Tuesday, post day… Let’s talk about technology today. Remember, you are responsible for the change, whether it is for moving the processes to a shared service unit (presume it is a new unit) or to your company, which provides outsourcing services (you will have a technology setup which you will need to extend). In my career, this is one of the prime reasons why I have seen engagements struggle, taking the pleasure out of the engagement, both for the outsourcer and the supplier. Not that they fail, but the future growth gets considerably slowed down.

A) Shared Services unit:

Let’s talk about a shared services unit. This will be a part of the outsourcing organization. So the extension of the existing applications will be relatively easier. What will need attention is setting up of the network, for which you will need to work with the technology group to ensure that things are in place, preferably before you start transition. If you do this during the transition, it may culminate into additional burden on you and your team.

B) Third Party unit

In case of a third party unit, the prime onus will be on you and your team to drive technology as well. If anything goes wrong, the blame will be on you. That’s what usually happens. So, you need to identify all the components. You need to list all applications to be used, the virtual private network (VPN) requirements, whether you access your client’s data through citrix or by way of a client application, what is the level of access rights you need, and the list goes on. You should build a tracking document to inform senior folks at your client’s end of the status, and raise a red alert if things are slipping by.

This will continue in the next post….