Choosing the Right Outsourced Services Provider

By Mark Brousseau

What distinguishes a quality outsourced services provider from the also-rans? According to Nancy Gessmann, senior vice president, Enterprise Solutions, for CDS Global (ngessmann@cds-global.com), a key factor is that they are constantly looking for ways to improve or enhance their clients’ business processes.

“Quality outsource providers understand and embrace the business needs of their customers. They are always on the lookout for value-added services and process improvements to help their clients,” Gessmann tells me. “These providers partner with their clients to become an extension of their business. They also reinvest in themselves and their clients’ processes, in turn, helping to grow the business.”

Gessmann adds that a good outsourcing partner should have at least a high-level understanding of a client’s business and their work processes. “There are some processes that don’t necessarily require an in-depth level of understanding, such as repeatable processes,” she says. “But with the right outsource provider, the outsourced services should be invisible to your customer or your customer’s customer.”

And there will be some business processes that an outsource provider may be better suited to fulfilling than your in-house operations, she said, noting an outsource provider might have advanced technology.

Other attributes Gessmann says companies should look for in an outsourcing partner include:

... Financial stability
... Staff experience and expertise
... Best of breed operational and technology systems

What do you think?