Capability Area

Life-cycle Phase

Capability Level

Practice Type

©2006-2007 by Carnegie Mellon University. All rights reserved.

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SOURCING LIFE-CYCLE

CompletionDelivery

InitiationAnalysis

CAPABILITY AREAS

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About the eSCM-CL� e eSourcing Capability Model for Client Organizations (eSCM.CL) is a “best practices” capability model with two purposes: (1) to give client organizations guidance that will help them improve their capability across the sourcing life-cycle, and (2) to provide client organizations with anobjective means of evaluating their sourcing capability.

Its 95 Practices are arranged along three dimensions: Sourcing Life-cycle, Capability Areas, and Capability Levels. � e Sourcing Life-cycle includes Analysis, Initiation, Delivery, and Completion, each of which represents an individual phase of the Life-cycle, plus Ongoing, which spans the entire Life-cycle. Capability Areas are groupings of Practices with similar content and focus. Capability Levels represent a path of improvement for client organizations.

For more information about this Practice or the Model, please consult the eSCM-CL v1.1: Practice Details.

eSCM-CL Practice Page eSCM-CL v1.1

Sourcing Provider Evaluation

Initiation

Level 2

Procedure

spe01Communicate Requirements

spe218 Part 2 The eSourcing Capability Model for Client Organizations (eSCM-CL) v1.1 219

4. Identify schedule for communicating requirements to prospective service providers.

Y � e overall schedule for selecting service providers was developed in pln03, “Service provider selection procedures.” � e information that should be communicated to service providers regarding schedule may include the schedules for releasing documented requirements (RFI, RFP, and RFQ); confi rming existing conditions; receiving queries and clarifi cations required by potential service providers, and responding to queries and clarifi cations raised by potential service providers.

5. Identify prospective service providers to be considered in the service provider selection process.

Y Once the requirements communications team has been established, researching the service provider market to identify prospective service providers occurs, based on the needs of this sourcing action. Refer to knw03, “Market information.”

6. Identify contact personnel for each of the prospective service providers.

Y All communication regarding the requirements and service provider selection should be between the contact personnel for the client organization and the designated contact personnel of the potential service providers.

7. Communicate requirements to the prospective service providers.

Y Communication of the requirements is based on the schedule and the approach (e.g., RFI, RFP, or RFQ). Refer to pln05, “Prepare service requirements,” regarding the preparation, review and approval of the document for communicating requirements to prospective service providers.

8. Maintain documentation on the communication and acceptance by the prospective service providers.

Y Communication of requirements is typically performed by the client interaction team, since it is likely to have the most detailed knowledge about the client requirements.

9. Respond to queries and clarifi cations required by the prospective service providers.

a) Collect queries and clarifi cations required by the prospective service providers.

b) Identify relevant personnel for obtaining responses to queries and clarifi cations required by the prospective service providers, based on the type of query and the service provider selection team assignment.

c) Coordinate responses to queries and clarifi cations required by the prospective service providers with the relevant personnel.

d) Respond to queries and clarifi cations required by the potential service providers.

10. Collect responses to the requirements from the potential service providers.

11. Communicate responses to requirements from the potential service providers to relevant stakeholders.

Y Not all portions of all responses need be distributed to all stakeholders. For example, a cost and fi nancial analysis team may review the fi nancial aspects of the response. Refer to spe02, “Evaluate potential service providers,” regarding this evaluation.

12. Maintain records of the requirements, responses to queries and clarifi cations required by the potential service providers, and the responses to requirements from the potential service providers.

c. Support the implementation of communicating requirements to prospective service providers.

spe01

Sourcing Provider Evaluation

Initiation

Level 2

Procedure

Communicate Requirements

Communicate requirements to prospective service providers according to documented selection procedures.

As the client organization moves to selecting potential service providers, it must have some mechanism for communicating requirements and soliciting responses from the service providers who may wish to provide services to the client organization. � is could be through ongoing relationships and contacts with service providers or could be through more formal mechanisms, such as Requests for Information (RFI) and Requests for Proposal (RFP). Engaging potential service providers is critical to having a qualifi ed pool of service providers to select from.

Many organizations choose to solicit the internal functions to provide services, generating an internal case for comparison, as well as impetus for possible internal improvements. Organizations that invited both internal and external bids had a higher relative frequency of success than organizations that merely compared a few external bids to current performance [Lacity 1995, 1998, 2001].

Failure to follow standard procedures in soliciting prospective service providers can lead to inconsistencies in responses, potential for poor communications between the client and service provider organizations, and serve as a potential source of risks or failures in future activities. Consistency in actions with prospective service providers may also be required for compliance with ethical and legal requirements on the selection process.

