IT outsourcing, for many organisations, is a pendulum that has swung from buying in everything from one major player to a frenzied multisourced environment where the client organisation outsources chunks of IT to what it considers to be best in breed vendors for that speciality. Keep reading to learn the secret!

1. "CLIENTSIDE" - THE SECRET TO SUCCESS AS IT OUTSOURCING MOVES FROM "MANIC
MULTISOURCING" TO STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT.
CREATED BY: JAMIE BUTTLE
IT outsourcing, for many organisations, is a pendulum
that has swung from buying in everything from one
major player to a frenzied multisourced environment
where the client organisation outsources chunks of IT to
what it considers to be best in breed vendors for that
speciality.
In most cases, neither have really worked to their fullest
potential and the pendulum has started to move again -
now organisations are finding that a balance somewhere
between the two concepts is delivering some amazing
results.
- Adversarial has been replaced by collaborative.
- Governance is shifting from an exclusively punitive,
carrot and stick approach to a paradigm of capability management and WIN/WIN shared successful
outcomes.
- Agile and exciting innovation is trumping uncompromisingly rigid contracts.
- Synergism is knocking down silos and companies are seizing opportunities that previous IT
procurement models missed.
Business outcomes are the lifeblood of this "new", "state-of-the-art" multisourcing solution and
more and more organisations are catching on. And that's great - and there can be consequences.
Firstly, why is it great?
It's great because as an evangelist for multisourcing I've been singing from this song sheet for many
years. Yes, it's not as new as you'd think. By multisourcing - and I mean true multisourcing based on
partnership and thorough understanding of client business case - with the right partner you can;
-Save money – YET improve and constantly enhance IT support and services.
-Access and utilise essential IT resources in the most efficient ways.
-Align and integrate best of breed providers – to benefit your business, not the providers.
-Optimise in-house staffing levels and resources.
-Reduce management overheads, ease supplier management, streamline processes.
-Reduce operational risk through contract freedom and flexibility.
-Improve compliance and security.
-Better protect your organisation through best practice frameworks and enhanced IT service
delivery.
However, choosing the wrong multisourcing partner can leave you no better off than if you were
trying to do it all yourself – or even worse off! Tread cautiously.

2. Multisourcing IT can be like herding puppies. The more contributors there are to your IT estate the
more you - or your partner - have to manage. Difficult enough to control on your own but get the
wrong partner and your IT infrastructure can quickly slip its leash.
Some multisource "partners" are actually just passive brokers - like when you buy your car insurance
from the comparison site - after the deal is done your interaction with the comparison site is
minimal - you deal with the insurance company the broker introduced you to. A true IT multisourcing
partner should be on your side throughout the lifecycle of the outsourced element of service,
enforcing KPIs and SLAs to ensure maximum yield.
Just as the internally managed multisourcing model often failed to align best of breed providers, by
choosing the wrong partner you could also still miss out on the valuable benefits that integrating
vendors and services can bring.
To be clear, as multisourcing has evolved, access to agile & innovative new providers has increased
and the benefit available to your business by aligning capabilities has grown exponentially. Many of
the more passive brokers are still gifting more benefit to the service providers and not their clients -
they're missing synergies between services that can make massive cost savings.
I just excitedly read "Why the IT outsourcing model is moving away from manic multisourcing" a blog
by Stephanie Overby on CIO.com.
And I loved it!
But it also made me shiver.
Like any booming sector, in IT multisourcing there are purveyors of best practice and there are
sharks, there are partners in it for the long haul and there are those in it to make a quick buck. It IS
the best IT sourcing model and new potential partners, brokers and facilitators are springing up all
the time - it's a case of buyer beware.
As the pendulum swings towards a more strategic, business case led multisourcing approach you
have to make sure that what you've got is a partner, not a broker. Ask about KPIs and SLAs and
lifespan support and above all else get assurance that they will operate from your perspective.
Multisourcing using a single partner - do it - but ensure your partner will sit "clientside"!
Learn more about how Multisourcing from Stoneseed can help you to ensure high-quality, dynamic
and cost effective IT services
www.stoneseed.co.uk/services/multisourcing
Sources
Why the IT outsourcing model is moving away from manic multisourcing -CIO.com
http://www.cio.com/article/2948885/outsourcing/why-the-it-outsourcing-model-is-moving-away-from-manic-
multisourcing.html