Outsourcing business units can help companies gain access to skills they do not have and also drive down operating costs and capital expenditure, but when embarking on outsourcing one should be very careful, said an expert.

You have to be very careful and make sure you get it right and avoid a lot of pitfalls, cautioned Paul Allen, head of intellectual property and technology at global law firm DLA Piper.

Allen was speaking at a seminar organised by the law firm with the Bahrain Association of Banks (BAB) at the Gulf Hotel on Tuesday.

Speakers from DLA Piper Middle East and BAB shed light on key issues organisations face when considering outsourcing and covered topics such as regional outsourcing and managed services trends and root cause analysis of deal failures plus the secrets of outsourcing success and getting the contract right.

Case studies illustrated successful examples of outsourcing deals from the telecoms and health services industries as part of what was a dynamic, interactive and engaging event for procurement, IT and legal professionals with an interest in operational efficiencies, managed services and outsourcings.

"Across the region, private and public sector organisations are looking for effective ways to reduce operational costs, improve speed to market and gain access to in-demand skills to enhance their operations," said Allen.

"Outsourcing and managed services offer proven solutions to many current business and public sector challenges.

"Even so, time and time again, the procurement and implementation of these solutions can be mismanaged, leading to potentially catastrophic business damage as well as injury to market reputation.

"It is critical to businesses and public sector organisations alike that any outsourcing effort is well-managed, from concept to implementation," he added.

"As an organisation, one of our core objectives is to encourage and enable our members in the banking sector to adopt best practices in everything that they do," said BAB chief executive Robert Ainey.

"Today's event was a success in highlighting the fact that outsourcing can bring real business benefits, provided it is procured, implemented and managed effectively and that best practice is adopted at every stage of the process.

"It is clear that organisations choosing to outsource as a solution to business challenges, regardless of sector, should seek out robust legal advice to help minimise business risk," he added.-TradeArabia News Service