Work With Your Suppliers To Create A Network Of Innovation

Have you noticed how the word ‘outsourcing’ has fallen out of favor in the past few years? I have noticed one journal after another renaming their title to replace outsourcing with something that sounds more strategic – at the very least sourcing is replacing outsourcing.

I don’t think there is anything wrong with outsourcing as a process, it’s something we all do in our personal as well as our business lives. I pay an expert to service my car and when the bathroom floods, I’d rather get someone who knows what they are doing rather than me randomly taking a wrench to every water pipe in the house. This is exactly what companies have been doing for years when they hire other specialist companies to provide services.

But I think the change in how outsourcing is used reflects a growing realization that it is extremely difficult for any company to do everything they need to deliver their own service or products. The early days of the Ford auto company are a great example of a vertically integrated business. Ford bought up rubber plantations and lumber mills and would create everything they needed to manufacture a car.

This rarely happens today. A car manufacturer will source glass from a glass specialist and tires from a tire specialist, creating a complex supply chain that may involve thousands of suppliers. This supply chain helps spark innovation.

This is exactly where Watserv helps our clients. Any company in any industry will need storage and software and we help them to manage these systems inside a cloud. So we slot in to the supply chain by ensuring that the systems, storage, and processes designed by our clients can all function in the cloud.

The increased awareness that companies are no longer vertically integrated and are really a complex web of interconnected partners has led to a greater focus on the expertise and innovation of the suppliers and their products. Outsourcing used to all be about price – how low can you quote to deliver an ongoing service to a client? Now there is a much greater focus on how the network of suppliers can become greater than the sum of their parts.

Your suppliers are actually partners. They are an integral part of your supply chain and enable your business. They can do much more than just provide the contracted service. They can help and advise on your own digital transformation journey, be a constant source of innovation, and generally be a window onto the future for your own business.

If you are hiring specialists then why not tap into more than just the contacted services? Start thinking about your suppliers as a network of innovation partners and you can create a very powerful force for your business – a vision of the future from the experts that know your business inside-out.

I know many companies talk about the need for partnership, but I think there is a genuine change in the air at present. The complexity of supply chains is finally being appreciated and that’s great news for both clients and suppliers of services. Please send me a direct message on LinkedIn if you’d like to discuss this further. Would love to hear your thoughts.