Partner Selection & Collaboration
Increasingly businesses are depending on third party services to achieve commodity processing and service delivery rather than carry the expense of internal capabilities that add little value to the business. Whilst the savings associated to such external services can be significant, they are still fundamental parts of the business and therefore must still be carefully controlled and flexible in the face of change within the business. These suppliers become partners in the operation of the business. Partners must be carefully selected, and supply contracts must be structured around the service levels required and the objectives of the business.
Why Would You Need This Service?
For significant transformation these procurement activities can be complex and often businesses do not carry the specific skills required to undertake and manage a very specialised procurement.
How We Deliver This Service
Clearly the exact structure of the procurement will depend on what is being procured procurement of a SaaS software is a very different undertaking from the procurement of a service delivery partner. Our general approach is as follows:
Procurement Strategy
During this phase the generalised approach to the procurement are identified and agreed. This is such areas as whether to adopt an RFI/RFP process; selection followed by single target supplier; or a proof of concept-based selection. Stakeholders and involved parties are also identified. Governance of the process is agreed and formalised.
Requirements and Success Criteria
Requirements can take many forms and will depend on what is being procured; however, it is vital that the business can clearly articulate the outcomes it expects from the procurement. At this point it is strongly recommended that service level and operating level agreements are considered. Scoring mechanisms for the procurement should also be considered at this point.
Options Assessment
Depending on what is procured the exact nature of this will change, but in general it is best to develop a long list of options, which can be culled down to a short list prior to conducting a detailed supplier procurement. In general, entering a large procurement with more than four potential suppliers is not recommended.
Bidder Competition
Again, depending on the procurement strategy the approach to bidder engagement and competition will change. Heavy bidder competitions may be beneficial in the identification of suitable partner suppliers, however they come at a cost – they are expensive to undertake on all sides and may therefore limit the range of potential options. Any proof of concepts or trials are performed at this phase.
For some procurements it is advisable to run contract development in parallel with the bidder competition. For simpler procurements contract development can be left to the selection and award phase.
Supplier Selection and Award
Undertaking scoring and evaluation of suppliers, leading to a recommendation and contract award.
Deliverables
Typical deliverables include:
- Procurement strategy (stakeholders, governance, approach, PoC definition, procurement plan and roadmap);
- Business requirements;
- Success criteria;
- Scoring matrix;
- Proposed SLA and OLA;
- Long list and short list of potential suppliers;
- Bidder scoring and evaluation;
- Recommendation.
Typical Outcomes
We often see failed procurements and failed deliveries due to poorly framed contracts and supplier controls. The most common cause of this is lack of attention and diligence through the procurement process. By setting procurement approaches early, putting in place strong governance of the procurement process and structuring contracts and service levels around the objectives of the client, we assist clients to achieve supplier and service contracts that meet their needs and can be effectively managed.
Case Studies
Authenticate to download the PDF.
Contact Us to Get Started
We will come back to you to discuss your situation as soon as possible
