Spending a holiday stuck in the departure lounge of an airport is not anyone’s idea of relaxation. Sadly, a massive IT fault left many passengers of British Airways (BA) in this exact situation, with the company blaming the fault on a power spike at its outsourced IT division in India. Sadly, blaming the outsourcing company is rather cliché, but the benefits of the sourcing outweigh the negatives. This is especially true if both buyers and service providers adhered to best practice which through transparency and communication helps avoid these fallouts.

Cost cutting can come from both sides of a contract, with decisions impacting on long running business operating models and leaving firms vulnerable to disruption. The BA disruption was caused primarily through a lack of appreciation for risk at the parent company, with limited and outdated plans for recovery in the case of technical disruption. As always, proper planning and good communication are a necessity, you can’t simply blame a service provider.

Kerry Hallard, CEO of the Global Sourcing Association (GSA) is available for comment, please contact jamest@gsa-uk.com or call 44 (0)7432 267 543.

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