As companies accelerate outsourcing plans, executives are demanding more options according to a new survey of 288 U.S. financial executives. Not only are American companies pleased with the benefits delivered by current outsourcing efforts, these same companies plan to do more outsourcing in the future.
The study was conducted for Capgemini by CFO Research Inc. shows that 72.9 percent of U.S. based companies plan to outsource more functions in the coming years, and 22.6 percent are either interested in outsourcing a broad range of processes or everything not core to their business.
Most respondents said their own outsourcing initiatives met or exceeded expectations by enabling attention to be refocused on core business issues, improving process speeds, and providing near-term cost savings.
The study also shows that executives who have outsourced primarily in the U.S. want more options tailored to meeting their objectives. While 81.9 percent of respondents said they have outsourced to U.S-based companies, only 41 percent of respondents have used outsourcing services in India. Companies are still extremely careful about where outsourcing efforts transpire.
Executives also said their companies achieved the best results from outsourcing when they were actively managing the process—from carefully selecting a partner to following the contract through its stage. Respondents also ranked personal best practices used in the management of their outsourcing relationships. Some responses were as follows: impose penalties for poor performance, include incentives for excellent performance, capture and report operating and financial metrics on vendor performance, consolidate work with a few strategic vendors, and define and document all metrics for vendor performance.
