A Code of Ethics for Outsourcing

I ran across this article in sister publication InformationWeek that discusses the creation of an outsourcing bill of rights.Alliance Global Services is a privately held IT services firm. Its IT Partners Bill of Rights is designed to create more transparency and accountability in the vendor/client relationship that many of these partnerships might lack. The proposal aims to establish a code of ethics for the outsourcing industry so we won't see a repeat of the Satyam mess.

I think this is a good gesture but is it necessary? Most banks understand the need for proper due diligence when it comes to selecting their outsourcing partners and know they need to monitor the relationship on a regular basis. Some of what Alliance already proposes maybe be built into some of the better IT outsourcing contracts. Maybe it's just a matter of advocating best practices more broadly across industries.

Alliance hopes to gain 100,000 signatures for its proposal and is seeking input from competitors, CIOs and other leaders in business technology.

Maybe this will see better traction than the Passenger Bill of Rights airline passenger rights advocates had been making such a fuss about but never quite got off the ground.

What do you think? Is an IT Partners Bill of Rights just what's needed to prevent another Satyam?