Thesourcingactivitiesarethefirststepsonapathofamostlylongtermandcloserelationshipwithaservice
provider
Sourcing for Operations IncludingOpsastorequirementsinRFIandRFPdocumentssignificantlybenefitstheoutcome.
DimitriGeelen
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1 Contracts 1.1 sourcing for Operational Readiness Whenaserviceistobesourcedwithanexternalprovider,therearesignificantbenefitsinincludingOpsastorequirementsinRFIandRFPdocuments.Additionally,forlargercontractsitisadvisabletoincludesomeoneintheselectioncommitteewithastrongconnectiontotheoperationalpartofyourorganisation.Fromthelong-termperspective,akeysuccessfactorofanoutsourcedserviceisthequalityoftherelationshipwiththeserviceprovider.Thisbecomesevenmoreimportantwhenservicesarebusinesscritical,becausetheseareoftenmoretailoredandyouwillneedtorelyonyourserviceprovidertounderstandyourneedsandabilitytodeliver.ThisiswelldescribedinKPMGpartnershipModel1Thesourcingactivitiesarethefirststepsonapathofamostlylongtermandcloserelationshipwithaserviceprovider.It’softenalsothefirstopportunitytoexchangeexpectations,toverifyassumptionsandthepointwhereyoustartbuildingacommonunderstandingoftheagreementthatisbeingputinplace.Theawardofaservicecontractmarksamilestoneforanupcoming,longtermandanoftentightrelationshipbetweenclientandserviceprovider.TheRFIandRFPsourcingeventsareopportunitiesforbothorganizationstoprepareforsuccessfulcontractexecution.EspeciallytheRFPeventprovidesastagetobuildacommonunderstanding,tobuildasharedvisiontroughtheexchangeofthoughts,ideasandtoalignexpectation
1.2 Understand what you need before seeking it Shoppingissomucheasierwhenweknowwhatwewantandwhatweneed.Samegoesforsourcing.Procuringanewserviceissomuchmoreeffectivewhenweknowwhatourorganisationwantandneeds.Foroperationalreadiness,Irecommendtoincludethefollowingthesourcingpackages.
1KPMG:StrategicVisionsontheSourcingMarker2016https://assets.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmg/pdf/2016/03/Strategic-Visions-on-the-Sourcing-Market-2016-25-11-2015.pdf
Figure1KPMG-Strategicvisiononthesourcingmarket-KPMG
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Ø DoaBusinessImpactAssessment(BIA)todeterminetheimpactofamajor
securityorreliabilityincident?Ø DeterminetheCriticality,AvailabilityandIntegrity(CAI)needsusingtheBIA
insights.Ø DeterminetheServiceLevelRequirementsusingtheCAIinsightsandother
businessneedsØ DeterminetheQuality(NonFunctional)RequirementsØ Indicateapreferenceforadeliverymodel(SaaS,ManagedService,In-house
hosting,etc.)Ø Determineifthereisaneedtointegrate/interfacewithothersystems.Ø Decideiftheserviceproviderisexpectedtoberesponsibleformanagingthe
end-to-endITService(i.e.takeontheroleofServiceIntegrator).Ø Decidewhoinyourorganisationwillbeend-to-endaccountablefortheSecure&
ReliableoperationoftheService.Whoeveristobeend-to-endAccountable,alsowillneedbetobecontract&budgetholder.Thisisimportanttoenablesuccessfulmanagementofcontractperformance.Onehasfarlessleverageifoneisnotpayingthebill.
1.3 The Request For Information (RFI) Aftertheinitialmarketscanwhereyouhaveresearchedwhichservices/productsthereareinthemarketthatcanfulfilyourneedsandwhichcompaniescandeliverthese,youprobablyhavealonglistofpossiblecandidates.TheRFI(Requestforinformation)stepisusedtoseparatethelikelylesssuccessfulBIDcandidatesfromthepossiblemoresuccessfulBIDcandidatesandtobringthelonglistbacktoashortermoremanageablelist.YouwillinvitetheremainingcandidatestoenterintoamoredetailedandmoreeffortintensiveRFPselectionround.ThecommonRFIapproachistorequesthigh-levelinformationthatenablesyoutoassessiftheprospectedproviderwouldinprincipletobecapabletodeliverandcansatisfytheknock-outcriteria,and(whenrelevant)ifasustainablerelationshipcanbebuiltup.(e.g.youmightwanttoknowifthecompanyhasexperiencewithasimilarproduct,hasglobalpresenceandholdscertainindustrystandardcertifications)ThereisnosetstandardfortheRFI,howevermyadviceis:“lessismore””Trytoaskafewbroadquestionsthatenableyoutoassessmaturity,capabilityonkeyrequirementsandalignmentonkeyprinciples,insteadofaskingforalotofdetails.Consider,youalsohavetoreviewalltheanswers.
