If your expectations align with the results and the project stays within budget, it’s clear that your new outsourcing partner is doing well. However, if it’s difficult to evaluate this objectively at the initial stage, hire an independent consultant to conduct an audit. Ideally, if your business heavily relies on IT, hire a full-time in-house employee capable of assessing the outsourcing partner’s performance. Delegate both control and auditing tasks as well as day-to-day communication with the outsourcing partner to this person. At the same time, don’t forget to perform regular high-level oversight from your side to ensure everything runs smoothly.

Transitioning to a new IT outsourcing partner can be challenging, especially when it comes to maintaining quality control. The key is implementing the right strategies and tools to ensure consistent, high-quality output. For code quality audits, tools like SONAR can help identify issues early. For automation testing, leveraging a no-code platform like Robonito ensures faster, error-free regression testing with each release, even in complex environments. Robonito simplifies QA, streamlines workflows, and accelerates delivery timelines without compromising on quality. If your business is B2C with heavy traffic, adopting blue-green deployment strategies is crucial to minimize downtime and ensure seamless releases.

One thing which I have seen is reviewing the engagement for key points like SLA, controls, integrations, data management etc. This helps us to understand the concerns, risk and effectiveness of outsourcing the activity by limiting the risk associated.

Transitioning to a new IT outsourcing partner is common and the classic watchouts remain important. Leveraging proven strategies like clear documentation, meticulous planning, effective communication, continuous monitoring, proactive risk management, and setting SMART goals never fails to ensure seamless transition while maintaining high quality standards. Documenting requirements, crafting a detailed plan, and establishing robust communication channels keep everyone aligned paired with continuous performance monitoring, defining and measuring key performance indicators (KPIs) and setting SMART goals provides clear benchmarks for success. Alas, navigating the transition confidently, ensures the new partnership hits the ground running.

Outsourcing works best for repeatable services that aren’t unique to the business—like buying electricity rather than generating it. However, IT is far more nuanced. SLAs alone won't capture the quality of the provided service, nor the satisfaction levels of users. I’ve seen fully met SLAs alongside fully dissatisfied clients. What makes the difference? Engagement. An engaged client who communicates issues, frustrations and expectations allows for adjustments and continuous improvement. IT outsourcing thrives when there’s open, ongoing dialogue—because quality isn’t static, and an outsourced providers work best when they are also your partner.