A transformative global deal in just 12 weeks from a standing start for a major information services company. Our client provides business critical financial, risk, legal, tax and other data to customers across the world. Our client approached This Partners with a hugely ambitious outsourcing challenge, summarized by a short list of key principles which were to:
- reduce relevant operating costs by more than 30%
- increase service delivery flexibility
- transform the delivery organization by leveraging market best practice
- ensure service continuity; and
- select a supplier and reach signature on a fully negotiated deal within 12 weeks.
In this environment, it was clear that a typical, ‘traditional’ sourcing approach would not work. We needed to ensure that the selection process was agile, yet robust and transparent and that the negotiations would be streamlined, thorough and focused on both business outcomes and commercial requirements. This Partners mobilised a small, highly experienced team with deep expertise in large deal commercials, supplier engagement and financial analysis. What followed was an intense period of closely orchestrated sessions with the shortlisted suppliers, working collaboratively with them to develop solution options.
This Partners ran a carefully calibrated scoring process to enable comparison across a range of quite different commercial and operational models. After six weeks of intense collaboration and review the programme was in a position to recommend a preferred supplier to the client’s leadership team. With approval received, the team then began an intense contract negotiation phase. A collaborative approach was again used, working closely with all aprties. The teams were able to celebrate signing this significant deal three days before Christmas, just twelve weeks after the process had begun. Against many expectations, the deal that was signed provided commitment that all of the client initial guiding principles would be met. This Partners have since worked closely with the client to help facilitate service transition and to establish robust supplier governance processes.
