Who owns the outcome?

Customers are buying outcomes rather than implementation. That part is clear. What is not clear in most engagements I am asked to look at is who owns the outcome on the customer side.

Adoption sits with internal change management. Data quality sits with whoever owns the upstream systems. Executive sponsorship sits with the buyer’s boss. Operational integration sits with the function the work is touching. Performance attribution sits somewhere between finance and the original sponsor, both of whom would prefer it sat with the other.

If a vendor commits to an outcome and the customer has not nominated a single named owner internally, the outcome will be delivered by the vendor and re-defined by the customer. Both parties will sincerely believe they are right. Neither will be happy at renewal.

The first question I would now put on the procurement intake form is not “what outcome are you buying” but “who in your organisation is accountable for it landing.” If the answer is a working group, the deal has already failed. It just has not noticed yet.