NOA Diploma in Global Strategic Outsourcing

I've just heard that my submission for this was approved by Middlesex University and I have been awarded this new Diploma - one of the first two people in the country to achieve this.

It's a new course (see old blogs) and it seemed right to invest the time (and money!) last year.

Module 1 was a reflection on my career to date, in the context of the NOA Outsourcing Lifecycle.

Subsequent modules were on research questions of my own choosing (subject to faculty approval)

Module 2 - “What is Value for Money in Outsourcing?”

Module 3 - “Driving Value for Money in Outsourcing – a 5 Element Model”

It's a question now of developing the thinking in Modules 2 and 3. I am now considering outsourcing as a system comprising: requirements specification; supplier capability; price clarity; supplier profitability; service impact. Defining 'requirements' widely to include the customers objectives and service needs, are these the necessary and sufficient conditions for a successful outsourcing relationship?

Blog back!

Hooray - I've got my blog back after being caught between a google migration and the limits of my own technical abilities. It's not like mainframe systems programming circa 1985!

I attended the NOA Summit in London on 18th and 19th November, where I presented a short paper on "Value for Money in Outsourcing" on the first afternoon.

Other ;-) notable items from the conference included:

• A shocking throwaway comment from the Network Rail speaker that they "insourced maintenance after some of our suppliers got lazy and killed some people" - words fail me
  
• A Cognizant survey had found that only 43% of organizations have tried to quantify the contribution of Outsourcing to the bottom line, with only 19% being "very confident" in the result. No standard measurement approach seems to be in use
  
• Compass find that the Happy Client / Happy Vendor combination is rarer than it should be
  
• Of ~200 delegates, none were from a manufacturer!
  
• There seems to be a tendency to label any international trade in services as offshoring - maybe just "trade" is a better term!
  
• Not everything is suited to offshoring: for instance - the initial claims processing call for a domestic insurance claim requires a UK resident level understanding of the vernacular and culture of a standard British house ("skirting boards" anyone?) and "my dishwasher isn't working" greeted with "why, is he sick?"
  
• No-one really seems to know what innovation means when required of suppliers!
  
• It was claimed that India is now a net inward investor in the UK due to transactions such as Corus, Land Rover Jaguar, Pearl Assurance etc (though I checked the 2008 balance of trade (admittedly a different measure) which was marginally in India's favour).

And finally a salutary lesson. There were two presentations from new CIOs in organisations who had come in and repaired a poor relationship with their incumbent suppliers. I realise I had consulted to both organisations back in 2000 to attempt to repair their poor relationships with their suppliers! Moral of the story - don't attempt to fix the relationship, get a CIO into the client who knows what they are doing!

Outsourcing - a little Jekyll and Hyde?

"The supplier will be proactive, innovative and flexible and will make continuous improvements to the services . . ."

"Price reduction mechanisms, best market pricing and benchmarking will be
required . . . "

"We are not bound to accept the lowest cost bid or indeed any bid . . . the contract will be awarded to the most economically advantageous bid."

These and similar phrases are often to be found in Outsourcing RFPs (IS especially), and frequently all present in the same document. At best there is contradiction here, and at worst this 'something for nothing' dance can hobble the deal from the start.

What do YOU think? Do you agree or disagree? For instance:

• Would you accept it as a fair pastiche of RFPs you have seen?
• What does the first one even mean in concrete terms?
• Are there conflicts between these requirements?

I'm kicking off the final module of my Diploma with this action research question. I don't know what I'll find, so don't hold back in your views, whether you are for or against whatever you suspect my position is!

So please leave your comments, and with luck the comments will spark thoughts in others.

Thanks, Graham

The Diploma

When the NOA launched their series of qualifications late in 2008 I decided I wanted to be among the first to try for the Diploma.

Backed by Middlesex University it follows a pattern they have established for work-based learning at Masters level.

Module 1 - a reflection on your career to date, in the context (in this case) of the NOA Outsourcing Lifecycle.

Modules 2 and 3 - two self-designed research questions, approved by the course leaders, which you then address in a structured way, using appropriate research techniques, and culminating in a ~4000 word paper for assessment.

My Module 2 question was "What is Value for Money in Outsourcing?" and my Module 3 question will follow on from my findings in Module 2.

Background

So why am I doing this?

Well, I am enrolled on the National Outsourcing Association's Diploma in Global Strategic Outsourcing (see link below for more info). I have completed two of the three modules and am about to embark on the third.

It's interesting to dabble in academia again after leaving Uni in 1983, and one of the most interesting aspects is approaching Outsourcing through the eyes of educationalists and 'social research' types. Obviously I am blessed with the cynicism of a practising consultant, but the effort to be more academically rigorous is challenging and thought provoking.

And today of course there are all these new ways of doing things now - so about 5 years too late here is my blog. I reckon I'll be on Twitter around 2020.

http://www.noa.co.uk/index.php/site/qualifications_diploma/

Inaugural entry

I have been encouraged by my tutor, Dr. Richard Hale, on the NOA Pathway for the Diploma in Global Strategic Outsourcing that a blog can be a useful data gathering tool, so I'll give it a go.

First things first, set up a blog on my website. He uses Wordpress but I have decided to start quick and dirty with Google's Blogger.