1.4 The Request For Proposal (RFP) In the RFP step, you will go in more detail with a limited set of vendors. What you want to ask the vendors will depend on the situation. Questions should focus on trying to ensure secure and reliable operations, that there will be facilities in place to manage the service provider’s performance and to verify that Quality Requirements will be fulfilled. The output of the RFP can be used as input for the service transition, it provides the service scope and acceptance criteria.
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1.5 Example RFI and RFP Questions ID# Assurance
Category/ShortName
Details Whentorequest?RFIorRFP?
1 ArchitectureAssurance
Validatethatqualityrequirementsarebeingsatisfied
1.1 ApplicationCustomization
andConfigurations
1. Doesthe<serviceprovider>ServiceOfferingprovidetailoringcapabilities?
2. Ifso,canyoudescribeyourapproachtomanagetherisksofthesechangesnotadverselyimpactingcustomerabilitytofollowtheserviceupgradepath
RecommendedRFIlatestRFP
1.2 QualityAssuranceLandscapes
<serviceprovider>isrequestedtoprovidedetailsonavailablequalityassurancelandscapes(development,testandacceptance)besidestheproductionlandscape.Ifsuchlandscapesarenotpartofthecurrentserviceoffering,<serviceprovider>isrequestedtoconfirmsubscribingtodeliveryoftheselandscapesaspartoftheagreementbeforeservice
RecommendedRFIlatestRFP
1.3 TestingEngineering
Practices
<serviceprovider>isrequestedtosharetheirapproachesforunit,systemintegration,regressionanduseracceptancetestingandanytoolingusedtosupportthis.
RecommendedRFIlatestRFP
1.4 NetworkLatency
<serviceprovider>isaskedtoshowhowrequestsgetroutedfromanypointintheworld.Articulatethepointofstrategyfortraffickingrequestsfromacompany'slastmiletoitsdatacentreandback.
RecommendedRFIlatestRFP
1.5 Applicationresponsetime
CanyouIndicateifyoucanguarantee,andif,whattheguaranteedresponsetimesfromtheuserperspective(userinterface)areforparticularcommonusecases
RecommendedRFIlatestRFP
2 SupportModel DesignandimplementtheSupportmodel. 2.1 ServiceScope:
E2EApplicationService
If<serviceprovider>isexpectedtoberesponsibleformanagingtheend-to-endapplicationservicesolutionthenthisincludestheoperationsandservicemanagementoftheapplicationserviceandothersupportingservices.<service
RecommendedRFIlatestRFP
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provider>isrequestedtoconfirmsubscribingtothisexpectation.
2.2 ServiceScope:Service
IntegrationOperational
Responsibility
IfmultipleServicePartnersareneededtodelivertheApplicationService,<serviceprovider>isexpectedtoconsolidatetheseservicesbysubcontractingtheServicePartnersanddeliveringonesingleapplicationserviceto<Customer>.<serviceprovider>isrequestedtoconfirmsubscribingtothisexpectation.
RecommendedRFIlatestRFP
2.3 TheServiceSupportModel
diagram
<serviceprovider>requestedtosharetheirITsupportmodel*forthe<service>.Withinthissupportmodelwewouldliketoseeagraphicalrepresentationsof:
a. thesupportfunctionsb. theprovidersforthefunctionsc. thesupportrelationships
(interfaces/interactionsbetweenfunctions)
d. Escalationpaths*ifsuchaServiceSupportModelcannotbemadeavailableatthistime,<serviceprovider>isrequestedtoconfirmtheirsubscriptiontothejoineddevelopmentofthisSupportModelandittobecompletedbeforeservicecommencement
OptionalRFISuggestedRFP
2.4 TheServiceSupportModel–subcontracted
supportfunctions
1. IfaSupportFunctionissubcontracted,pleaseprovidedetailsonthesubcontractedservicepartnerandindicatewhetherthisisanewservicerelationshipwiththispartnerorifyouareprovidingsimilarserviceswiththispartnerforothercustomers.
2. HowInterfaceswith<Customer>systemsaretobemanaged
3. CommonSupportScenario’sandtheflowthroughtheSupportModel
OptionalRFISuggestedRFP
3 Contracts (Business)SLA,relatedOLA(‘s)andSOW’sandothercontract(s)withsubcontractors
3.1 End-to-EndServiceLevelObjectives
IfmultipleServicePartnersareneededtodelivertheService.<serviceprovider>isresponsibleforthedeliveryoftheservicesinaccordancewiththeServiceLevelAgreement.Whereadependencyexistsonthirdpartysupplierstoenable<serviceprovider>todelivertheservices,itisthesoleresponsibilityof<serviceprovider>tomanagethisdependency.<serviceprovider>is
RecommendedRFIlatestRFP
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requestedtoconfirmtosubscribingtothisapproachaspartoftheserviceagreement.
