Regardless of the root cause, the challenge identified by 78% of facility managers can be solved by defining service levels, implementing performance management and establishing effective contract management.

These three elements should be put in place before implementing an outsourcing relationship, but you can still implement them with your current service provider or plan them for the next renewal or re-tender. In fact, these techniques can even be applied to subcontracted and in-house services.

Successful outsourcing doesn’t just mean selecting the right service provider; you also need an effective Stay Back Team (SBT) in place. The SBT is the cornerstone of any outsourcing initiative and is an important link between your corporation’s business and the service provider, not only from the onset of the RFP process and ensuing re-organization when the contract is awarded, but also for ongoing management of the services.

While cost savings remain one of the initial reasons companies hire an outsourcing company to provide managed services for non-core elements of their business, flexibility quickly becomes one of the most evident benefits. The flexibility comes from the secondary reasons companies use managed services: to focus on their core business, access to resources, world-class business processes, additional scope and improved scalability of the services.