� is Practice is closely related to pln05, “Prepare service requirements.” � is Practice provides the communication necessary to inform potential service providers of the client organization’s needs, so that these service providers may provide the responses related to spe02, “Evaluate potential service providers.” Procedures for service provider selection are defi ned in pln03, “Service provider selection procedures,” and the requirements to be communicated are defi ned in pln05, “Prepare service requirements.”

Activities

a. Provide support for creating and maintaining the work products and tasks for communicating requirements to prospective service providers according to the documented selection procedures.

b. Document and implement the work products and tasks required for communicating requirements to prospective service providers according to the documented selection procedures. Documentation and implementation include the following Activities:

1. Establish team or contact for communicating requirements to prospective service providers.

Y Alternative back-up contact personnel could also be identifi ed, to facilitate required communication in the event of primary contact’s absence.

2. Select methods and media for communicating requirements.

Y � e requirements to be communicated are documented in pln05, “Prepare service requirements.” Selection of methods and media is intended to ensure that potential service providers are adequately briefed, informed and involved. Communication methods include usage of standard templates, forms, and structured meetings. Structured meetings typically have an agenda, mechanisms for handling confl icts and reaching conclusions, and records of what transpired. Factors considered in choosing specifi c methods include location, personnel, type of information exchanged, extent of details communicated, and understandability of terms.

3. Defi ne methods for responding to queries and clarifi cations.

spe01

spe218 Part 2 The eSourcing Capability Model for Client Organizations (eSCM-CL) v1.1 219

4. Identify schedule for communicating requirements to prospective service providers.

Y � e overall schedule for selecting service providers was developed in pln03, “Service provider selection procedures.” � e information that should be communicated to service providers regarding schedule may include the schedules for releasing documented requirements (RFI, RFP, and RFQ); confi rming existing conditions; receiving queries and clarifi cations required by potential service providers, and responding to queries and clarifi cations raised by potential service providers.

5. Identify prospective service providers to be considered in the service provider selection process.

Y Once the requirements communications team has been established, researching the service provider market to identify prospective service providers occurs, based on the needs of this sourcing action. Refer to knw03, “Market information.”

6. Identify contact personnel for each of the prospective service providers.

Y All communication regarding the requirements and service provider selection should be between the contact personnel for the client organization and the designated contact personnel of the potential service providers.

7. Communicate requirements to the prospective service providers.

Y Communication of the requirements is based on the schedule and the approach (e.g., RFI, RFP, or RFQ). Refer to pln05, “Prepare service requirements,” regarding the preparation, review and approval of the document for communicating requirements to prospective service providers.

8. Maintain documentation on the communication and acceptance by the prospective service providers.

Y Communication of requirements is typically performed by the client interaction team, since it is likely to have the most detailed knowledge about the client requirements.

9. Respond to queries and clarifi cations required by the prospective service providers.

a) Collect queries and clarifi cations required by the prospective service providers.

b) Identify relevant personnel for obtaining responses to queries and clarifi cations required by the prospective service providers, based on the type of query and the service provider selection team assignment.

c) Coordinate responses to queries and clarifi cations required by the prospective service providers with the relevant personnel.

d) Respond to queries and clarifi cations required by the potential service providers.

10. Collect responses to the requirements from the potential service providers.

11. Communicate responses to requirements from the potential service providers to relevant stakeholders.

Y Not all portions of all responses need be distributed to all stakeholders. For example, a cost and fi nancial analysis team may review the fi nancial aspects of the response. Refer to spe02, “Evaluate potential service providers,” regarding this evaluation.

12. Maintain records of the requirements, responses to queries and clarifi cations required by the potential service providers, and the responses to requirements from the potential service providers.

c. Support the implementation of communicating requirements to prospective service providers.

spe01

Sourcing Provider Evaluation

Initiation

Level 2

Procedure

Communicate Requirements

Communicate requirements to prospective service providers according to documented selection procedures.

As the client organization moves to selecting potential service providers, it must have some mechanism for communicating requirements and soliciting responses from the service providers who may wish to provide services to the client organization. � is could be through ongoing relationships and contacts with service providers or could be through more formal mechanisms, such as Requests for Information (RFI) and Requests for Proposal (RFP). Engaging potential service providers is critical to having a qualifi ed pool of service providers to select from.

Many organizations choose to solicit the internal functions to provide services, generating an internal case for comparison, as well as impetus for possible internal improvements. Organizations that invited both internal and external bids had a higher relative frequency of success than organizations that merely compared a few external bids to current performance [Lacity 1995, 1998, 2001].

Failure to follow standard procedures in soliciting prospective service providers can lead to inconsistencies in responses, potential for poor communications between the client and service provider organizations, and serve as a potential source of risks or failures in future activities. Consistency in actions with prospective service providers may also be required for compliance with ethical and legal requirements on the selection process.

