Overview
Freehills has extensive experience in all aspects of the outsourcing and procurement lifecycle, including:
- planning and structuring first time outsourcing and procurement initiatives
- varying, renewing or renegotiating existing agreements including disengagement and transition upon termination or expiry
- structuring and managing subsequent (second generation) outsourcings (including multi-sourcing strategies).
We provide advice across the full spectrum of technology, IT, telecommunications and business process outsourcing and procurement, including evaluating, structuring, negotiating, documenting and implementing outsourcing relationships. This means working with our clients and with consultants in designing and actioning a process tailored to meet our clients' operational and strategic needs.
We have acted for clients on technology, IT, telecommunications and business process outsourcing and procurement transactions in a wide range of industries, and have a clear understanding of clients’ varying needs which enhances our ability to provide tailored advice to meet their specific requirements.
In addition to understanding the industries in which our clients operate, we also have in-depth knowledge of technology and the functions, capabilities and processes typically being outsourced. Our team includes a number of lawyers with training in IT, business administration or engineering.
Experience
Our outsourcing and procurement team has acted for the customers in the most significant outsourcings in the Australian financial services sector to date. In addition, we have a wide range of experience across IT outsourcings, telecommunications outsourcings, business process outsourcings, infrastructure outsourcing and facilities management arrangements.
Representative transactions include:
- Advising three major financial institutions on the combined outsourcing of their check processing joint functions.
- Advising a leading multinational energy and resources company on its proposed facilities management agreement for essential facilities and infrastructure at mining sites.
- Advising a leading petroleum company on the outsourcing of certain payment processing services across the Asia-Pacific region.
- Acting for a major retailer in the outsourcing of its distribution centre function across Australia.
- Advising a leading telecommunications company on a number of strategic procurement projects.
- Advising a mining services company in relation to negotiating IT Transitional Services Agreements, as a result of a recent acquisition.
Working with you
We adopt a structured approach to procurement and outsourcing. In our experience, it is critical to invest time and resources early in the process to focus on the rationale for the outsourcing, the scope of the services or functions being outsourced and the pricing methodology. We add value by helping clients focus on risk during the early phases of an outsourcing project, including the identification of the risks, determining the party that should bear the risk and identifying the best ways to eliminate, minimise or manage those risks.
Clients benefit from our lawyers’ experience in negotiating outsourcing agreements with many different suppliers, both in Australia and overseas. We use our familiarity of the negotiating positions of Australia’s major suppliers to contribute to the effectiveness of our clients’ negotiation strategies.
We regularly work with the major consultants in this area, as well as with in-house CIOs and project teams. We are familiar with the project management methodologies typically employed in large scale outsourcings, and tailor our own project management techniques to dovetail with these methodologies.
Testimonials
The Communications & Technology group was highly recommended and four partners were singled out for individual commendation, Chambers Global Guide 2008
Chambers Global Guide noted that in the procurement area, the team is ‘practical and focused through and through, all the way down to the associates’
