THE SELECTION PROCESS (Finding your Outsource Partner) As with any major purchase decision, the selection of an outsource partner requires careful consideration. The following steps are critical to making an informed choice of outsource vendor. Know what you are seeking and why. You should not undertake the vendor selection until you have clearly identified the business processes that you are seeking to outsource (the what) and the benefits or advantages you are seeking to achieve through the outsourcing relationship (the why) Involve all stakeholders in an evaluation team. A search team should include representatives of those parts of the organization with a stake in the success of the process under consideration. Clearly define and communicate requirements in an RFP. A request for proposal (RFP) that you issue to potential outsource vendors should clearly define all requirements related to the business process to be outsourced. Define a vendor short list. Evaluate vendor responses to your RFP against defined criteria to eliminate those vendors with the lesser likelihood of providing your optimal solution. Evaluate short-list vendors. Thoroughly evaluate the vendors on your short list (see our section on: Evaluating Outsource Partners) Select a service provider. Based on your evaluation, identify the vendor that provides the most promising solution to your requirements. Negotiate a service level agreement. Now you are ready to negotiate the contract to govern your relationship with the selected outsourcer. Before you begin, engage experienced help. Chronologically, this comes much earlier in the process than its placement here would indicate. It is only after considering all the tasks to be performed, though, that its importance becomes apparent. Navigating the road to successfully outsourcing complex business processes requires the help of experienced guides.

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