Unique Approach
Encouragingly, the number of large scale, monolithic, single company outsourced contracts appear to be decreasing. There is a definite movement away from contracts involving one company taking over several lines of business or organisational functions. Certainly the incidents of success for this kind of relationship are few, especially for regulated industries.
Echo's approach, and a major reason for our success in protecting front line services during major business transformation, has been to engage in real partnerships with our customers. Partnerships which recognise a shared burden for failure, and equally, release shared benefits for improvements and efficiencies.
Our approach is to avoid tactical supplier contracts. The development of strategic relationships delivers far greater mutual benefit; working with other suppliers and service providers where necessary, to deliver guaranteed transformation and improvement.
Gain Sharing
In order to achieve a mutually beneficial customer partnership, which incorporates crucial 'contracting with consequence' elements such as gain sharing, it is imperative that the ability to manage continual change is a core competency. Day to day business activities must not be impacted. A real commitment to change requires well-defined change management processes and communication protocols, so that changes can be implemented quickly and effectively, with business as usual guaranteed.
Ultimately however, the success of a service provider partnership depends not on the shape of the contract, but in its execution. Delivering transformation is not the differentiator; executing it well is.