Tips for Would-Be Outsourcers

Anne Thompson Reed, former Agriculture Department chief information officer and president of the State and Local Government Solutions unit of Electronic Data Systems Corp., now heads Acquisition Solutions Inc., an Oakton, Va., consulting firm led by former federal officials. These are among her suggestions for how to avoid outsourcing pitfalls:

• Frame the objectives carefully and make sure both the agency managers and the outsourcing contractor understand what you are really trying to achieve.
• Make sure the due diligence process is thorough and the current condition of the operation that will be outsourced is clear to all parties. There may be some unknowns, but everyone should understand what is known and what is not.
• Plan the transition and determine how you will oversee program performance as you develop your acquisition strategy. "If you wait until the day you sign the contract, you've just introduced a huge element of risk," she says.
• Focus on outcomes, rather than how the work is accomplished. But recognize that both agency employees and contractors will have to be trained to move away from the specifications-based management environment.