Research & Insight

Contract

Measuring Quality, Not Quantity

Outsourcing Center, Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, Senior Writer

As every newlywed discovers, golden anniversaries are more likely to be in a couple’s future if they start off their marriage on the right foot. The same applies to outsourcing relationships. Paul Swinscoe, senior program manager for Raytheon Training International in London, England, says proper preparation before buyers sign an outsourcing contract stacks the odds of its success. This advice is even more compelling when assigning accountability…..

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……

Hatching An Application

Outsourcing Center, Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, Senior Writer

Outsourcing may turn out to be the golden egg for Commtouch. Since every youth in Israel must serve in the Army, which relies on sophisticated military intelligence and technology to survive, Israel has a wealth of technically skilled young people.

An Outsourcing Mutual Admiration Society

Outsourcing Center, Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, Senior Writer

Joe Szmadzinski is a connoisseur of outsourcing contracts. Szmadzinski has negotiated and lived through 25 outsourcing contracts in the last three years as president of System Advisory Group in Southfield, Michigan, a firm that provides interim CIOs for major corporations like Budget Rent A Car….. (outsourcing)

To Be Worth One’s Salt

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

Prisons are one of the most difficult areas to privatize and do it well and safely, says Adrian Moore, of the Reason Foundation. While the task of taking away an offender’s liberty rightly belongs to the government’s judges and juries, the task of making sure prisoners remain in cells and behave for set periods of time is not something that only a government can do. There is no reason why prisons should not be privatized . . . as long as there is accountability…..(outsourcing)

Accounting for Results

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

At first blush, Cornell Companies, Inc. appears to be just one among several private corporations whose enterprises generate revenue by building and operating prisons. Beyond the momentary glance, though, Cornell contrasts sharply with its competitors. Just like the background and professional experience of its Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Tom Jenkins, Cornell operates in all three segments of the corrections industry…(outsourcing)

ASP Makes Sure You’ve Got Mail

Outsourcing Center, Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, Senior Writer

When midnight hits on December 31, Netizens will have sent 2.2 trillion email messages. That’s because 97 percent of Internet users correspond by email, according to IDC. Back in 1998, a long time ago measuring by Web time, U.S. citizens sent seven email messages to every letter that required first class postage, according to Nua. The number has to be bigger today, given the runaway popularity of email by wireless phone, personal digital assistants and Blackberries in addition to the old-fashioned way of using your computer. (outsourcing)

Contracting With ASP’s What’s the Customer to Do?

George Kimball

Application service providers (ASP’s) promise to make all this go away. Rather than pay large license fees and hire swarms of consultants, companies may rent the software, or buy applications by the drink, paying so much per user, per month. Applications will be delivered to the desktop, over the Internet. Just pay the money, and someone else will buy, install, connect and configure everything. The allure is plain, and has aroused interest in the marketplace, and from service providers, including well-financed startups, as well as such stalwarts as Intel and Oracle. The appeal is especially strong to new and smaller companies, who can adopt standard functions from popular packages more easily than larger, long-established organizations.

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