1. The current process by which outsourcing agreements are negotiated is not efficient from a time, quality, or cost perspective.
2. The overwhelming focus of the negotiation process is on the consequences of failure and the allocation of blame when there is a performance deficiency.
3. There is an established industry standard for each of the most contentious and heavily negotiated terms and conditions.
4. Both parties to the transaction must put their best foot forward and use this standard as the departure point for the negotiation process.
5. There will still be plenty of opportunity to fine-tune and temper each term and condition to be commensurate with the underlying nature of the solution provided.
6. The scale must be tipped such that there is a much greater focus on collaboration on those components of the agreement that drive timely, quality, and cost-effective delivery, including the following: a narrowly tailored statement of work that is free of ambiguity and that clearly sets the expectations of both parties; clear service levels that are objective, measurable, and verifiable; a strong governance process; absolute clarity about roles and responsibilities; and a robust set of assumptions and dependencies, especially in a multivendor delivery environment.
7. There is no value in having each party take an extreme position from which they each agree to minor concessions over an extended period of time and, ultimately, compromise when they both knew their likely landing spot from Day 1—the market-relevant standard on that particular issue.
8. Caving in to a position asserted by the other party after months of saying “no” is extremely frustrating, and erodes trust and credibility.
9. Constantly asserting what other vendors may agree or have agreed to lacks context and is irrelevant. Stop playing games and focus on market relevancy.
10. There is no purpose in unnecessarily extending the sales cycle and creating tension between the two parties. It will serve only to detrimentally impact a relationship that has yet to officially begin.
11. An outsourcing relationship requires collaboration and partnership between the parties to achieve success.