This Sourcing Strategy Plan example shows how Alex Morgan, PMP, structured MCG's approach to acquiring the design and development services needed for Project Phoenix — a $72,250 website launch managed using the PMBOK Guide 8th Edition. Every vendor decision — what to buy, from whom, under what contract type, and at what point in the project lifecycle — was made deliberately and documented in this plan.

What Is a Sourcing Strategy Plan?

A Sourcing Strategy Plan defines how an organization will acquire the resources, services, or products it cannot or should not produce internally. It covers make-or-buy analysis (deciding which elements of the project will be outsourced versus delivered in-house), vendor selection approach, contract type selection, procurement timeline, vendor management approach, and contract closeout procedures. In PMBOK 8, sourcing strategy is addressed within the Delivery Performance Domain and the Planning Performance Domain as part of the Plan Procurement Management process. A clear Sourcing Strategy Plan prevents the reactive, high-cost procurement decisions that occur when teams realize mid-project that they lack a critical capability or resource.

What's Inside This Sourcing Strategy Plan Example

This Sourcing Strategy Plan example for Project Phoenix includes:

• Make-or-buy analysis: UX and visual design outsourced to BrightFrame (MCG lacked an in-house design function with web expertise); backend development delivered in-house by Sam Lee (PHP/WordPress) and John Tran (React/frontend); QA and content in-house
• Vendor selection: competitive RFP issued to five pre-qualified web design agencies on February 15, 2025; proposals received by February 28; BrightFrame selected with a score of 87/100 based on four weighted criteria
• Contract type: fixed price ($12,900 for six design deliverables) — chosen because the scope of design work was well-defined in the SOW; fixed price protects MCG from cost overruns on the largest single external spend
• Procurement timeline: RFP issued February 15, proposals due February 28, vendor selection March 5, contract signed March 10 — aligned with the March 17 project kickoff date
• Vendor management: weekly 30-minute check-ins between Alex Morgan and BrightFrame's account manager; deliverable-based milestone payments (50% at contract signing, 50% at final design acceptance)
• ESG sourcing criteria: BrightFrame selected partly for their accessibility-first design practice and their portfolio of WCAG 2.1 compliant projects — ESG criteria weighted at 10% in the RFP scoring matrix
• Contract closeout: BrightFrame's final invoice paid on May 2, 2025, following formal acceptance of the Design System deliverable; 30-day warranty period closed without incident on June 2

How Alex Morgan Used This Sourcing Strategy Plan

The decision to use a fixed-price contract with BrightFrame was the most consequential procurement decision in Project Phoenix, and the Sourcing Strategy Plan documented the rationale in detail. When ISS-001 (design brief delay) occurred in Week 1, the fixed-price contract meant that BrightFrame had no financial incentive to delay further — the full $12,900 was only payable upon final deliverable acceptance, not on a time-and-materials basis. The contract structure created natural vendor accountability without the need for adversarial enforcement. Alex Morgan later cited the fixed-price structure as one of the key factors in keeping the design phase within budget despite the early delay.

Download and Customize

This Sourcing Strategy Plan example is available as a free download. Use it as a reference to build your own sourcing strategy, or start with the blank template and fill it in for your project.

• Download the Sourcing Strategy Plan Template — PMBOK 8 (blank, ready to use)
• Read the article: Sourcing Strategy Plan in PMBOK 8 — Guide and Best Practices

Sourcing Strategy Plan Example: Key Takeaways

The most valuable lesson from this Sourcing Strategy Plan example is that contract type selection is a risk management decision. Alex Morgan chose a fixed-price contract for design — the most externally dependent and creatively variable element of the project — specifically because it transferred the cost risk of design delays and revisions to the vendor. The make-or-buy analysis was equally important: by keeping development in-house (where MCG had strong capabilities) and outsourcing only design (where external expertise was genuinely needed), the Sourcing Strategy optimized both cost and quality. The result was that external procurement costs came in exactly on budget at $12,900 — representing 20% of project costs with 0% variance.

Want to go deeper? The PMBOK Guide 8th Edition is the definitive reference for modern project management. Get your copy and use it alongside these examples to build a solid, practical understanding of every performance domain.