Planning Your IT Outsourcing Transition for Success – Part 2 (Governance)

Welcome back to our 6-part series designed to guide you through the planning and execution of your IT Outsourcing Transition Journey. In our first article, we discussed how to prepare and begin planning for the transition, including laying out the full scope, gathering requirements, identifying risks, drafting a timeline, and determining key personnel and activities.

In this second installment, we will delve into the importance of Transition Governance and how to establish an effective Governance Framework for your transition.

Transition Phase 2 – Governance

• Transition Governance Structure
• Transition Governance Meeting Cadence
• Transition Governance Processes & Artifacts
• Contract Deliverables & Obligations
• Communications & OCM Strategy

Transition Governance Structure

A robust Transition Governance Structure is essential for managing and guiding your organization through a successful transition. While Managed Service Providers (MSPs) often propose to lead the entire transition, it is advisable for your organization to oversee the overall Transition & Program Governance. This ensures neutrality, transparency, effective communication, coordination with other suppliers, and integrated planning with other projects.

The governance structure typically follows a 3-Tier Level Governance Model, which includes:

1. Strategic Level: This highest level provides oversight and guidance, ensuring resource commitments, priority alignment, and addressing escalations. Participants include the CIO, IT Leadership, Transition Director, MSP Account & Delivery Executives, and business leaders. Responsibilities include resolving conflicts, making contractual decisions, approving key deliverables, and championing the transition.
2. Program Level: At the heart of Transition Governance, this level focuses on enabling a successful transition to the new operating model and ensuring knowledge and service transfer to the new MSP(s). Led by the Transition Program Director/Lead, participants include Supplier Transition leads, Operations/Domain Managers, Supplier Delivery Managers, and OCM leads. Responsibilities include controlling the program, monitoring activities, providing guidance, resolving conflicts, managing escalations, and overseeing communications and change management.
3. Operational Level: This level consists of workstream and technical leads, and subject matter experts from both the organization and the MSP(s). They ensure the delivery of activities and tasks as identified in the Transition Plan. Responsibilities include performing knowledge transfer, updating RAID logs, managing tool integration, granting system access, providing infrastructure setup, updating documentation, and communicating status and risks.

Transition Governance Meetings

Several meetings need to be established before the transition begins. These meetings, documented in the contract Governance and Transition Schedules, include:

• Transition Kick-off: Transition overview, timeline, introduction to Supplier(s), guiding principles, meeting cadence, RAID log.
• ITMO Governance Check-In: Review of Transition governance, timeline, KPIs, concerns, rumor mill.
• Daily Workstream Standup: Individual workstream check-in on progress, blockers, or support needed.
• Joint Workstream Standup: Each workstream check-in on progress, blockers, or support needed.
• ITMO RAID: Review High/Medium Risks, Issues, Actions, Decisions.
• ITMO Program Status: High-level review of Transition timeline, workstream status, and High RAID items.
• ITMO SteerCo Status: SteerCo Program review: Status, High RAID items, OCM, key topics.
• Executive Sponsor Meeting: ETLT discussions on Transition Program, Suppliers, Costs, Org changes, etc.
• Workstream Toll Gate Reviews: Toll Gate exit/acceptance reviews by workstream.
• Ad-hoc Meetings: As needed.

Transition Governance Processes & Artifacts

The Transition Director and team will manage the program timeline, processes, and associated artifacts. Typical artifacts include:

• Transition Governance: Transition Governance Framework, Guiding Principles, RACI, OCM & Communications, Escalation Management
• Transition Program Status: Weekly Program Status, SteerCo Program Status
• Integrated Transition Plan: Integrated Transition Plan & Approval Tracking
• RAID Log
• Other Tracking Documents: Decision & Change Tracker
• Transition Performance: Consolidated Resource & Onboarding Log, Contract Deliverables & Obligations
• Transition Kickoff Materials

Contract Deliverables & Obligations

Understanding and tracking the deliverables and obligations in the MSP contract is crucial.  It is important to read the contract, understand and track the associated Transition and Governance deliverables and obligations (D&O), such as Transition Milestones and associated payments.

I recommend establishing a matrix to track items such as contract schedule references, description, criteria, evidence, due dates, frequency, responsibility and status.

Communications & OCM Strategy

Effective Organizational Change Management (OCM) and communication planning are vital for keeping IT & Business Leaders, employees, stakeholders, and MSP(s) informed and prepared for the transition. Key benefits include building awareness, defining stakeholder alignment, providing timely information, and developing a communications strategy for key events.

The OCM function, typically reporting to the Program Sponsor or Transition Director, must align with the transition team and timeline before communicating with stakeholders. This function is critical for the creation and management of the communications plan, the tracking of the communication process, events, and schedule, ongoing feedback loops and support to Human Resources for organizational changes, and the end user training enablement.

I trust this article has offered valuable insights into the establishment of an effective Transition Governance Framework and underscored its critical role in ensuring a successful transition.

In our next installment, we will explore Phase 3: Transition Readiness, Kickoff, and Knowledge Acquisition.

Contact the Author

Shelly Barnes is a high performing entrepreneurial minded executive with over 20 years demonstrated success leading Managed Services Transitions, Organization Change Management, IT Transformations and M&A Integrations. 

Shelly Barnes
Principal Consultant, Acacia Advisors
Email: SBarnes@ChooseAcacia.com

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