Many companies go into offshoring with unrealistic expectations. When selecting an outsourcing partner the process begins with you.

A Passage to Self Selection

For many, the Outsourcing vendor selection process should be remarkably short: You, the buyer, don't have what it takes. So don't do it.

The prototypical outsourcing relationship works best for companies featuring the following

	A culture of accountability,
	Discipline to produce deliberate, detailed specifications (preparation),
	The desire to intelligently and affordably expand existing capacity and capabilities (motivation), and
	Acumen for cross-cultural issues.

Accountability-based organizations do not struggle with deadlines. Be brutally honest: Do you have the teeth, processes, and contractual backing to enforce performance? Especially if you're adopting the resource/retainer model, how will you tie monthly value to monthly payment?

Regarding motivation, crises like tight deadlines or budget cuts don't work. Similarly, using outsourced services to make up for the lack of good internal project management, effective enterprise-wide application planning, and an effective testing and acceptance procedure also doesn’t work. If you're not getting things right internally, you're not going to get them right with a multinational virtual team.

Arguably the least valuable -- yet prototypical -- outsourcing relationship requires clients to supply vendors with complete, exceptionally precise specifications. This is one of the most critical factors when working with most offshore teams and lies at the heart of the mismatch in expectations, often owing to cultural differences in management style.

The best way to find outsourcing vendors is through referrals from colleagues. The real question is how to sort through the maze of companies as vendor variety, maturity, and value grow beyond the prototypical offering.

No matter the size of the vendor, if there is no verified strategy to deliver and secure the right resources for the right time at the right risk, frustration will result. A valid place to start is by evaluating vendors of every size on organizational maturity. Important issues include ensuring resource selectivity through recruitment screening processes, understanding the training and mentorship programs that establish and control quality, and most important, retention rates and strategies. Retention "is far more important than an impressive corporate resume. What matter is how the company is going to ensure the team stays?

Real experience is important, too, but hard to get at. First, it's unrealistic to think that any vendor has a full bench of seasoned consultants waiting. That means the staff assigned to your project may not have had anything to do with building the success of your vendor. Validate that key project roles are staffed by veterans.

Ask about particular capabilities and any consultant may push the envelope of accuracy. Avoid the temptation to begin by asking about the specific things you need done -- this comes last. Instead, probe what the vendor has done in depth until you hear what you need, treating the process more like a job interview. This discussion reveals true core competencies of the vendor without building a façade of capabilities. Look not only at the experience of the firm but at the track record of the key resources assigned to your project where possible.

Another strategy particularly useful with specialty and mid-tier shops is to use a written skills/experience inventory. By having vendors go on record as to their past experience and current actual capacity in the skills you need, you establish a more objective benchmark for cross-comparison.

There's nothing wrong with rejecting the prototypical relationship and striving for a vendor that lifts more weight. If that's your goal, start a discussion of development methodology.

Finally, I strongly advocate running a short, low-budget test project. This will confirm compatibility or immediately uncover issues. Finding a new vendor after one month is indeed very painful, but much less so than re-starting a major initiative.

First and foremost, the goal in all this is to uncover your own versus the vendor's assumptions regarding the working relationship, add in knowledge about the depth and breadth of the talent bench, and how the vendor is managed. Armed with this, you're in a much better position to make a calculated bet.

Pulling It All Together

Of course, many people outsource contrary to these prescriptions and meet with success. That's why we haven't called any of these suggestions here "rules." These are guidelines and your mileage will vary largely based on the vendor you find, the homework you do, and the investment you both make in understanding each other, your expectations, and in building a relationship of accountability and trust. That's the real point.