Smartsourcing: Driving Innovation and Growth Through Outsourcing

Driving Innovation and Growth Through Outsourcing Smartsourcing by Thomas M. Koulopoulos and Tom Roloff - is sub-titled 'Driving innovation and Growth through Outsourcing' this goes straight to the point which seems to be an habit of the authors who does not beat around the bush and dive directly into the nuts and bolts of their subject, which makes Smartsoucing a very insightful read. Like Thomas Friedman, the authors agree that the world is flat, that we are now evolving in a global economy where work flows like water along the path of least resistance, leading jobs to be moved out of the United States and Western Europe and to be reallocated to Asia or whatever other places where wages are more attractive. That is what offshoring and outsourcing are all about, cost reductions. Smartsoursing presents a different approach and is based on the premise that outsourcing for the only intend of cost reductions is highly dangerous and does not yield the return on investment it promised. In the Smartsourcing framework, in order to outsource any organization has to go through a strategic reorganization of itself, to understand what could be, and more importantly what should be outsourced, and of course what is core to the enterprise and therefore should be not only kept in-house, but also invested in. The point is simple, in order to success on a global scale an organization must focus on what it does the best, and to do so it must shift from the traditional Functional thinking to a Process thinking. Indeed, processes offer visibility, agility and a set of metrics can be used to evaluate their performance and therefore compare them to the industry standard. Doing so, an organization can understand what its strength and weaknesses are. Outsourcing or offshoring non core processes will boost the efficiency of the complete value chain, since the sourcing partner will execute those processes more efficiently because what is non core to an organization should be core to its sourcing partner. Of course this is an high level view, Smartsourcing provides the tools by which organizations can thrive in this new framework, creating value by: keeping the light on for less, creating more innovation for the given dollar, transferring risk between the partners and optimizing risks transference After a keen analyze of the technical solution available to organizations nowadays, the Authors share their view on that market and the way it will evolve to a new generation of BSPs creating a new generation of smartsourcing hubs orchestrating business components across executable business processes. According to the Authors, the evolution of the software industry will "dwarf the technology industry of the next fifty years" and B2B vendors have a key role to play in that move to a purely efficient market where the transfer cost, that is the cost of "unplugging and plugging back to another ecosystem" would no longer be a measurable impediment. Once a process has been identifi

The book takes a slightly different tack on how outsourcing should be viewed and how companies should use it. The overall effect is a little like that described by Hagel and Seely-Brown in The Only Sustainable Edge, but Tom writes a very readable book covering three key trends, all described cogently and without too much MBA-speak. In particular he does a good job contrasting outsourcing and smartsourcing - there is a focus on differentiation over commoditization and on strategic excellence combined with agility (one of my favorite topics). Anyway, the book outlines three themes: Movement to external economies of scale Shift from ownership to strategy The evolution of the placeless job The overall approach can best be summarized by one quote from the book where he says that an "organization's intellectual resources are maximized because they are not distracted by nonessential work". A highly recommended book.

The book exceeded my expectations as I thought it to be the University material I didn't have available during my studies. I would very much like to see it hitting the Greek market as well. Very competent writing and numerous opportunities for creative thinking. A very useful tool for people involved in the process of successful business strategy formulation and implementation.

Tom has again taken a topic that is critically important for any business and created a lucid set of guidelines for doing outsourcing the smart way. Every business (and individual for that matter) is going to be affected by the trend, so we might as well get it right. Tom's provides a roadmap that will benefit us all in innovation and results. He's right, the United States cannot compete with the world just on price alone. Smartsourcing will become a trend amongst those not just outsourcing, but doing so with intelligence.

I was looking for a book about "outsourcing" and came across this title. "Smartsourcing" I said. What's that? Intrigued, I bought the book. I'm glad I did. It opened my eyes to a new dimension in business thinking. If you are planning to outsource or want to be an outsourcer, this will change your perspective of this evolving industry. If you have said "no" to outsourcing and want everything done internally at your company, this book will change the "no" to "yes" for some aspects of your business. Reading this book may mean the difference between success and failure in the 21st century.