How do you determine the core/non-core split of current business processes to decide what to outsource?
The simple split of activities into core (critical) and non-core, (commodity, low value- adding activities that are not competitive differentiators) is no longer a prime determinant of what to outsource. Companies should outsource activities in which they do not have (or do not want to have, or are not able to have) a privileged asset. As the business web becomes increasingly inter-connected and complex and as the pace and intensity of change increases, core has come to mean anything which enables companies to deliver speed, agility and flexibility the true competitive differentiators. And this core is increasingly being delivered in partnership with outsourcers enabling effective access to best practice, defined in terms of business infrastructure and transformation capability. The conventional wisdom that companies should own or control their privileged assets remains valid but the definition of core, and hence the game, has changed.
