Research & Insight

Service Level Agreement (SLA)

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.

Small to Mid-Sized Businesses Turn to ASPs; Larger Enterprises Follow Their Lead

Outsourcing Center, Bruce McCracken, Business Writer

To paraphrase Mark Twain, the demise of ASPs has been greatly exaggerated. They are experiencing a remarkable resurgence, as enterprises small and large embrace their offerings. And one ASP, salesforce.com, just went public with the highest first-day price rise so far this year.

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.

Vintage Outsourcing

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

CompuCom Systems’ SLA-driven outsourcing services have improved E&J Gallo Winery’s IT functions so dramatically that the winery is currently ranked in the Information 500 as the number one IS shop in its industry and the number three overall among all industries

Blue-ribbon Teaming for Excellence in Outsourcing

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

This winning relationship broke our awards scoring records and is undoubtedly one of the world’s most outstanding examples of outsourcing at its best. Owens & Minor outsourced its IT to Perot Systems, and O&M now commands the leading position in its marketplace. But that’s not all. The level of openness and honesty between these two companies is rare in outsourcing. So is their risk-reward structure — and the outcomes they’ve achieved together.

Partnering for Performance

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

The city of Minneapolis knew that outsourcing its IT functions and assets to Unisys would enable them to focus on value-added services for internal users and external customers, but there were huge obstacles in front of an outsourcing initiative. So they first researched both successful and failed outsourcing deals to determine what they needed to do upfront to ensure their success.

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