In the last 20 years, most organizations have shifted their technology engagements with the global vendors (suppliers) – going from a “touchless” outsourced delivery to a “partnering” model and a shared ownership of the business success.
We have come a long way from back-office operations and call centers to active participation in executing growth and modernization strategies. Companies have adopted the outsourcing models at scale, while the vendors in-turn have evolved from resource augmentation to creating a pool of highly experienced industry experts, who partner with client organizations in building the platforms for shared success.
The benefits and the profits at the client organizations have soared, and so have the expectations to extract even more value from the suppliers. Internally, pressed for efficiencies, ROIs and savings targets, companies are looking for even greater stakes from the vendors, where the latter should not only partner, but also own the end-to-end program execution. In addition, vendors are expected to be geographically dispersed to provide that round-the-clock coverage and cost optimization.
The vendors, however, have to keep pace
with these increasingly complex expectations and their success will require strategic
investment in two areas:
- Develop geographically disperse locations and some redundancies, with the resource pool in your top 5-10 core support functions. Client needs often pop up, without the runway to stand one up, and being able to stand up a team at a short notice is often the key to building that long-term relationship.
- Develop a talent pipeline that regularly feeds the need for the resources. This is highly relevant from a client perspective, when market fluctuations create short-term gaps and program delivery is jeopardized or delayed.
- For a more meaningful relationship, be ready to partner in client’s success on both operational efficiencies and customer-facing KPIs (revenue, CX, CSAT, etc.). Have client engagement managers and directors to be more conversant with the client and the industry, to provide fresh outside perspectives to problems that may seem like headcount issue, when it really is about a different way of doing solutioning.
With these three imperatives, I believe, vendors can greatly enhance the client-partner relationship, and build a more sustainable and mutually beneficial business model of shared success – consider product development, AI/ML applications, business process automation, and other back-office functions in the list.
For vendors, do it now and showcase it. From a client’s perspective, we are looking for this proactive approach and a foundation to internally promote the partnership and commit to a long-term investment.