3.2 ServiceLevelObjectives
<serviceprovider>isrequestedtoconfirmtheirintentiontoalignthe<serviceprovider>serviceofferingtothe<Customer>ServiceLevelObjectives
RecommendedRFIlatestRFP
3.3 ServiceLevelAgreement
Theintentistheusethe<Customer>Templateasbasisfordraftingthe<serviceprovider><applicationservice>SLA.<serviceprovider>isrequestedtosubscribetothisapproachandtoindicateifthereareanyitemsintheSLAtemplate<serviceprovider>isnotableormaynotwishtoconformwith.Insuchacase,<serviceprovider>isinvitedtosuggestamendmentson,-andtextchangeproposalsto<Customer>theSLAtemplate.
RecommendedRFIlatestRFP
3.4 ITKeyPerformanceIndicators
(KPI)
<serviceprovider>isrequestedtosharethedetailsoftheKPI’sfortheir<applicationservice>Service.*TheKPI’srequestedare:1. ApplicationServiceManagement
KPI’s2. ApplicationLandscapePerformance
KPI’s*ifsuchKPI’sarenotavailableatthistime,<serviceprovider>isrequestedtoconfirmtheirsubscriptiontothejoineddevelopmentoftheseKPI’s
OptionalRFISuggestedRFP
3.5 RequestCatalogue
<serviceprovider>isrequestedtoprovidearequestcatalogue*indicatingitsbaseservicesanddiscretionaryservicesavailableto<Customer>withassociatedprices,conditionsandturn-aroundtimes.*ifarequestcatalogueisnotavailableatthistime,<serviceprovider>isrequestedtoconfirmtheirsubscriptiontothejoineddevelopmentoftherequestcatalogueandittobecompletedbeforeservicecommencement
OptionalRFISuggestedRFP
3.6 StartofserviceFeesandservice
commencement
<serviceprovider>isrequestedtosubscribetotheapproachthat:1. ServiceFeeswillnotbeapplicable
untilservicecommencementstarts,unlessotherwiseformallyagreed.
2. ServiceCommencementcannotstartuntil<serviceprovider>hasreceivedformalapprovalfrom<Customer>
RecommendedRFIlatestRFP
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3.7 ServiceCredits <serviceprovider>isrequestedtosubscribetoaservicecreditsmodel.Thismodelisintendedtobeusedtocalculatedeductionsoncontractchargesincasesupplierperformanceisbelowaspecifiedthreshold.<serviceprovider>istoconfirmwhethertheysubscribetousingthismodel.
RecommendedRFIlatestRFP
3.8 pre-emptiverecoveryrights
Doindividualcustomershavepre-emptiverecoveryrightsoverothers?Ifyes,thenpleasedescribethecircumstancesthatwouldallowthistohappen.Ifpre-emptiverecoveryrightsareallowed,thendescribethesupportedprocedures(andrelatedcontractualterms)thatenableacustomertohavetheserights.
RecommendedRFIlatestRFP
3.9 PeriodicBenchmark
<Customer>wishestoensureorverifyongoingperformanceofsupplierbymeansoftheoptiontoholdperiodicbenchmarks.<serviceprovider>isrequestedtoconfirmsubscribingtothisapproach.
RecommendedRFIlatestRFP
3.10 ChargingModel <serviceprovider>isrequestedtoprovideanoverviewofitspricingmodel:1.Theconsumablecomponentoftheserviceandtheircosts.2.Thecalculationmodelthatisusedtodeterminetheconsumptionandrelatedcostsforeachofthecomponents
OptionalRFISuggestedRFP
3.11 Escrow Vendorisrequestedtodescribehowlegalescrowwillbeprovidedsothatownershipofthe(IT)assetsisthatarerequiredinordertocontinueserviceistransferredincaseofasituationthataproviderlosesownershipofitsassets.
RecommendedRFIlatestRFP
3.12 ServiceExit <serviceprovider>isrequestedtoprovideaplanthatwillensurebusinesscontinuityduringandpostterminationofthecontract.Planshouldincludeatimeline,stages,milestones,keydeliverablesandclearlyidentifyvendorandcustomerresponsibilities.See3.ScheduleExitofAttachmentESMSLATerms&Conditions
OptionalRFISuggestedRFP
3.13 ServiceExit <serviceprovider>isaskedtoprovideanapproachtotechnicallyenablethe
OptionalRFISuggestedRFP
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servicetoberebuildindependentlyfromtheproviderfacilities.
