Defining the Service Integrator

Service integrators want to run your multisourcing model for you. They are third-party providers—usually the larger IT services firms—that marshal and manage a network of IT providers on your behalf. Service integrators share governance with their clients, set and run the mechanisms and interfaces between providers and guarantee end-to-end service delivery to make multisourcing work. They do this by offering best-in-class service management tooling, contractual mechanisms to yoke providers together and the feedback loops that shape and set the strategic direction of service delivery.

The trigger to using one centers on how well firms can handle multisourcing: Those wishing to move from a single source relationship to a multisourcing model make good candidates to engaging one, so do those struggling to get their multisourcing model to perform and want the “one throat to choke” for better control. Essential questions to ask as you investigate using a service integrator should include:

How can you ensure that the service integrator works on an impartial basis?
How can you price the engagement?
What’s the best way to pick the right provider?
How much control should you hand over?
Control is the quid pro quo—using a service integrator means they forgo revenue but become partners to your business.