Research & Insight

Research & Insight

best practices

Ten Pitfalls in Outsourcing Transitions

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

There’s no shortage of methodologies and advisories on best practices and risk mitigation strategies for the transition phase of outsourcing relationships. Even so, many buyers encounter situations they didn’t foresee when structuring their arrangement, which cause costs to rise and delay time to value. Outsourcing Center studied these types of situations by surveying companies nominated …

Advice for Outsourcing Buyers in Setting Expectations Around Future Service

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

“What was horrible about our outsourcing relationship in the beginning is that our expectations were unclear. That’s a horrible formula for success.” The person stating this assessment described a troubled – but remediated and turned-around – relationship that Outsourcing Center studied in its annual Outsourcing Excellence and Sourcing Awards program. It led to this post …

Four Tips for Effective Management of the Outsourcing Transition

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

The possible perils that can impact the success of an outsourcing relationship‘s transition phase are well known. These days, most buyers are as aware as service providers of the need for a robust governance framework that facilitates the parties’ identification of challenges and working collaboratively to address them quickly. Most have also read tales of …

Combating the “Hidden” Costs of Managing Outsourcing

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

Industry media, especially over the past two years, often points out that a significantly high number of outsourcing arrangements do not deliver the promised cost savings due to “hidden” costs associated with managing the relationship. This is especially true, the reports state, in outsourcing relationships with an offshore delivery component, where administrative costs increase due …

How Outsourcing Helped a New Company Deal with a Major Challenge

Outsourcing Center, Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, Senior Writer

Talecris was a spin-out. The new company had a drop-dead date to separate its IT systems from its parent. This was a complex challenge with much risk. Three weeks after the cut-off date, Talecris faced a business challenge that easily could have put it out of business. Together the partners weathered the storm.

How a Well-Planned Outsourcing Transition Weathered a Changing Economy and Vendor Challenges

Outsourcing Center, Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, Senior Writer

There are always unanticipated challenges in even the most well-thought-out transition. This relationship faced two major ones. First, a software vendor tried to extract $300,000 from Dell Services by forcing it to pay a licensing fee. Then, the global recession changed everything. The successful solutions were a harbinger of good things to come.

Days that Outsourcing Buyers Want to Forget – Study Reveals Important Factors in Service Provider Selection Criteria

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

You know the feelings that surround a day you’d like to forget. Stress. Anxiety. Embarrassment. Regret. Revisiting a decision. Now place all of that in the context of an outsourcing relationship on a day when something goes wrong – really wrong. And you’re doubting your service provider selection criteria. A revenue-generating, ERP, or payroll system …

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