Research & Insight

Research & Insight

research study

BPO Study’s Surprising Findings on Value and Long-Term Intent in Outsourcing Relationships

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

Buyers of outsourced services want their service providers to invest in technologies that bring continual improvement to the outsourced processes. Providers want to invest only where it is also beneficial to their margins in the long run. Therein lies a conflict. Are there reliable predictors of a buyer’s intent for a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship …

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 …

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 …

Study Shows Outsourcing Best Practices are Changing

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

In outsourcing, “best practices” are a method, procedure, activity, technique, or process known to produce desired outcomes. Who deems them to be the “best?” Often, it’s an industry or association regulation or recommendation. Sometimes, it’s an expert opinion such as those from an analyst or consulting firm; at other times, it’s a service provider or …

When an Outsourcing Service Provider’s Lack of Domain Knowledge is a Good Thing

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

How important to the value proposition for an outsourcing initiative is the service provider’s domain knowledge specific to the buyer’s industry? Many buyers report that the provider’s expertise in a particular business process ranks higher in importance than industry expertise when selecting a service provider. But there are situations where industry knowledge is crucial, especially …

BDO Annual Technology Report Finds CFOs Outsourcing More Work to China, India, Reversing Last Year’s Trend

Outsourcing Center, Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, Senior Writer

What a difference a year makes. A 2009 study of American chief financial officers in U.S. high-tech companies predicted the new hot location was the United States. The 2010 study discovered the opposite: China and India regained their position as the primo offshoring locations for IT services, according to Don Jones, Partner, International Tax Services …

A.T. Kearney Study Compares U.S. Cities and Latin America for Offshore Outsourcing

Outsourcing Center, Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, Senior Writer

In addition to great beaches, Latin America is also becoming a popular offshore outsourcing destination. How do Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, and Mexico compare to Tier 2 cities in the United States? A.T. Kearney’s annual study, while global in scope, attempts to compare them from a regional perspective. The company ranked Brazil the No. …

Study Reveals Drivers in Decisions to Add Scope and/or Extend Contract Term

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

Adding scope to an outsourcing contract, whether it occurs before contract end or at the scheduled time for renewal, is a tactic that makes the deal more mutually beneficial over time. Outsourcing Center studied 92 relationships to identify the drivers for adding scope. The study also identified a key factor in enabling the scope-expansion decision.

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