Outsourcing Excellence Award — Most Collaborative: Barclaycard US and Firstsource “We are getting results that exceed our plan. By the end of the first year, performance of our former employees who are now on the Firstsource team was at or above what it was when we initiated the transition.” Brian Duffy, head of service and [...]
A good cultural fit is one of the most important hallmarks between a successful and unsuccessful outsourcing relationship. Cultural fit assessment is far less structured than defined processes that help you quantitatively evaluate the service provider’s solution, capabilities and pricing. To decide whether your company and the service provider will have a comfortable cultural fit, [...]
Ask 10 buyers of outsourcing services for their keys to success in communicating with their service providers, and you’ll hear 10 different answers because, of course, the effectiveness of communication depends on the individuals involved. Some will also say it depends on whether they’re communicating about day-to-day operations, conflicts or opportunities. Others will comment that [...]
At the point where outsourcing service providers or their customers have a conflict that will result in a monetary loss to either party, they’re walking a fine line. If they manage to resolve the issue with a mutually beneficial solution, their relationship will be even stronger than before the conflict. If not, the party that [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Flexibility started early. This was a ground-breaking contract in 1999. With no paradigm, it didn’t take long for the two to realize they made a mistake in scope. Flexibility allowed a 180-degree term. Eleven years later the relationship is going strong, thanks to its flexibility.
Giving up control over the outsourced process is a basic principle in how outsourcing works, but many buyers find it difficult to do this at the outset of a relationship. An Outsourcing Center study looked at the factors that cause initial discomfort and what makes a buyer feel comfortable enough to turn over control to the provider.
Among the various changes that will impact outsourcing over the next five years, Don Schulman, General Manager of Finance and Administration at IBM, says the first will be a focus on outcomes-based pricing models. “Focusing on clients’ end-to-end processes, the discussion moves to outcomes pretty fast when considering the advantage of an outsourcer doing a [...]
Getting from A to Z (from the current state of outsourcing relationships to the future state of how relationships will need to work in order to bring about the outcomes that buyers demand) is not an easy path, and some providers will fall away during that journey. In addition, cloud computing changes the entire picture. [...]
The economic crisis has unleashed a huge appetite for change. Visionary leaders are implementing transformational global sourcing initiatives at an accelerated pace. Linda Tuck Chapman presents a primer on outsourcing leadership.
A new, more strategic outsourcing model is necessary for speeding time to market yet also limiting the development cost of new products. It requires a different kind of thinking, communicating, and strategizing. Here’s how to leverage this new model for competitive advantage.
Why is IT change management so difficult? Martin Erb answers the question and provides insight into making change easier in ITO.
Outsourcing Center studied 42 outsourcing relationships to determine success factors based on characteristics the buyers liked about their service providers. The study revealed some significant findings around which both buyers and providers may want to shift some focus.
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