Companies commonly use outsourcing as a means to lower costs or cover an area of supply chain expertise they currently lack. These relationships also bring opportunities to collaborate on ways to improve operational efficiency. A type of outsourcing that offers these benefits and takes collaborative relationships to a higher level finds an individual or team of professionals from the vendor embedded in the client company’s organization.
The onsite vendor team is physically based on the client’s premises. It functions like an in-house unit even though it is still part of the provider’s organization. An onsite vendor resource can come in various configurations ranging from a single liaison role to a large multi-skilled team. While this arrangement ensures tight coordination between the vendor and client firms, it does pose some unique talent management challenges for all of the involved parties.