Continuing on the previous post, the smallest ticket size for a function that I have managed is just one FTE (Full time equivalent), and the smallest account – 3 FTEs. The largest single function was about one hundred and ten FTEs and the largest single account (with multiple functions) about three hundred and fifty FTEs.
In case of an outsourcing engagement, one pitfall is that the initial proposal is normally based on previous experience of each function, or on gut feelings or on industry benchmarks (various reports published by research organizations). This may be correct or incorrect. In one particular transition, on a team of 60 FTEs spread across three functions, our planning team had factored almost 25 transition resources. Based on the location spread, that did not look incorrect, however, the bid manager went one step ahead to quote that all of these will be team leads (and subject matter experts) and will continue in the business as usual stage as well. Now that made the account challenging to handle, and pity be on my project manager, as he ended up spending a lot of time managing team challenges and ego conflicts.
On a ball park, I would configure the transition team to be between 5% and 30%, based on the above considerations.
In one situation, where the role is more individual dependant, like corporate tax functions, we may need 100% of the team to travel also, as they need to learn the specifics in a one-on-one mode.