4 Supportprocessesandtooling
Configureandupdaterelevant(ITILbased)processesandtools
4.1
SupportProcesses
<serviceprovider>isrequestedtosharedocumentationontheirprocessimplementationforthesupportprocesseslistedintheSupportProcessesAttachment.
RecommendedRFIlatestRFP
4.3 OtherServiceReports
<serviceprovider>isrequestedtomakeavailablealistandexamplesofotherservicereportsfortheirapplicationservice**ifsuchreportsarenotavailableatthistime,<serviceprovider>isrequestedtoconfirmtheirsubscriptiontothejoineddevelopmentofthesereportandittobecompletedbeforeservicecommencement
RecommendedRFIlatestRFP
4.4 TestingEngineeringPractices
<serviceprovider>isrequestedtosharetheirapproachesforunit,systemintegration,regressionanduseracceptancetestingandanytoolingusedtosupportthis.
RecommendedRFIlatestRFP
4.5 ServiceReleasePlanningApproach
1. Areallcustomersrequiredtoupgradetothenewversionwhenitisreleasedorisitpossibleforacustomertomigratetoanewerversionattheirdesiredmoment?
2. Ifitispossibleforthecustomertochoosewhentomigrate,
a. Arethereanylimitationstothisservice?
b. Arethereanycostsassociatedwiththisservice?
c. Arethereanyrisksassociatedwiththisservice?
3. If<serviceprovider>currentlydoesnotprovidesuchaservicetoitscustomers,<serviceprovider>isrequestedtoconfirmtheirsubscriptiondevelopingsuchafacilityandmakeitavailableto<Customer>beforethenextrelease
Aservicereleaseoftenwillrequire<Customer>involvement(testingandtrainingrequired,interfacesneedtobeupdated,etc.)andnotbeingabletocompleteintimecanhaveamajorimpact<Customer’s>abilitytousetheservice.RecommendedRFIlatestRFP
5 Supportcutoverplan
PlanthatdescribeshowafterGoLivesupportgraduallycanbetransferredformtheprojecttotheoperationandwhattheagreedexitcriteriaforAgreementtoOperate(AtO)are
5.1 ServiceTransition
<serviceprovider>isrequestedtoprovideaplanthatdescribeshowtheserviceistransitionedfromtheprojectphaseinto
OptionalRFISuggestedRFP
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thesupportphaseandthatensuresoperationalreadinessatthemomentofGoLive.Theplanshouldinclude:1. Atimeline,theprojectstages,
milestones,keydeliverablesandclearlyidentify<serviceprovider>andcustomerresponsibilities.
2. Theplanshouldalsoclearlyindicatewhatthepre-requisitesforservicecommencement(GoLivesupport)are.
3. Ifaprojectsupportwarrantyperiodapplies,whataretheguidelinesforitsdurationandwhataretheexitcriteriafortheprojectsupportwarrantyperiod?
AboutOPSASTO
OrganisationslosevaluebecausetheyhavetospendtheirenergyonmanagingissueslongaftertheintroductionofanewITservices.OPSASTO’sOperationalReadinesscanpreventthis.Thecoreideaistolookattheindividualabilityofpeopletodeliverwhatisexpectedandattheorganisations’capabilitytosupportthis.Weuseeightassuranceareastoguideourefforts.Theassurancesareasareournavigationaid.Theyhelpusfocusourattentionwhereitmatters,buttheyarenotadictate.CommonsenseprevailsinOPSASTO.Itistheteamthatmakesitworkandnottheprocessesortools.Itistheteamthatneedstodetermineiftheyarecapableandreadyandnotaprocessoraplan.
TheOPSASTOapproachisawrite-upofgoodpracticesfrommysevenyearsatShellasaSupportabilityandTransitionManagementLead(S&TMLead).S&TMstartedinShellaround2008aftertheformationoftheGlobalITServices&ApplicationManagementGroup.S&TMwastheresponsetothetroublesomeoperationofseveralnewglobalapplications.Ouraimwastogetaheadofthegameandengageearlyintheproject/programtoensureinoperationalreadiness.YoucouldsaythatSupportability&TransitionManagementisaholisticblendofthecombinedServiceDesign,TransitionandOperationideas.
S&TMhasnowbecomeaShellenterprise-wideapproachandhastakenaprominentroleinShell’sProjectDeliveryFramework.ThetoolingthatIdevelopedintheearlyyearshasbeenthebasisforthedevelopmentoftheenterprise-widetoolset.
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ThisworkislicensedunderaCreativeCommonsAttribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike4.0InternationalLicense.I’mmakingthesematerialsavailablewiththeintenttohelporganisationsandindividualstobuildvaluable,peoplefriendlyservices.Pleasefeel
encouragedtocontactmeforquestions,suggestionsand
observations.
