The Outsourcing Contract: Structure and Tactics

Abstract

All too often, the parties to an outsourcing arrangement realise soon after the commencement of the relationship that they have, unintentionally, not been following the contract, or that the contract fails to address specific issues. While there may be any number of reasons why this has happened, typically they involve the parties not taking the time to fully articulate in sufficient detail the key obligations of each party. Not spending enough time establishing the scope of services to be performed is perhaps the most common problem. The pressure to finalise the deal can often result in a lack of attention to what is most important to ensuring a successful outsourcing relationship. In such cases, the parties will often need to renegotiate the contract or, in a worst case scenario where the relationship has broken down, the customer may need to start the process again.