Looking for / checking out suppliers for product 
or process outsourcing ~

As you look for and find more opportunities to outsource you need 
to manage the risk involved in this. Outsourcing your non-core competencies, 
processes that aren't central to your success with your customers, or products
that can be developed by others for your customers gives you cost, attention and
other advantages. It also introduces risk that you don't have when you do it all
yourself.

Due diligence helps you figure out how to mitigate those risks, and to know what 
contingency plans you will need for particular supplier partners.

• Will they deliver on plan?
• Will they meet quality requirements?
• Will the products meet security and safety requirements?
• Can they meet their service level commitment?
• Will they be able to maintain a service level over a period of time?
• Can they accommodate changes to requirements, or new technology?

These are some of the questions that come up when evaluating risks for candidate parters
in outsourcing processes or products.

The risks can be managed, if we know about them  We can identify them by evaluating candidate
 suppliers using standard criteria, e.g., CMMI, P-CMM, ISO27001, ISO12000. These standards 
represent best practices that mature organizations follow in their management, engineering, or 
service support work.

An evaluation of a candidate supplier using a standard reference model produces a profile of areas
where the candidate supplier 's practices are strong, similar to the reference model, or weak because 
they don't do some things included in the reference model. 

Knowing these weaknesses or gaps enables you to manage the risks these weaknesses represent. 
You may require they improve their processes, use your processes,  or set up controls so that you can
monitor their performance in these problematic areas. You may seek a second, back-up supplier
or define other contingencies.

Before entrusting a key part of your service and supply chain to a supplier, you need to know and
manage their risks, so that their problems won't become your problems .

PATech provides evaluations, informal, or formal, building on suppliers' own, internal assessments, 
or entirely independent. We also support planning and support afterwards, to manage risks identified. 

Independent from the candidate suppliers, and with rich, extensive experience assessing processes
we provide the information you need to succeed.