Cost reduction often is the primary push to outsource a non-core area. And when the savings are significant, slashing the costs almost in half, more and more American companies are taking advantage of the lower price, even if the supplier is half way around the world.
Both Clark Air Force Base and Subic Bay Naval Station needed cutting edge telecommunication to stay battle ready. Telecomm equipment was cutting edge. When the U.S. military pulled out in 1992, the telecommunication equipment stayed.
Initially, the e-commerce world was peopleless; there was a manufacturer and a consumer and almost no one in-between. Ironically, it is becoming clear that what is going to separate successful companies from unsuccessful ones in the evolving e-commerce world will be people. Outsourcing makes this possible.
When asked how the cost of outsourcing transactions can be reduced, Dennis McGuire, president of Technology Partners International, says that the most problematic area occurs before the contract is signed. The largest source of costs, he explains, lies within the process of negotiating the contract…
Coleman sees the Web as one way to make benefits administration easier for everyone. Employees of Coleman’s customers can have secure access to their company’s Web site, which contains a host of information about the company’s benefits program. Everyone always wants to know what their health plan covers, the executive notes. Firms have scanned in their benefits books so employees can peruse it on-line.
Outsourcing has grown so much that we are having a hard time getting a true handle on it,says renowned analyst/lecturer, Michael F. Corbett. I think the major growth areas for 2000 will be the Application Service Providers (ASPs), the movement of robust software applications out onto the Internet, and BPO…
The three most important letters in the English alphabet for the year 2000 just might be ASP. Although she predicts a lot of big network operations deals this year, especially outside the US, Rita Terdiman, vice president and research director of GartnerGroup, says most numbers in the growth rate of outsourcing will remain about the same in 2000 as they were in 1999. The real growth acceleration will be in applications outsourcing.
At the time an outsourcer’s service offering is marketed publicly, they are not necessarily an outsourcing greenhorn. That is the case with Cognizant Technology Solutions, a provider of application development and maintenance services.
International outsourcing involves complexity and risks not found in typical domestic outsourcing. These risks are cultural, political, financial, technological, managerial and legal. Ultimately, these multiple international risks show up in the process of drafting, negotiating and enforcing the contract. Freedom of contract varies according to the governing laws and attacking the legal issues requires initiatives from the beginning.
Atop the strategic agenda of many executives is globalization. But infiltrating the fertile grounds of Europe is not so easy. Hundreds of years of tradition present challenging dilemmas for those who attempt to push the boundaries of their company, but the European market is too great to ignore — and to the worthy competitor the opportunities are abundant.
Global software teams have become commonplace in the 1990s as leading software development companies search for ways to cut costs, increase production and produce a better product, says Erran Carmel, associate professor of global information technologies at American University. Included in this push are software companies that are globally outsourcing as well.
Mention J.P. Morgan and outsourcing these days, and the first image that comes to mind is the much-publicized Pinnacle Alliance.
The outsourcing industry is heading into a ‘somewhat turbulent’ year, driven by the center stage positioning of Y2K issues, realizations that will arise from that work, and an unpredictable economy. That is the opinion of Doug Mellinger, CEO, PRT Group.
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