Effective Positioning of Collaborative Outsourcing to Complement Existing Competencies

Outsourcing is a traditional approach aimed at allocating a specific business process to an external specialist provider. Some of the most commonly targeted business areas include information technology (IT), web design & maintenance, recruiting, and customer support. In most situations, an organization chooses to outsource when they cannot handle all aspects of the business process, however, there are times when outsourcing may be used to supplement in-house capabilities. Collaborative outsourcing is a new business model that offers additional benefits over typical outsourcing models that replace organizational resources or adding competencies to smaller organizations that do not have them in-house. The Seeker provides services to clients and wishes to reposition its capabilities to offer services that complement existing client competencies within large organizations. More details are available in the detailed challenge description. 

This is an Ideation Challenge with a guaranteed award for at least one submitted solution. 

Submissions to this Challenge must be received by 11:59 PM (US Eastern Time) on February 6, 2014. 

Late submissions will not be considered.

Some of the many advantages to outsourcing include cost savings, staffing flexibility, and reduction of risk. However, critical business objectives and strategic goals may be compromised in the primary endeavor to save money. Companies are beginning to take a smarter and more strategic approach to outsourcing. Collaborative outsourcing is additive – businesses gain knowledge and garner talent to strengthen their existing team while solidifying their position in the market. By configuring the best combination of services from a service provider, collaborative outsourcing allows easy access to resources and technologies to keep a business on the right track. Collaborative outsourcing can increase productivity in combination with sustainability. The Seeker wishes to expand its business beyond adding competencies to smaller companies that do not have them and provide collaborative services to larger institutions. The Seeker requires a strategy to deliver their unique sales proposition to new larger clients. 

This is an Ideation Challenge, which has the following unique features:

• There is a guaranteed award.  The awards will be paid to the best submission(s) as solely determined by the Seeker. The total payout will be $10,000, with at least one award being no smaller than $5,000 and no award being smaller than $2,000. 
• The Solvers are not required to transfer exclusive intellectual property rights to the Seeker.  Rather, by submitting a proposal, the Solvers grants to the Seeker a royalty-free, perpetual, and non-exclusive license to use any information included in this proposal, including for promotional purposes.

After the Challenge deadline, the Seeker will complete the review process and make a decision with regards to the Winning Solution(s). All Solvers that submit a proposal will be notified on the status of their submissions; however, no detailed evaluation of individual submissions will be provided.