Research & Insight

Collaboration

Tales from the Front: Sunoco’s Tim Murtha Publishes New Guidebook On IT Multi-Sourcing

Outsourcing Center, Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, Senior Writer

When Sunoco decided to transform its IT infrastructure, it performed 90 percent of its IT services in-house. After an honest assessment of its deficiencies, the refiner decided to outsource 90 percent of its infrastructure to multiple suppliers. The key to that successful transformation was changing how Sunoco defined the work, according to Tim Murtha. From his new book.

Going for the Gold

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

Concluding our five-part series on what causes outsourcing arrangements to fail, we look at the picture from the opposite corner–the keys to success–with advice from 68 buyers and providers that achieved even more value outcomes and higher ROI than they anticipated at the outset.

Best-Performing Utility Company Creates Shareholder Value through Employees

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

In the midst of nationwide high levels of customer dissatisfaction with their utilities companies, one company has a goal to be the best service provider in the US by 2007. They’re well on the way, having exceeded their internal targets for 2003. This is the story of how they did it–by using an outsourced solution to improve employee performance.

What Causes Outsourcing Failures?

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

Outsourcing Center has been studying the risks and causes of outsourcing failures. This article presents some of the findings from the Center’s 2004 survey on Leading Causes of Outsourcing Failures. This is the first in a series of five articles and several downloadable research papers on the topic of failure.

Outsourcing Conveniently Aligns Retailer’s Operations with Competitive Business Strategies

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

A few years ago, the typical 7-Eleven® store had a myriad of electronic devices that were not connected. For example, cash registers were not linked to the fuel pumps, which forced clerks to manually enter fuel sales into the registers, slowing the process and missing impulse sales. The situation prevented 7-Eleven from maximizing its profitability. Nor could the store managers effectively manage inventory; there was no way to know with certainty which items were moving well and which ones were simply taking up space. Shelf space in a small store is at such a premium that allowing five or 10 items to sit unsold for a week affects the bottom line.

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