IT Outsourcing Health Check

Online IT Outsourcing Health Check

Berkeley have provided a quick online questionnaire to enable you to assess your current outsourcing arrangement. Please select your level of agreement with the statements below, from 'Strongly Disagree' to 'Strongly Agree'.

Your responses will be aggregated to provide a summary of your existing outsourcing arrangement and our view on where you may want to focus additional attention.

A: Are you set-up for success?

		Strongly disagree				Strongly agree	N/A
1 The contract defines clear and realistic responsibilities for the provider and obligations for your organization
2 Boundary and integration responsibilities between the provider, your organization and other suppliers are clearly understood and documented
3 Responsibilities and delivery mechanism for service maintenance activities (e.g. patching, hardware refresh, software upgrades) are clearly defined
4 A structured approach to continuous service improvement is an integral part of the contract, and penalties / incentives are associated with this
5 Contractual charges have fixed and variables elements which are transparently linked to the cost of delivery and are flexible for future changes to the organization’s size and structure
6 The provider is measured and incentivized against outcomes that are: entirely within their control; reflect the services they provide; and, are readily and quantifiably measurable
7 The services, and their SLAs/KPIs, are aligned to industry standard specifications to enable ease of benchmarking
8 Success is commercially and reputationally important to the provider – they are invested in the contract’s success
9 There is a joint understanding of how the contract provides value to both parties. You understand how your provider makes a profit and the factors that influence this
10 There is an established governance framework and mechanism at all levels of engagement with the provider and other suppliers

B: How is your outsource arrangement performing?

		Strongly disagree				Strongly agree	N/A
1 Transition and transformation activities agreed at the commencement of the contract have been completed successfully and met their objectives
2 Obligations on your organization in the contract are being met (and they are not used by the provider as justification for failed delivery)
3 Invoices are raised and paid promptly, with clear traceability back to the services provided. Payment disputes and variable charges are settled through standard service management processes without recourse to escalation
4 Business benefits are being delivered and business feedback on the services delivered (directly or indirectly) by the provider is positive
5 The account has an excellent reputation within the provider’s organization and attracts their best people. Your organization is a reference customer for the provider
6 The relationship between your internal team and the provider’s team is strong. The provider is seen as part of your organization, with joint responsibility for delivering the business outcomes
7 Knowledge and capabilities within your organization complement those of your provider (there is no ‘shadow’ capability building)
8 The provider actively contributes to improve quality and/or drive down cost of service and is closely involved in strategic direction setting
9 New capabilities and changes to service are delivered efficiently and effectively; at an appropriate cost and with minimal disruption to existing operational services
10 There is a common set of policy, process and standards documentation, which is regularly reviewed and updated
11 Key performance indicators are periodically benchmarked, and compare favourably, against the wider industry

C: Are you prepared for contract change or exit?

		Strongly disagree				Strongly agree	N/A
1 Your organization retains the intellectual property rights to any designs or processes that may be moved to another provider at the end of the contract
2 A jointly agreed exit plan for all services is in place, which is reviewed and updated on a regular basis
3 Costs and timescales for procuring and transitioning to other providers are included within your organization’s mid- to long-term plans and budgets
4 Your organization has an agreed sourcing strategy, which is aligned to the technology and operational strategies
5 The contract provides the right to use alternative suppliers, and there is a defined process for the provider to accept into support designs and builds from other suppliers
6 The contract enables partial termination of services so that under-performing services can be re-tendered without forcing a full termination
7 Process for invoking contractual breach is clearly understood, and any contractual failures are formally documented