Procurement and Outsourcing

Procurement and Outsourcing

Selecting the right outsourced provider

The reasons you may wish to change a current outsourced provider are numerous, for example: service standards that have diminished, failure to meet agreed deadlines, fee levels that have risen steeply, a change in business circumstances.  However, moving from one service provider to another is an important, complex and long term decision which cannot be taken lightly.

At Pi Consulting we are ideally placed to assist you in this process.  Given our expert understanding of service requirements, ability to match service provision with our clients' objectives and freedom from conflicts of interest,  potential providers are able work enthusiastically with Pi.

Pi Consulting's approach includes:

• Provider pre-qualification selection process – identifying interested and suitable providers
• Management of full tender process (including compilation of detailed tender document, evaluation of responses)
• Organisation and chairing of presentations
• Leadership and co-ordination of site visits, where required
• Assistance in obtaining of references
• Project management of transfer to new service provider(s)
• Overall project leadership to an agreed timetable.

The result – an outsourced provider that is the right fit for you!

Project Example - Alpha

A large bank with four different pension schemes for its many employees, each with a different Investment Consultant.  The client had plans to merge the schemes at some time in the future; however, the sheer volume of email traffic / telephone calls etc. from the various providers that the Bank’s Pension Manager had to deal with was vast.  The Bank’s interim goal was to substancially reduce the number of providers.

Pi Consulting was called on to assist the client in selecting one Investment Consultant to look after all the schemes.  Being a bank, the Trustees were very knowledgeable on investment matters; however, the Trustees found that their knowledge did not extend to the market of occupational pension scheme Investment Consultants.  Pi spent time identifying the Trustees’ objectives and were then able to assist them in narrowing a long list of Investment Consultants to a few potential 'best fits'.

Following a tailored tender process and a further reduction in the Consultancies included, Pi ran a presentation day, giving the Trustees the opportunity to meet the team that would provide their consultancy service, should they be appointed.  The decision was not straightforward – there were a large number of Trustees involved in the decision making process and opinions varied!  Pi helped the Trustees to adopt an objective approach to the decision making process.  The result?  An Investment Consultant that is the right fit for our client.