Partners, not Vendors - The Right Outsourcing Mantra!
Businesses today look more for partners than vendors. Amongst most leading businesses today, technology solutions impact almost all areas of business and in some cases alter the very way business is conducted. Hence the very phrase "vendor", i.e. "one who vends products" is losing relevance with each passing day and remains at most, a mere classification to bunch together diverse service providers. At Global Landmark, we always strive to be a business partner for our customers rather than just another IT vendor.
The changeover from "IT vendor" to "Business Partner" is more than mere semantics. From considering ourselves as an external entity merely fulfilling a need or filling a gap for our customers, we like to think of ourselves as a critical component of our customer's business, living and breathing it's risks, sharing the rewards and suggesting better ways to do business in the process.
Customers look for skills and qualities in IT service providers that are a mix of generic industry needs and those more specific to their operations. While there can be no comprehensive and all-inclusive list of such qualities, at Global Landmark we use the following points while explaining to a client how best to select a "partner":
1. Domain & Process expertise
As partners to our clients, we're expected to have more understanding of the customers business and processes than even their own employees. We consider it an honour first, and a commitment later.
2. Globally certified Processes
Just because our company is relatively smaller in size and growing does not mean that we compromise on quality. All our processes and facilities are certified at the highest levels in global certifications.
3. Value Delivery
Customers need to constantly justify their investments and be sensitive to the cost element in IT. In a narrower sense people call it "value for money", while we prefer to call it "value". We constantly monitor and report the "value delivered" to our clients to prove our worth.
4. Risk/Reward Sharing
While vendors could afford to minimize their risk and maximize their returns, partners cannot afford the same luxury. It is for that reason we term the commitment we offer to our clients as a "Sink or Swim" strategy.
5. One size doesn't fit all
Different companies have distinctly different needs and constraints. At Global Landmark, we offer significant flexibility in customizing our solution offerings to suit the requirements of our customers.
6. Global "know", Local "how"
Split the phrase "know-how" into a global and a local part. Our people, processes and knowledge follow global standards and match up to the best and the biggest, while our execution and support are localized to each client's preferences.
7. Sourcing Options
Though many customers start their outsourcing sojourns tentatively in the form of "pilots", yet they should demand nearly the same breadth of sourcing options from their service providers if the "pilot" turns out to be a success.
8. Staying Power
The dotcom era has taught most companies that the staying power of a service provider is something that needs to be factored into all strategic decisions. The two common surrogate indicators for this include financials and employee strength.
The metamorphosis from being a vendor to being a partner is much tougher than a bulleted-list, but is worth every effort. Because,
Vendors can be too many, but never partners!
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