Global Best Practice - Outsourcing

Outsourcing refers to an organization's decision to offer a task or project that was previously completed in-house to another party outside of the procurement organization. In public procurement, contracting work to an outside organization through the process of outsourcing can be a cost-effective way to fulfill the organization's obligations. However, the decision to outsource should not be taken lightly. When deciding to outsource a task or project, procurement professionals need to consider several factors, such as which activities should be outsourced and how much control the procurement team should have over the outsourced activity or task. This practice outlines what considerations should be taken into account before outsourcing and the important factors that can impact how successful outsourcing is. It also outlines several benefits and challenges of outsourcing that procurement professionals should take into consideration every time they are contemplating outsourcing to a third party. Outsourcing for a public procurement organization has some different expectations and implications that other types of businesses don't need to consider. This practice identifies the key elements that procurement entities should consider when undergoing the process of outsourcing.