Trusted outsourcing

Banks and financial institutions need a relationship of trust with their outsourced IT suppliers and they need to develop a greater level of inter-departmental trust. These are the findings of some research carried out on financial institutions in New South Wales and Victoria in August by IT outsourcing company Unisys Australia.

The study found that one of the largest problems facing an IT project in a financial institution was that no one wanted to take responsibility for the project. Unisys found that financial services staff did not understand who had the responsibility and who would be rewarded for an outsourcing project if it succeeded.

The research also revealed that IT professionals feel that the financial institutions needed to take more responsibility, which their business managers had been reluctant to do.

According to the report, one of the challenges in this scenario is the position of the outsourcing company: are they “go-betweens”, or are they just suppliers?

The research has also found that the financial services market had a preference for service level agreements (SLA) that includes risks and rewards, and for the relationship to be a partnership, rather than a simple supplier and consumer model.

Another challenge facing an outsourcing supplier was a lack of trust between departments within a financial services company, according to the research.

In conclusion the research found that an out sourcing agreement with a financial services company needs to include a strong slant towards the business processes. ”Out sourcing is no longer just about cost savings, but rather about clients and suppliers working as partners,” the report states.

In speaking to the financial services community, the research found that they are looking for a vendor that is trusted, has evidence of quantifiable results and meets with the expectations laid up on it. According to the research these are “key measurements of trust.”