Outsource Magazine Issue 24 - (Page 90)

Setting the Standard The National Outsourcing Association is representing the UK’s outsourcing professionals on the British Standards Committee developing the Draft British Standard on Collaborative Business Relationships BS11000. Here Adrian Quayle, NOA representative on the Committee, explains the rationale behind the new standard and how his team is working to ensure a viable and coherent document for business… Adrian Quayle, NOA Adrian Quayle is Board Member for Professional Services for the National Outsourcing Association, and the MD of P&Q Consulting Ltd. He is a former VP at Gartner. wonder whether the early pioneers of IT data centre outsourcing in 1989 realised how momentous the future impact of their decisions would be? Today conservative estimates value the global IS/IT and Business Process Outsourcing industry at well in excess of £400bn annually. Although outsourcing as an industry activity is clearly a tremendous success when measured in financial terms, behind the headlines it doesn’t always feel the same. As the IT outsourcing industry has expanded rapidly since the early 1990s all of those involved – whether as customers, providers or advisers – have frequently suffered the pain from not getting the deal right, or from a deal that does not keep pace with changes in both the customer and service provider environments. Every outsourcing deal that isn’t delivering what is expected, can result in:  loss of anticipated benefits,  significant unbudgeted costs for both customer and service provider alike,  career damage (sometimes terminal) with emotional and psychological trauma for I those involved – on both sides. By the early 2000s work was underway by several individuals and organisations (e.g. Gartner) aimed at identifying and the sources of the difficulties and developing methodologies and approaches to overcome them. The outsourcing industry is not alone in experiencing such difficulties; other business areas which have suffered in this way have included the construction sector. It got to the point during the 1980s and ‘90s where claims, counter-claims and litigation in the UK construction industry were business as usual. It was time-consuming and expensive for those involved. It took government-supported inquiries and the subsequent Latham and Egan reports, together with the development of new contracting methods, to promote a focus on collaboration, rather than conflict. There is still much to do. In mid-2009, following another similar initiative, this time in the defence industry and capital-intensive manufacturing sector, the British Standards Institution (BSI) decided to commence work on a new British Standard on Collaborative Business Relationships. As is their usual practice in establishing new standards, BSI invited representation from a range of trade bodies and industry associations with knowledge and experience in the area of collaborative relationships. In early 2010, the National Outsourcing Association accepted the invitation and began contributing to the work already underway. The aim of this new British Standard BS 11000 is to provide a framework for establishing and improving collaborative relationships in organisations of all sizes. Over many years, organisations have worked collaboratively to deliver a wide range of business benefits, including developing new products or services rapidly, better cost-management and improved resource- and risk-management. Those involved have found time and time again that disciplined and structured collaboration is one of the best ways they can rapidly and effectively share knowledge, skills and resources to meet mutually defined objectives and provide new levels of value creation. The BS 11000 BSI Group, the body producing British Standards, began as the Engineering Standards Committee in 1901. Its aim was to standardise the format of steel sections. 90 ● ●● ● www.outsourcemagazine.co.uk http://www.outsourcemagazine.co.uk

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Outsource Magazine Issue 24

Editor's letter
News & comments
Seeing through the cloud
Steve Forbes
Embracing a lean culture in recruitment
The roar of the crowd
Andrew De Cleyn
Greening the chain
Private properties
NOA round-up
PR Chandrasekar
Ten ways to shake your world
Matt Barrie
Roundtable: an excellent process
Talentspotting
The talent question
Transition and change
Never the twain
Setting the standard
Touching base
Head-to-Head
Top ten
The legal view
HfS research
Online round-up
Sourcebites
Inside source
The last word

Outsource Magazine Issue 24