A sharper tool

This gets to the nub of why we regard outsourcing as the sharpest tool in the executive team’s box. Executed correctly, outsourcing enables a CEO and board to contemplate aspects of their company’s future in ways they had never previously deemed possible. They get this ability through an open and forward-looking approach to ‘partnering’, encompassing both skill sets and the ability to underwrite results.

This forward-looking mindset includes an acceptance that needs and circumstances will change for both sides. The CEO of the customer needs to accept – as in an M&A transaction – that as the benefits of the agreement become apparent there may be aspects of a business or service that no longer fit. So the board needs to be prepared to do subsequent further deals that may be akin to the follow-on disposals in an M&A context.