The pressure on companies to save money has never been greater. Outsourcing can help you focus capital and resources on what you do best, provide higher-quality support, increase flexibility and control costs. But while some outsourcing activities are fairly straightforward, those involving bespoke business processes and crucial applications can be very complex, with a host of legal and tax issues such as due diligence on rights of affected employees, creation of tax-efficient strategies and structures, improving internal data protection and privacy control, and updating financial accounting and corporate compliance control systems to accommodate third-party involvement.
Baker & McKenzie has extensive experience in outsourcing agreements and bring to clients a unique perspective that comes from having represented both users and providers of outsourced services. We understand the objectives and needs of both sides and can help them obtain a "fair/fair" outcome by treating the negotiation process as a starting point for building trust and the foundation of a long and mutually beneficial relationship. In addition to specific knowledge on outsourcing transactions, we are able to deliver all supporting legal competencies needed for a successful outcome, wherever and whenever you require them.
You are likely to need our outsourcing counsel if:
- You need to save money quickly — almost all companies are looking at their supply chains and outsourcing as a source of potential savings
- You have an existing outsourcing contract signed when the economic outlook was brighter. Many companies with outsourcing agreements are having to review existing deals with a view to renegotiating volume commitments and pricing to reflect reduced volumes and revised lower forecasts
- You have not previously outsourced any function, application or process
- You have previously outsourced infrastructure or application development, but not more complex business functions (e.g. HR, F & A, procurement etc)
- Others in your industry have outsourced major processes; you may need to do the same to remain competitive on costs and/or speed to market
- You are in a rapid acquisitions mode, or are likely to be downsizing. Outsourcing gives you more flexibility to scale up or down as your circumstances change