What are Outsourcing roles and responsibilites?

An outsourcer is defined by Merriam Webster as a company that procures some of its goods or services from usually smaller specialized companies; a specialized company that provides goods or services to a usually larger company. An outsourcing company provides services to various businesses by assuming either whole or part of a client’s company processes.

Outsourcing companies have service sourcing structures in place to guide them with their roles and responsibilities to their clients. Here are some of the sourcing structures and their brief description:

• Internal – encompasses provision and delivery of services by their staff and  controls all sourcing structures.
• Full Service Outsourcing –It provides improved scale and it refers to a single contract that includes significant asset transfer and handled by a single provider.
• Prime – a single contract provider that focuses on service delivery management and engages multiple providers. It is the prime vendor’s task to support the capabilities and best practices of the other providers.
• Consortium – consist of a group of service providers selected by the client and fulfills needs with greater control but it presents the risk of providers not being able to work harmoniously.

Outsourcing Roles and Responsibilities

Director of Service Management. This refers to the senior executive who is in-charge of planning, purchasing and managing all aspects of service delivery for the business units. This person handles financial and commercial management, large-scale service operations, negotiation and contract management.

Contract Manager. This person is in-charge of constructing and monitoring any legal and commercial contract in behalf of the entire organization; specializes in handling contract management for large-scale service provision.

Product Manager. A product manager handles the planning and managing of sourced elements of the services of the organization. The one defines sourcing needs for specific services that will be good for the company.

Process Owner. The one who monitors and manages joint application and development of the business.

Business Representatives. These people define the business requirements, monitor service and handle budgets in behalf of a business or company. And a business representative must have ample knowledge about the business functions of the company he or she represents; this person is in-charge of information gathering and definition.

Outsourcing, If not managed correctly, can be a major disaster. Roles and Responsibilities are the key for a great Outsourcing.