The industry research, commissioned by Orbys Consulting and
conducted by Benchmark Research, reported that 29% of organisations
found that the contract exceeded expectations and 61% believed it
was in line with expectations.
According to David Keighley, CEO of Orbys, these figures
demonstrate that the outsourcing market is coming of age. He
said:
"One of the clear signs of a growing maturity in the outsourcing
market is that organisations are now prepared to renegotiate
contracts. Eighty-four percent of organisations had made changes
after the contract had been signed. They are obviously far more
confident about managing the supplier relationship and therefore
able to ask for changes in light of problems arising or a shift in
business focus."
Businesses are very satisfied with performance measurements
including cost savings, pricing structure, quality of service, ease
of doing business with their outsourcing supplier and the
suitability of the contract to the business, according to Orbys,
which spoke to 100 large organisations.
However, the study also found that organisations are too focused
on initial contract procurement – to the detriment of longer term
business benefits that include the general satisfaction levels of
the service users and the management of their expectations.
Keighley said, "This post contract disconnect is a concern –
particularly since organisations are obviously successfully
managing the contract process to achieve significant financial and
resource benefits."
He continued, "A contract needs constant reinvigoration. While
84% of organisations have made amendments to the original contract
how many were focused on both internal and external needs? Did they
address price performance, end user satisfaction and relationship
management? If not, it is easy to end up with great price
performance but unhappy end users and a poor governance model."
