Have you planned your exit? Exit management of an outsourcing agreement

Key Points:

Going into an outsourcing agreement without setting out your exit strategy could be a very expensive mistake.

Although it may not be obvious to focus on the end before entering into an outsourcing agreement with a supplier, this is the best time to be planning for the eventual termination or expiry of the agreement, as everyone wants to finalise the deal and establish good working relationships.

Once the agreement has ended, it will be much more difficult to agree the arrangements for transitioning the outsourced services back to the customer or to another supplier, particularly if the contract is being terminated for the supplier's breach. Without these arrangements, however, it will be hard for the customer to ensure business continuity or easily re-tender the services.