Andrew Parker makes some good points (Outsourcing must not be a battle), but what a study cannot uncover is that innovation is something that occurs over time, not at the moment of signing the deal.

Assuming the contract is sensible, the client is still responsible for creating an environment that not only encourages innovation, but also measures it as part of the overall engagement scorecard.

I have worked with more than 20 outsourcing client engagements to develop the governance processes, and have found that clients sometimes create conditions which make service provider innovation impossible.

Clients often retain the very people who should go to the service provider to ensure innovation, so denying the service provider the most knowledgeable people, as well as creating immediate micromanagement and discord in the relationship.

Andrew Parker says owners of outsourcing relationships should make sure their colleagues appreciate the service provider innovating to hold down costs. He should try to walk in the shoes of a real owner of an outsourcing deal - often the most thankless and politically-charged role in an organisation.

Customers only care about themselves, not the service provider.  Relationship owners should focus on making sure that service levels really meet the needs of the consumers of the service. This is an area where I have frequently seen service levels revised, sometimes too late to correct consumer perceptions, which are hard to change once set.

Finally, clients frequently take far too long to raise issues that are impediments to the services and to innovation, partly through lack of experience but perhaps partly because they are afraid to damage their 'partnership'.

Allowing issues to fester is very damaging to a services relationship. For clients seeking innovation, intelligent management and sensitivity to the fact that the service provider's people are human beings are prerequisites to achieving a relationship in which innovation is possible.

Cynthia Batty