7 tips on communication when you use outsourcing

Image Credit: Richard Blank

With several business functions that can be outsourced, one of the most common ones is IT. In order to be successful, though, businesses must partner with the right IT solutions company.

Businesses must evaluate their potential IT outsourcing provider against critical criteria, which includes their credentials, security and compliance standards, and training programs among others. One of the most important criteria that a lot of businesses fail to consider is the provider’s technical communications infrastructure.

Communication between the company and the IT outsourcing provider is essential in ensuring that the two parties can work collaboratively. Good communication guarantees that results are delivered as expected, issues are resolved efficiently, and problems are avoided or limited.

Small signs of outsourcing doom

A white paper released by SourcingFocus.com shared results of a study, stating that 28 percent of 1,000 respondents pointed out poor communication as the top reason for the failure of an outsourcing project.

To avoid setting themselves up for failure, businesses must choose the right IT partner. One of the most important steps is to assess their potential partners’ communications infrastructure during the negotiation stage.

Below are small warning signs that you must look out for:

1. The IT outsourcing provider takes too long to reply

Whenever clients communicate with their outsourcing provider, it is only natural to expect to receive a timely response. Aside from a rapid response, check to see if it was comprehensive and personalized, not just a one-size-fits-all type of reply.

Double check if their operations staff also respond appropriately and according to your standards.

2. The IT outsourcing provider refuses to talk and prefers to do everything through email

It’s hard to meet with providers personally if they are based offshore. However, they must be at least willing to conduct conference calls with you to interact and hold open discussions.

Doing so will enable you to gauge the communication skills, attitudes, and work culture of the people you’ll be working with. Be wary of providers who only prefer to communicate via email and are unwilling to actually talk.

3. There are significant language and communication barriers