Get More Accurate Outsourcing ROI in Six Easy Steps
February 8th, 2012
By Jerry Durant
Everybody wants ROI from their outsourcing projects. Many (on both the buy and the sell side) claim it. But relatively few have the knowledge or background to calculate it correctly. This not only makes it harder to make good decisions, but saps the credibility of whoever is doing the calculations.
Far too many operations and procurement professionals try to calculate ROI without a sufficient understanding of it.
Examine More Than Cost Savings When Judging the Nearshore
February 2nd, 2012By Patrick Haller
When making sourcing decisions, a lot of attention is paid to the pricing structure and qualifications of service providers, while their actual location is sometimes a secondary consideration. However, when assessing a destination, it’s important to realize that what might be favorable today can morph into a nightmare scenario tomorrow. Don’t be caught unaware and unprepared for the ever-changing dynamics of the Nearshore.
Philippines’ Attrition is Spiking – Is Latin America Next?
January 27th, 2012
By Luke Bujarski
High employee turnover is something that sourcing managers have learned to put up with when offshoring IT and BPO tasks to India. But now the Philippines has also begun showing signs of overheating. Given Latin America’s relatively small labor pools, we worry that the region might follow suit and succumb to the same pressures that have pushed the Philippines to its limits. So far, rampant turnover has not been a major problem with LatAm markets. But just in case, we decided to take another look at some of the details around attrition and other symptoms of hot labor market conditions.
Second Annual Nearshore Nexus Comes to New York City this April
Nearshore Nexus, the only North America investor conference focused entirely on the Caribbean and Latin America IT and BPO sector, will take place on Thursday April 19, 2012, in New York City.
Nearshore Nexus will feature the best minds in global services to examine the growing role Latin America is playing in delivering quality outsourcing services to businesses across the Americas. The outsourcing sector in Latin America has been growing at over 20 percent per year – noticeably higher than the global average. The theme for the 2012 edition of Nexus is: “Intelligent Analysis of Outsourcing in the Americas.”
“I’m very proud of the fact that we will attract delegates and sponsors from over 15 countries in Latin America. This testifies to …
Don’t Let Stagnation Kill Your Shared-Services Operation
January 25th, 2012
Speed is of the essence, DeMent says.
By Patrick Haller
Success of a shared-services operation depends upon more than just a good plan and solid execution – like any good relationship, it requires constant monitoring and regular maintenance. Without a serious, ongoing commitment by the CEO, CFO, CIO, and managers throughout the company, shared services will implode. The entire corporate way of thinking has to change.
Staff Reduction: How to Make the Most of a Painful Situation
January 24th, 2012
By Daniel Berthiaume
A crucial aspect of many IT outsourcing and BPO initiatives is internal staff reduction. Despite the cost savings and more efficient operations that might result, few managers look forward to determining who stays and who goes when a department outsources certain functions. But properly evaluating employees in the event jobs need to be terminated is absolutely critical to BPO success.
How to Be More Successful at Vendor Management
January 12th, 2012By Patrick Haller
Forrester's Lutz Peichert recommends "a holistic view" of a supplier.
Effective vendor management requires more than monitoring service level agreements and keeping a watchful eye on things after the contract has been signed. Buyers can save themselves a lot of grief by examining certain criteria in advance that might not currently be part of their due diligence process.
Many companies seem to be aware of the fact that they need to improve their vendor management processes. In the latest Forrester’s Forrsights Business Decision-Makers Survey, Q4 2010, 48% of the respondents indicated that they will expand their vendor management capabilities.
Creating Effective SLAs: Pay Attention to Productivity and Data Accuracy
December 21st, 2011
By Marc Tanowitz
As outsourcing buyers use service levels to measure the performance of a provider, service level agreements (SLAs) are one of the buyer’s fundamental vendor-performance management activities. An SLA’s agreed-upon quantitative provider requirements establish the baseline performance levels and define the monetary credits or other remedies associated with a provider’s failure to meet the standards. The principal role of an SLA is to align buyer and provider objectives.
KPO and Latin America’s Bumpy Road up the Global Services Value Chain
December 5th, 2011
Neo and The Matrix are emblematic of the next-gen environment of KPO
BPO’s sexy cousin shows little momentum in the region
By Luke Bujarski
A recent NASSCOM study on Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) bares a sobering reminder of Asia’s continued dominance in the global services arena. While small compared to the opportunities still available through the back office, BPO’s sexier and more sophisticated cousin is quickly gaining ground both in terms of market size, and as a competitive differentiator between full-service outsourcing providers.
Are You Paying Attention to the Financial Stress Weighing on Your Outsourcing Partner?
November 8th, 2011Vendor management requires an ‘all in’ approach to lowering risk
By Jan Erik Aase
In a recent Forrester survey, senior IT professionals ranked “security concerns about giving work to a third party” as their greatest concern about moving into managed services relationships. Surprised?
Although conventional wisdom says that giving vendors end-to-end accountability for a portfolio of applications and services is the best way to reduce risks in managed services relationships, far too many sourcing professionals believe that this end-to-end accountability eliminates the need for due diligence and other governance activities.
