Three Considerations in Development Outsourcing Metrics

It is now an ordinary thing for large companies to outsource parts of their services and tasks to other companies because this is deemed to be a very effective management strategy. However, there are certainly some guidelines that people need to follow prior to engaging into outsourcing. This is called development outsourcing metrics. These guidelines are important if one person needs to ensure that the service that the outsourcer provides is adequate, at par, or exceeds the expectations of the end users or the customers.For starters, outsourcing has been around for decades. This is a management strategy in which bulk of the task is given to a specialist group—a third party organization—so the management can focus on other things. A most common outsourcing scenario is getting a third party auditor to audit your finances. The auditors are not employed in your company and yet they function the way any auditor in your company would have done. Another one is bookkeeping services. In a larger scale, outsourcing can be seen in manufacturing. There are lots of electronic brands out there for televisions, radios, cellular phones, and other gadgets. In reality, these brands do not manufacture their own goods. Instead, they hire an organization that specializes in manufacturing these things. What they simply do is hire another company that will produce the parts and then probably hire another company that will assemble the parts. As the manufacturing outsourcers continue with the actual production, the company spends more time in research to improve their current products.There are three basic components or groups of metrics in the outsourcing industry and these three are very important if one intends to develop Key Performance Indicators for outsourcers. First is the People Metrics, then the Process Metrics, and then the Technology Metrics.People Metrics has something to do with the actual people who operate the outsourcing business. These includes the employees who do the actual legwork. There has to be a clear definition of the qualifications that the third party should hire and there has to be a clear goal of what skill set the applicants should have to qualify for employment. Another thing is that there has to be a guideline that shows how these employees are rated based on their performance. People Metrics should be generally aligned with the mission and goals of the company since the people’s output represents the values of the organization. This should also include the training and certification process.Process and Technology Metrics—as part of development outsourcing metrics—are related to the actual means of completing the tasks. These metrics have something to do with the tools that are in place and this is greatly involved in the Quality of the output. Employees should have the right tools so they can function well. Many times, employees like to work, but they have insufficient tools to keep up with what is expected of them. Processes need to be in place to see if there is a variation gap with the outputs and these needs to be addressed.