Research & Insight

Industry

CPG/Retail

A New Way to Look at BPO

Michel Janssen, Managing Director, Everest Research Institute

This spring I had lunch with one of our clients, a national retail chain. The chief financial officer, the chief information officer and the executive vice president for human resources (HR) gave me a list of 20 business processes they wanted to shed that weren’t part of their core competency. Read about how they did it.

Outsourcing Customer Interaction Management

Jerri L. Ledford, Business Writer

Before Del Monte Foods decided to outsource its customer interaction management, the company held yearly sales meetings. Representatives received five-inch binders filled with information about products, clients, and company information. The system proved to be very ineffective because it was time consuming, and the information became out of date long before new binders were issued. \x0d\x0aThen Del Monte began using outsourced Marketing and Sales Effectiveness (MSE) tools from Proscape Technologies.

Like a Fifth Wheel

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

Striving to be competitive involves tremendous risks. The timing must be right, and the resources must be available. It’s costly, and the return on investment might be low. In fact, the entire effort might fail. And someone will be held accountable.

Cinderella Syndrome

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

An enormous impact on a company’s profitability comes from its procurement or purchasing process. Some companies are starting to recognize the impact, but most — particularly midsize or small companies — still treat this important process as though it’s unimportant. But, like the fairytale Cinderella, someone needs to do the onerous chores around the castle. Particularly in lean times when an economy is slowing, executives must pay more attention to the possibility of saving millions of dollars in this area.

Downtime Detour

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

Imagine that you own a retail gas store and the cash register goes down. You can’t sell gas or Twinkies. Now imagine, just for a moment, that you own over 1700 retail gas stores where this could happen. ARCO, a West Coast gasoline refiner and retailer, actually owns that many gas stores and a large convenience store network. Downtime can be disastrous, so ARCO outsourced its point-of-sale terminals to outsourcer, Getronics. When the Getronics help desk receives a call from one of the retail outlets, the staff diagnoses whether the fix will require a technician. If so, they must obtain the needed part from a depot, dispatch a technician to the site to install the part, and have it up and running within four hours from the time the call was placed — no matter how remote the location might be. It’s truly an extraordinary feat in logistics.

Giving IT Capabilities Some Real Structure

Steve Gust

As a vendor, (i)Structure is gaining some real momentum in the information technology field. Lots of companies are starting to put faith, and more importantly contracts with the business, a subsidiary of Level 3 communication. Its services are being used by the Bradford Exchange, Vlassic Foods Int. and most recently Corporate Express Inc., a world office supplier with 400 facilities and 15,000 employees…….(outsourcing)

Netsourcing: the Life Blood of an ISO

Steve Gust

Larry Marcus, president and chief executive officer, of NY based MiracleNet.com knows that his service needs to be up to par when it comes to being an ISO. There are simply too many others out there. AOL, EarthLink and MSN are always looking for information Superhighway travelers. MiracleNet.com offers subscribers a chance to make money with memberships. If there are hiccups getting online, revenue can be lost……(outsourcing

Changes in Accountability for eBusiness and Internet Initiatives

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

To be held accountable means one is subject to certain obligations. In the world of outsourcing, both buyers and suppliers must take preventive measures to ensure an equitable and successful relationship. For the buyer, this means structuring an effective contract that details a broad range of ways in which the supplier will be held accountable. These include audit and benchmarking rights, user surveys and disaster recovery plans. There are termination rights and the right to sue afterward as well as service levels and their related credits or penalties. And, of course, the contract describes various legal remedies in the event of failure……

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