In-Depth

Should you hire an outsourcing advisor?

• By Colleen Frye
• May 31, 2003

For organizations that are nervous about making the right outsourcing choice, there are outsourcing advisory firms.

NeoIT, for example, advises global 2000 and fast-growth companies on sourcing and managing offshore IT and BPO services, said Atul Vashistha, CEO at the San Ramon, Calif.-based firm. “A typical customer experience is that they’ve heard about offshore but don’t know enough, so we help the customer understand the risk and opportunity. We use market research reports, white papers, visits, workshops, and a high-level assessment of what applications and business processes you have that could be outsourced.”

Next, he said, is an offshore blueprint -- what to offshore and where, when to start, as well as what the client can do now and what they can scale to later.

Then NeoIT helps the customer put together an RFP and complete the due diligence. NeoIT also helps to negotiate price and service levels. “Once the contract is done, it goes into the managed phase,” said Vashistha. “We help customers to monitor the financial aspect, plus contract management, performance management and relationship management.”

NeoIT has a database of 5,000 outsourcing providers in more than 50 countries. “Our goal is to know the best suppliers in all domains. We spend time and attention in India, the Philippines, China and Russia; our next tier is Eastern Europe,” he said.

While Vashistha acknowledges that a managed service does add another layer to the mix, he said it “brings power to the buyer’s side. It speeds the process, increases savings, lowers risk and puts the buyer in control.”

Please read the related story “Outsourcing: An IT fact of life” by Colleen Frye.