close Risk
Managing risk is a key element for getting the best out of your partnerships and service providers. Risk is about delegation of tasks and trusting your provider to deliver on time at the right quality. Producing the right contract and creating performance indicators all help to achieve elements of risk sharing. Therefore rate how the data production you need is a risk sharing exercise.

close Training
Training is a key element of setting the minimum standards of staff who are employed by your service provider. How often do you have to do this? How many times do you have to manage the influx of new contract workers to get them to the right competency levels? How much time do you or your staff spend carrying out technology transfer exercises or repeating the work?

close Productivity
Related to risk. How much output you get from the providers you use? The contract you have with your provider should have elements related to the production of data and the efficiency of that operation. Therefore rate how productive your provider is

close Continuity
Continuity is the measure of consistency of service, usually related to the people you work with. If they are the same over a significant period then the rating is high. If the people change often the rating is low. Continuity will have a direct impact on training input by yourself and the level of productivity gained.

close Supervision
How often do you or your staff manage your service provider? Utilising contract workers will have a direct impact on the business having to manage the work-load and time of the individuals employed. Using external sources will have a different impact. Therefore rate where you feel it is now.

close Cost
How much do you pay? If you have benchmarks how do you rate this cost against the other option(s).

close Capital Assets
Most technology business have capital assets such as lab equipment but it is worthwhile considering the knowledge your staff hold. Does your service provider release this time and intelligence or do they demand so much time that getting staff to focus on core projects and ideas is difficult and even stressful for them.

close Responsiveness
Responsiveness is about delivering on time, meeting deadlines problem solving and coming back with solutions not problems. Please rate your service provider accordingly.

close Flexibility
Flexibility is about reacting to change, being able to alter processes and alter work patterns to the benefit of your diverse programs.