What is the next great strategic sourcing practice for sustaining cost reductions and driving an efficient, competitive business in an environment that is constantly and dramatically changing? The answer is in how companies are addressing vendor relationship management and creating incentives that better leverage the capabilities of their current providers. Most mature outsourced companies have created [...]
The best outsourcing agreement for your organization is not necessarily the one with the lowest price. Your primary goal when negotiating and structuring an outsourcing contract is to develop an agreement that achieves your business objectives, not just on day one but throughout the entire term. To do this well, you must understand the overall [...]
Have a PeopleSoft Upgrade in your Pipeline? If you’re considering upgrading your Oracle application, then this is a session not to be missed. Join Oracle On Demand in a “fire-side” chat with current Oracle On Demand customer HDR, Inc. Hear how they used Oracle On Demand as a best practice to ensure a successful PeopleSoft [...]
Outsourcing is no longer a risky undertaking; it’s a mainstream business strategy. However, despite the strong adoption, many outsourcing relationships continue to fail. This white paper takes a look at what drives outsourcing success and presents detailed information about six key success factors. The paper cites findings from studies of such firms as Gartner and [...]
Outsourcing a help desk can appear to be an easy strategy for reducing cost and improving service levels. However, there are significant challenges and pitfalls that can erode the return on investment. The top challenge is partnering with the right vendor. This white paper pinpoints the 11 biggest mistakes that companies make when choosing an [...]
As organizations move up the value chain to achieve more dynamic outcomes and return on investment from outsourcing, the complexities and business criticality of the functions outsourced also increased. Managing through these complexities, achieving business transformation, and identifying and leveraging the “sweet spots” of value require collaboration between the service provider and client organization. An [...]
New capabilities, like cloud computing, software-as-a-service, mobile device web access, and data center virtualization and consolidation, are significantly changing both the possibilities and the complexities of outsourcing IT functions. Analysts predict radical change in the shape of IT “factory” functions such as end-user support and help-desk services. However, an Information Week survey notes that almost [...]
In an outsourcing arrangement, decision makers at the buyer’s organization look to maximize the value of their outsourcing investment. They therefore look for a service provider that not only has the requisite process, industry, and technology expertise but one that also can manage to uncertainties and minimize the buyer’s risks, enhance the buyer’s agility, and [...]
Buyers are sourcing more operations than ever before, so it is increasingly important that they manage outsourcing initiatives to eliminate issues that can diminish their return on investment and extend the intended value of each outsourcing relationship. This paper discusses targeted considerations in outsourcing readiness and supplier due diligence to avoid common outsourcing pitfalls and [...]
A study of 65 buyers in Outsourcing Center’s 2009 Outsourcing Excellence Awards program revealed an important differentiation in service providers’ mindsets and the way they address problems or opportunities. This Decision Perspectives briefing describes the characteristics in both mindsets along with how they differ in handling issues that arise in an outsourcing relationship. This briefing [...]
What strategies did eBay use to ensure its business processes could support the company’s fast growth? It faced a challenge in meeting eBay sellers’ expectations of instantaneous payment. eBay turned to outsourcing for a solution that would handle the exponential transaction accounting needs. The migration of this and other business processes to BPO provider Genpact [...]
A study of 65 buyers in Outsourcing Center’s 2009 Outsourcing Excellence Awards program revealed an important differentiation in service providers’ mindsets and the way they address problems or opportunities. This Decision Perspectives briefing describes the characteristics in both mindsets along with how they differ in handling issues that arise in an outsourcing relationship. This briefing [...]
Both phased and big-bang approaches to the outsourcing transition phase have advantages and pitfalls. This fourth paper in Outsourcing Center’s Best Practices Series, based on studies in the Outsourcing Excellence Awards program, discusses key challenges, lessons learned, and best practices for reducing risks in the transition or migration phase.
Outsourcing Center’s 2009 Outsourcing Excellence Awards program studied the characteristics that buyers in the study used to identify/determine the success of their deals. Do they define “success” as attainment of the mutually agreed-upon objectives by the end of the contractual term? Do they define it as only achievement of actual requirements? Do they include in [...]
Outsourcing Center’s 2009 Outsourcing Excellence Awards program revealed trends in how buyers are structuring and modifying service level agreements (SLAs). This paper presents lessons learned in structuring SLAs and best practices in tying penalties to SLAs. This information is examined in light of two different points in time in an outsourcing relationship: (1) when structuring [...]
This paper is the first of four 2009 papers in our annual Best Practices series with insights from the Outsourcing Excellence Awards relationships. Outsourcing Center studied the findings relevant to communication problems as related by buyer organizations participating in the 2009 Outsourcing Excellence Awards program. This paper discusses the communication problems they encountered and four [...]
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