Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer
In any vendor relationship, you can let the vendor manage you and direct you, but I’m not sure that you will get full satisfaction and have your full expectationss met. Companies have to understand what they are expecting and actually make decisions based on that, advises Vickie Pettee, Manager, Global Compensation and Benefits for Nokia.
Outsourcing Center, Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, Senior Writer
With supply shortages creating a surge in natural gas prices and deregulation jacking up electricity costs, big power users found their energy costs soaring this year. The bills did go up at AT&T, but not by the magnitude of other corporate users.
Outsourcing Center, Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, Senior Writer
It all started with deregulation. Outsourcing the entire process fuels savings.
Outsourcing Center, Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, Senior Writer
Farmland Industries, located in Kansas City, Missouri, is the largest co-op agribusiness cooperative in the U.S. In addition to the brand Farmland Foods, the company makes nitrogen- and phosphate-based fertilizers. Because the company uses a tremendous amount of natural gas, it has its own risk management operation. Its energy traders evaluate the price situation, working with various commodity traders, and then take futures positions in the natural gas commodity market.
Jerri L. Ledford, Business Writer
In the world of packaged software, upgrades usually happen about once a year, sometimes less, and those upgrades are usually pretty extensive. But in the world of an application service provider (ASP), one of the benefits of offering a centrally located application is the ability to upgrade more frequently. And because upgrades can be performed without disturbing a user’s systems, they can be done on a more direct, incremental basis.
Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer
Neither rain nor snow… You know the adage about the reliability of the U.S. postal system. Today we might transfer that goal concept: Neither viruses, nor bandwidth nor disk space will stop email! — at least not for organizations that depend on it as their primary communication vehicle.
Outsourcing Center, Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, Senior Writer
Has this happened to you? You receive a letter in the mail describing a special promotion. You visit the Web site and notice the details are different. You visit the store and no one there knows anything about the vaunted promotion. Frustrated, you call the toll free customer service number and the person who answers the phone is clueless, too.
Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer
Success in an outsourcing relationship must be built on the right foundation, and that happens only when the buyer clearly and objectively describes to the supplier exactly what it wants to buy. That’s what Xcel Energy did when it entered into its successful outsourcing relationship with IBM Global Services.
Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer
The American School Directory (ASD) is the Internet guide to every public, private and Catholic K-12 school in the United States. Users have access to communication tools, maps, calendars, menus, payment tools, school wish-lists, images of students at work, alumni directories (even for schools that are now closed) and much more. Schools without their own Web sites can adopt the ASD site, and ASD also works hand-in-hand with schools that have their own sites.
Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer
Public Service Enterprise Group, Inc. (PSEG) is a holding company in the electric and gas business with several affiliate companies in generation and distribution services in 12 countries and in 12 states in the US. Dealing at times with regulation, deregulation and increased competition, this is a company that must set and achieve its goals. One prime target for improvement in the early 1990s focused on human resources.
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