Research & Insight

Business Challenge

Balancing Trust and Accountability

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

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…

Curing Health Plan Ills

Outsourcing Center, Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, Senior Writer

Health plans can get very, very sick if they continually hear the check’s in the mail. Too many experience financial difficulties because they don’t receive timely payments from employers and members. Outsourcing their back office processes is one way they can get paid on time, says Brenda Smoker, vice president of customer support service for Synertech, a health care outsourcing provider in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Watertight Plan

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

Plainfield’s Town Council decided to use Competitive Government Strategies, Inc. as its consultant for the procurement process. They had seen its president’s success when he had implemented in earlier years the privatization of the operation and maintenance of the Indianapolis sewer utility and the utility billings. Plainfield wanted to take a similar approach…

The Numbers On The Blackboard Add Up For ASPs

Raymond Angus

Research on the Deployment/Hosting and Integration of Business Critical Information Systems through Applications Service Providers (ASPs) by Professor Wendy Currie has borne out well the value of numbers. The focus of her study covers essentially Europe and the famed Silicon Valley in the U.S., but soon the research will expand into Australia. She defines her work as an overall view of the development of the ASP industry…

An Outsourcing Relationship In Motion

Raymond Angus

In the everyday world of Ecommerce, selective awareness can be a disconcerting challenge to businesses presenting themselves, or their wares, via a website on the Internet. BUT…the truth of it is, this affords any company the opportunity to distance itself from the legions of other sites on the Internet! This is the belief of Jon Pierre Francia, CEO of Mov’n Pictures, Inc. based in Pleasant Grove, Utah. His company (MPI) specializes in animation, film and video for a client list that includes some of the largest advertising agencies in the world…

What Web (Sites) We Weave

Raymond Angus

Innovation, creativity and individualism are the siren songs of this strapping birth child of the marketplace, appropriately dubbed ecommerce. Capturing attention on the Internet, and translating that curiosity into positive action, is the role played by a new breed of creative, outsourcing professionals; they are the web site developers. The manner in which a company presents itself on the World Wide Web can be a make or break decision. According to Mike McFarlane of Kiora, it’s not a decision that should be made hastily. He adds, it can lead the unwary into uncharted waters with a lot of hidden rocks! Professional web design help should be sought.

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)

Outsourcing’s Little Dipper

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

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……..

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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