The ongoing maturity of the FM market has created a paradox. As outsourcing generations multiply and technology becomes increasingly common place, the availability of cost efficiencies of using a third party to deliver services is increasingly eroded. At the same time, the lowering of the profile of procurement activity (multiple generations in, and these processes just don’t generate the C-Suite interest they did first time round) means that the development of the strategic case for outsourcing is a lost art – it simply becomes necessary to replace an expiring contract with the next edition.
What this creates is a contract landscape where, increasingly, clients and contractors cannot understand each other’s objectives from contracts. In turn, this creates a commodity–based procurement and management process not geared up to define and deliver success.
How to solve this challenge?
The key is to be able to bridge the gap between the parties so that they each understand that the other has objectives to achieve and that neither side’s should be ignored. What’s needed is an independent focus on the contract itself, taking into account the aspirations of the client and contractor but, fundamentally, setting out, tracking, monitoring and openly discussing the objectives of the contract and ensuring it is, and is seen to be, a success.
The landscape does not currently support this without independent third-party intervention. A broker who can understand both organisations and their objectives, but deliver ongoing focus to the contract itself.
This is the future of FM outsourcing. It’s bringing the aspects of collaborative partnerships to life within a structured approach that has all parties signed up, engaged and trusting.
