New Book Discusses Selecting an Outsourcing Vendor and Decreasing the Failure Percentages

Bloomington, IN

Outsourcing is wrought with controversy. It forces the businesses to choose a partner with meticulous judgment. The commitment to outsourcing bears risk. If the wrong partner is selected, personal reputation could be questioned and the success of the company could be challenged. There may not be a second chance to get it right. So, how are the weaknesses spotted before the relationship begins?

"Seven Attributes of Highly Effective Development Vendors" (ISBN: 978-0991644117)

Available at amazon.com or http://www.sevenattributes.com for $26.25.

"Industries are experiencing widely inconsistent success rates with outsourcing," says William V. West author of "Seven Attributes of Highly Effective Development Vendors." "I have witnessed many organizations who produced excellent results, while also witnessing countless other organizations that have struggled," Mr. West continued. "I have seen impressive successes and massive failures many times; everything from single projects to sole-source outsourcing initiatives. What makes one initiative succeed while others fail? After 14 years of observation, I've sought to answer this question."

Outsource partner selection can be scary and difficult to navigate alone. However, the newly released "Seven Attributes of Highly Effective Development Vendors," can help shine the light into the best practices, lead someone through this process, and steer them onward to success. The Seven Attributes focus on the key requirements to identify the right outsourcing partner for current needs. The goal is to identify a partner who can achieve a company vision and produce a healthy business relationship where companies succeed.

So, what are the Seven Attributes?
In very simple terms and in order of importance, the Seven Attributes are:
1. Experience
2. Methodology
3. Infrastructure
4. Process
5. Technology
6. Talent
7. Innovation

These are the attributes by which we can categorize the characteristics, tools, and techniques that are needed to produce highly effective solutions and strong outsourcing relationships. The Seven Attributes nicely compartmentalize those things that really make a difference.

William West has career experience; companies where he has been employed, companies he has founded and companies that have hired his teams to support them; have all given him exposure to a vast array of business models. He has had a total of over 1,000 projects with 50 corporate clients. It has populated his vault of case studies with examples of successes and failures within the many scenarios that we all face day to day. He will share his stories and case studies throughout the book as they assist the reader to understand further how each attribute comes into play. As William West says, "I haven't seen it all, but I have seen so much!"

Applying the nuances of each of the seven attributes will allow the vendor and the client to form an operational alignment and produce a trusted relationship.

A few questions with author, William West

So why is this book needed within the market today?
"It's simple," said William West, "The failure rate in outsourcing is extremely high and there are not standards to make the selection easier or even to decrease these failure rates," he continued, "One of my most vivid failure stories is the outsourcing attempt by a major pharmaceutical company. They fired their prime vendor after 7 years and replaced them with another vendor, who after 12 months had to pay the client a $1M refund for services that failed to achieve their objectives. In my view, all three parties failed."

Why can't price determine who is best?
"No! Pricing can't be your decision point alone," he stated. "All vendors are not the same, all proposals are not the same. It's like trying to compare an apple to a zebra," he replied. "I am not saying pricing isn't important. I do have a chapter about Pricing Strategies because it is complex and still part of the conversation. I state several times in the book that it is a true mistake to select a vendor simply because they are the lowest-cost provider. I strongly believe you must select your vendor along the Seven Attributes and then negotiate price," firmly reiterated by Mr. West.

So back to that Apple and Zebra. How to I compare these?
"You first need a common framework that converts a zebra to an apple. This is what the Seven Attributes provides. Then it gets easier to compare Apples to Apples, make sure you haven't missed a vital characteristic, and avoid being mislead by the sales teams," William explained.

How to do you define when the relationship with the vendor is a success?
"I define success in the vendor relationship when the equilibrium of the client is realized and the vendor makes a profit. In that scenario magical things can happen," states Mr. West. "I created the Seven Attributes to give both sides a fighting chance to succeed. I wanted to share my experiences and knowledge so we can address THE FEAR OF FAILURE, so we can begin to improve our industry because WE ALL DESERVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SUCCEED," William stated emphatically.