I see it everyday. This is a critical document. If you ever had a reason to customize the heck out of something, this would be it.

What's happening is that there was some dissatisfaction [among clients of outsourcing firms] and in many cases there was revealed a lack of clarity on the part of the client. I think that clients, though, are starting to realize that just because a PEO is an expert in the field, it doesn't mean you don't need to be specific in telling them what your company wants.

Our research confirms the increasing sophistication and buying power of our network. Members see The Outsourcing Institute as not only a source for best practices but this new research confirms the growing impact of The Outsourcing Institute as a global marketplace for the buying and selling of outsourcing services. For 2006 we are expanding this role even further with new programs designed to increase the interactivity of the community and leverage the buying power of our members.

Across the board, the times we've seen dissatisfaction and disappointment in any outsourcing scenario typically has to do with the client organization being unclear as to what exactly they are hoping to have done and how they will measure their success. If you outsource any particular department within your company and it's a mess, you'll just end up with an outsourced mess.

With everyone being in a rush these days, the tendency is just to do a quick hand-off. But the more successful companies, the ones that are the happiest with the results, are those that take the time to fully assess where they are, do the due diligence internally and clean-up house before they hire the service providers.

We've seen a lot of satisfaction in the high-tech sector due to the industry's rapid growth and their need to focus limited resources on core business functions. But results differ for each industry.