Organizations that turn to outsourcing to achieve their business objectives first develop a business case that includes such components as cost savings and avoidance objectives, business value benefits, and risk assessment of potential negative impacts. But what happens when the initial business case stops working because of unanticipated impacts? Both a Deloitte Consulting study and [...]
What will be the speed of adoption of outsourced cloud computing solutions over the next five years? How will the cloud evolve and change outsourcing arrangements? How can buyers of outsourcing services optimize their cloud opportunities and manage the risks? Outsourcing Center interviewed industry executives about developments in outsourced cloud computing solutions. In this article [...]
In studying outsourcing relationships through Outsourcing Center’s annual Outsourcing Excellence Awards program since 1996, Outsourcing Center has aggregated and analyzed the lessons learned – mistakes and successes – by hundreds of buyers of outsourcing services. These 100 lessons learned focus on issues related to each phase in the outsourcing life cycle – provider selection, contract [...]
Service level agreements (SLAs) play two important roles in an outsourcing arrangement. They set the stage for the service provider’s accountability, and they are the major factor in determining the price of the service. The buyer of outsourced services can achieve a comfort level that it’s getting what it pays for if it regularly monitors [...]
Industry media, especially over the past two years, often points out that a significantly high number of outsourcing arrangements do not deliver the promised cost savings due to “hidden” costs associated with managing the relationship. This is especially true, the reports state, in outsourcing relationships with an offshore delivery component, where administrative costs increase due [...]
Brinker International serves more than one million guests in its 1,700 restaurants daily. In 2004, data integration was paper intensive and manual and began to encroach on the Brinker dining experience itself. Outsourcing data management was its recipe for success.
Many parents in El Paso County, Colorado, don’t want to pay child support; the county has the second largest case load in the state. Outsourcing enforcement improved collections when the supplier offered performance awards to its staffers. And the kids won, too.
Dan Socci, HP’s VP of Technology Services, addresses five common concerns associated with moving IT support management outside the enterprise and provides advice about selecting an outsourcing partner as a single point of accountability.
An Accenture-sponsored IDC study discovered cost was now not the major factor in deciding to outsource. Canadian firms cited business transformation as the overwhelming reason.
Here’s an outsourcing nightmare: Your applications support provider declares bankruptcy as you’re trying to prepare your year-end financials. Read how one buyer handled the situation. The end result: a new outsourcing relationship with even greater value.
Technology seems to change at mach speed. Companies often don’t have the time or the capital to train their workers to keep up. Outsourcing allows them to plug into qualified specialists when the demand arises.
How does your organization’s outsourcing strategy match with the primary success factors in the world’s most outstanding outsourcing relationships for 2001?
Trust plays a crucial role in government outsourcing. Adrian Moore of the Reason Foundation says that the less tangible things are, the more important trust is. In outsourced infrastructure projects, trust is less important. A project to construct a bridge, for example, is tangible in that you test to establish whether it was built soundly. But in a contract for such services as child adoption placement, managing a prison or welfare benefits, the outcomes are open-ended. Much of what the government wants to happen is well defined and measurable, but a lot of it is not. That type of circumstance will require trusting the vendor a great deal…
As every newlywed discovers, golden anniversaries are more likely to be in a couple’s future if they start off their marriage on the right foot. The same applies to outsourcing relationships. Paul Swinscoe, senior program manager for Raytheon Training International in London, England, says proper preparation before buyers sign an outsourcing contract stacks the odds of its success. This advice is even more compelling when assigning accountability…..
Ancient navigators found their way by following the Little Dipper. The constellation’s polestar, Polaris, always conspicuous and very near the north celestial pole, was used as a guide in traveling the seas. Outsourcing, often undertaken by buyers who have no prior experience navigating the depths of this intricate business relationship model, can end up in a shipwreck. Ted Williams, Vice President of Business Development for Compass America, reminds companies considering embarking on an outsourcing journey to make sure they are well represented by a neutral third party. Outsourcers write a lot more contracts than buyers. They are better at it than you are, he says……..
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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