� is Practice is closely related to pln05, “Prepare service requirements.” � is Practice provides the communication necessary to inform potential service providers of the client organization’s needs, so that these service providers may provide the responses related to spe02, “Evaluate potential service providers.” Procedures for service provider selection are defi ned in pln03, “Service provider selection procedures,” and the requirements to be communicated are defi ned in pln05, “Prepare service requirements.”

Activities

a. Provide support for creating and maintaining the work products and tasks for communicating requirements to prospective service providers according to the documented selection procedures.

b. Document and implement the work products and tasks required for communicating requirements to prospective service providers according to the documented selection procedures. Documentation and implementation include the following Activities:

1. Establish team or contact for communicating requirements to prospective service providers.

Y Alternative back-up contact personnel could also be identifi ed, to facilitate required communication in the event of primary contact’s absence.

2. Select methods and media for communicating requirements.

Y � e requirements to be communicated are documented in pln05, “Prepare service requirements.” Selection of methods and media is intended to ensure that potential service providers are adequately briefed, informed and involved. Communication methods include usage of standard templates, forms, and structured meetings. Structured meetings typically have an agenda, mechanisms for handling confl icts and reaching conclusions, and records of what transpired. Factors considered in choosing specifi c methods include location, personnel, type of information exchanged, extent of details communicated, and understandability of terms.

3. Defi ne methods for responding to queries and clarifi cations.

spe01

Carnegie Mellon University’s ITSqc is a multidisciplinary group of researchers, practitioners, and organizations that addresses the needs of IT-enabled service providers and their clients. To that end, the ITSqc develops quality models and qualifi cation methods for organizations involved in eSourcing. The eSCMs are sets of complimentary best practices that are fast becoming the standard for sourcing relationships on both sides of the service relationship: service providers and clients. Organizations may be certifi ed at one of fi ve levels based on their use of, and adherence to, the best practices in these Models.

Information Technology Services Qualifi cation Center (ITSqc)Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3891Additional copies are available at the ITSqc website at http://itsqc.cmu.edu

Excerpted from Technical Report No. CMU-ITSQC-06-003Hefl ey, W.E. and Loesche, E.A. The eSourcing Capability Model for Client Organizations (eSCM-CL) v1.1: Practice Details

Published September 27, 2006, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

Internal use: Permission to reproduce this document and to prepare derivative works from this document for internal use is granted, provided the copyright and “No Warranty” statements are included with all reproductions and derivative works.

External use: Except as permitted by Consortium agreements, requests for permission to reproduce this document or prepare derivative works of this document for external and commercial use should be addressed to the ITSqc Director.

No WarrantyThis Carnegie Mellon University material is furnished on an “as-is” basis. Carnegie Mellon University makes no warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied, as to any matter including, but not limited to, warranty of fi tness for purpose or merchantability, exclusivity, or results obtained from use of the material. Carnegie Mellon University does not make any warranty of any kind with respect to freedom from patent, trademark, or copyright infringement.

Implementing Practices Using Required ActivitiesMajor Activities a and c in every Practice cover the tasks that need to be implemented to ensure that the organization can perform a Practice in a repeatable and consistent way. All Required Activities in Major Activities a and c are applied regardless of whether a Practice is a policy, procedure, guideline, program, plan, or other Practice. Each of the a and c Required Activities is directly linked to one or more Practices, called Sup-port Practices which support the institutionalization of every eSCM-CL Practice. Each of the eight Required Activities in Major Activities a and c, and their relationships with the Support Practices, are shown in the table below. For more information, please consult the eSCM-CL v1.1: Practice Details.

CAPABI LITY LEVEL 2

CAPABI LITYLEVEL 3

a. Provide support for creating and maintaining the work products and tasks for x.

1. Provide sponsorship and resources for creating the work products and tasks. str01 knw01

str01 knw01 gov04

2. Involve relevant stakeholders in creating, improving, reviewing, and approving

the work products and tasks as appropriate.

ocm02 knw01

ocm02 knw01 gov04

3. Maintain and improve the work products and tasks as appropriate. knw01 knw01 gov04 val04

b. Document and implement the work products and tasks required for x.

c. Support the implementation of x.

1. Communicate the availability and location of the work products and tasks to relevant stakeholders. knw01 knw01 knw02

2. Provide resources to effectively perform the work. knw01 knw01 knw02 ocm03

3. Assign qualifi ed personnel the responsibility, authority, and accountability to perform the work. ppl01 ppl02

ppl01 ppl02 ppl04

4. Communicate planned actions and their outcomes to relevant stakeholders. knw01 knw01 knw02

5. Verify that the work is consistently and effectively performed according to the

work products and tasks.

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©2006-2007 by Carnegie Mellon University. All rights reserved.

eSCM-CL v1.1