Inhouse technology is no longer an operational prerequisite thanks to outsourcing. Software, servers, internet connectivity and even whole operations like payroll and HR can be sourced from third-parties and branded so neither the customers or employees of the business need ever know these mechanisms reside outside the company headquarters. But the stakes become higher the more established the business is. Employees want to keep their jobs for fear of losing them to cheaper, overseas labor and customers want service levels maintained.

So the fact that the UK's rail information service, National Rail Enquiries (NRE), served 55 million customers online last year alone and relies on extensive self-service and contact center service channels but has a core staff of only 21 people is no small achievement. Chris Scoggins, NRE's CEO, has shared how the organization has succeeded in outsourcing its entire core, mission-critical passenger and travel information business. "NRE has about 22 suppliers of various services. Everything we do is outsourced. We have 1,500 people in call centers alone, who all work for NRE," says Scoggins.

"At the center there is a core team of 21 people who manage the business. The outsourcing of its parts has grown with the breadth of services we offer. We're always trying to provide new services, so we have taken on more suppliers over the years." The NRE's telephone information service was born of the creation of the organization in 1996 with the privatization of British Rail. Since then, it has expanded to include automated telephone services and a very successful real-time online train time and journey planning service.

The company answers to service levels set by the government and has seen public demand increase tenfold since its establishment. A significant proportion of its services are highly event driven, due to train service disruptions as diverse as extreme weather to major incidents. At the same time, NRE is a "virtual" company with years of experience of outsourcing and managing the supply of multiple, mission-critical IT services. Therefore, Scoggins is in a good position to offer best-practice outsourcing advice.

"In areas where we are maturing, like call centers, we have actually gone from four suppliers to two and from six sites to four. Another outsourcing area we are quite well seasoned in is internet service provision."

Supplier Strategy
Scoggins says NRE has a strategy of maintaining a number of suppliers to effectively play them off against each other and raise the stakes in terms of demonstrating service excellence.