Extensive framework for the ‘what’; however, the ‘how’ remains omitted 

Outsourcing of IT is a growing market, in which outsourcing organizations experience the complexity of outsourcing IT on a regular basis. The appearance of the eSourcing Capability Model for Client Organizations (eSCM-CL) of the Carnegie Mellon University has resulted in a widespread model becoming available, which is aimed at the improvement of the sourcing capabilities of outsourcing organizations. This model also provides the possibility for certification of the maturity of outsourcing organizations. 

Quint Wellington Redwood has over 15 years of experience in supervision of IT outsourcing trajectories. With regard to this, the firm’s own phases model, the SGF model and other market standards are applied. Quint takes the view that e-SCM-CL and similar models are only important when these are applied correctly and with clear understanding. For that reason, Quint carried out a study into the applicability of the e-SCM-CL. 

Under the supervision of Quint’s sourcing experts Arno Hiemcke (Practice Leader Sourcing Strategy) and Arno IJmker (Senior Partner), Quint has published a report in which the eSCM-CL is extensively scrutinized. Apart from general characteristics, the study focussed specifically on the workability of the model in an offshore sourcing context. To this purpose, over forty customer organizations, offshore outsourcing service providers and experts in the field of offshore sourcing were interviewed. The researchers drew the conclusion that the eSCM-CL is a useful framework for the improvement of the capabilities of outsourcing organizations in the field of offshore sourcing but gave a few critical comments as well. 

Because the model aims to be generally applicable for all possible sourcing situations, the descriptions of the required capabilities are fairly abstract. Taking into account that the model is of sizeable proportions and fairly complex structure, organizations using the eSCM-CL may experience it as being ‘ponderous’.

This means that one needs thorough knowledge and experience for being able to apply the eSCM-CL practices. Should one aim for improvement and not certification, then Quint advises a pragmatic approach, by means of making a selection of the eSCM-CL practices that are the most relevant for the specific situation of the outsourcing organization. 

Arno IJmker: “In the current trend, in which organizations increasingly outsource activities and in doing so more often enter into multi sourcing relationships, we foresee a growing need for models that describe all relevant sourcing capabilities. With regard to this, the Phases Model and Quint’s SGF model do focus on the ‘what’ as well as on the ‘how’; however, the eSCM-CL model only concentrates on the ‘what’. This finding means that the eSCM-CL model is particularly suitable for large organizations that are experienced in sourcing.” 

Quint does not expect that eSCM-CL short term will gain a status in European countries that is comparable to that of other best practice frameworks such as ITIL, CMM-I or Cobit. To this end, the target group is too limited and the model is not immediately applicable in the majority of organizations. In cases where Quint does recognize the added value of the model, Quint will use (parts of) the eSCM-CL when setting up governance organizations and when improving sourcing capabilities. 

More information on Quint can be found at www.quintgroup.com