"We're looking to create a strategic relationship [with the outsourcer], not a one-off transaction. We hope this is a win for both parties. It could be a multiple-year relationship, so you think about things in a longer context -- much different than if it were one transaction."

Once an outsourcer is engaged, Marriott spends time on team-building. Many of the OCEANS team members recall a team-building exercise for an earlier project with Accenture. They all went to Annapolis, Md., where mixed crews of IT, business and Accenture people were given small sailboats. But it wasn't a race; the goal was to get all the boats to cross the finish line at the same time. "Seven years later, people still remember it," Melnick says. "It created a sense of unity around a common set of goals. It doesn't really help me to say, 'Great news: Marriott is delivering on all their commitments, but the outsourcer isn't.' "

How closely do the Marriott project managers work with the outsourcer? "I know Yutta's kids' names and birthdays," says Petty, the IT lead. "There's quite a bit of interaction. I've had two meetings with her today already."

Shelton says Marriott's skin-in-the-game approach makes a big difference. "Having the same core values and the same degree of accountability at all levels of all of the organizations is key," she explains.

Accountability