourcing — and much more than that at risk when deals go south — ensuring that outsourcing works is the No. 1 responsibility of sourcing and vendor management professionals. But many clients are clearly unhappy with their outsourcing relationships. Forrester's data shows that procurement and IT decision-makers are generally satisfied with outsourcing delivery performance, but governance deficiencies are primary drivers of deal trouble. This frustration is exacerbated by a lack of support to help diagnose the problems and improve the interaction. Based on work done with multiple outsourcing clients and providers, Forrester's "Outsourcing Deal X-Ray" consists of empirically based data to help diagnose — and then improve — services deals. It employs a transparent and rigorous methodology to evaluate and deliver detailed analyses of the deal interaction and relationship. To help understand how an organization stacks up against ideal practices, outsourcing clients can use the Outsourcing Deal X-Ray self-assessment framework to improve existing deals or help plan for the future.