Outsourcing and SLA Definition
SLAs are the lynchpin of the relationship between clients and outsourcers. This is where attempts are made to specify complex quality requirements, and to make them commercially and organizationally measurable.
This gives anybody familiar with the cost and use aspects of a system the best basis for successful outsourcing negotiations.
This is useful for both parties. The outsourcing provider has a clear basis for making calculations, and can submit an accurate and firm quote, to which he can commit himself over the long term.
For the outsourcing client, comparing different outsourcing quotes is no longer a matter of gazing into a crystal ball. Using a VMS business management model as a basis, he can compare the individual components of the quote and make the right decision – all based on the VMS Report.
The relationships between the IT department and an outsourcer are long-term, but companies develop dynamically. Both their cost and organizational structures have to be continually reviewed – as does quality, too, of course.
Do the service level and the price match ? Has the working relationship been organized as well as it could have been ? Is there any work being duplicated, or are there gaps ? Has the relationship also been organized as well as possible, to deal with any potential problems ? How far have we actually moved away from the situation for which the outsourcing agreement was entered into in the first place ?
These are all questions which have to be answered a lot more often than every five years, the typical renewal cycle of an outsourcing agreement.
Today, calling in a neutral expert to verify an outsourcing agreement once every year or two years is part of the standard operating procedures of a good outsourcing agreement.