Clients often complain that service provider solutions lack the innovation and fresh thinking required to solve today’s complex business problems. But what clients ask for and the way that they ask for it can represent a fundamental obstacle to innovation. Specifically, the traditional Request for Proposal – with its highly prescriptive requirements and specific criteria – is by definition anathema to true innovation and flexibility. Increasingly, ISG sees clients turning to a more open-ended and flexible approach that gives sourcing organizations leeway to focus on the what of the desired end state, rather than on the how of service delivery.
This webinar will examine traditional approaches to outsourcing negotiation and their limitations in the context of current business challenges, as well as emerging solution-based strategies characterized by general objectives rather than specific requirements. Key takeaways will include:
• Limitations of the traditional RFP
• Emerging alternatives – the “Request for Solution”
• Characteristics, key challenges and success factors to implementing innovative outsourced solutions