Making the Same Mistake Over and Over? How to Absorb Outsourcing Lessons into Process
May 21st, 2012
By Jagdish Dalal
George Santayana once wrote: “Those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.” I also like what Albert Einstein wrote, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
So it is for many providers who do not have a structured process for learning from their past performance. Customers expect their providers to continuously improve their performance. In a competitive world of outsourcing, providers benefit by reducing service defects, thereby improving customer satisfaction and their bottom line. After all, failure to meet performance levels ends up costing them in their margin – directly or indirectly.
By: Linda Tuck Chapman
Developing and implementing consistent, actionable performance metrics for your Application Development and Maintenance and Testing program is one of the best ways to ensure you get value for money. One of the most important aspects of developing effective metrics is to resist measuring everything that can be measured. Focus only on measuring what matters.
By: Michael Santamaria
There’s little doubt that Business Process Outsourcing is here to stay; the lure of “easy” cost savings is just too powerful for companies to resist. But the truth of the matter is that implementing a successful outsourcing project is hard work and realizing those “easy” savings is by no means a foregone conclusion. While data on outsourcing failure is hard to come by, the Aberdeen Group has reported that 21% of outsourcing projects fail to meet stakeholder expectations, and Gartner puts the outsourcing failure rate as high as 30%. Although neither study defines what constitutes a “failure,” the bottom line is a large percent of projects end with unhappy clients.
By Michael Blankman
In my recent article, we concluded that the most important aspect of managing remotely is building a strong and trusting relationship. Creating a partnership that doesn’t rely solely on the contract for the outsourcer to get performance security. The partnership is critical because once operations are outsourced, real influence over daily management will and should be limited, or why outsource at all? The partnership needs to be based on respecting each other’s expertise, ensuring roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and that the underlying business model justifying the decision to outsource is protected.
By Kevin Church
Latin America has received lots of buzz in recent years as a preferred location for shared services operations. An educated and affordable labor pool, business friendly climate, and the necessary infrastructure all make Nearshoring a very attractive option. At the same time, companies establishing new shared services centers have migrated directly to process-centric structures to maximize the benefits of their service-delivery model. One such process model, Purchase-to-Pay (P2P), can provide significant benefits to organizations if an integrated process is established and the appropriate technology is in place to support it. As such, the collaborative workforce and the high rate of technology adoption in Latin America make it an extremely attractive market for P2P solutions.
By Shagun Malhotra
I knew I was in for a ride as soon as I arrived in Santiago and ventured out to the local neighborhoods to hunt for an apartment. It was not so much the huge language barrier, but rather, the non-stop honking and the playful wolf whistling that followed everywhere I went – a surprisingly warm Latin American welcome for an Indian-American girl. That was when I decided to put away my tight white shirt for the rest of my time in Santiago. But that’s a story for another time. Let’s rewind.
I am from New York City, a city bustling with all kinds of incubators but unfortunately, cost expensive equity. I wasn’t really looking for incubating opportunities as the city’s entrepreneurial spirit, diverse community and phenomenal resources were enough to nurture me. Reading the article on Start-Up Chile (SUP) in Inc. Magazine, however, had me intrigued by the equity-free offer of $40,000, access to international networks, and support from the Chilean government with just an agreement to relocate to Chile for six months.
By Rosanne D’Ausilio PhD
Average turnover, reported at 40% to 50%, has always been, and continues to be, a chronically costly problem for call centers, a problem that seems to be tolerated rather than solved. Respondents to a FurstPerson survey reported an average monthly attrition rate of 7.18%. Annualized, a 40% annual turnover estimate becomes an actual turnover rate of 87%. As you read further, you’ll see what that costs!
By Kenneth Hess
No one wants for a relationship to fail but sometimes you have to quit on one that isn’t working. How do you know when to say, “When?”
Relationships are difficult. Band members have creative differences, teammates have ego problems and marriage partners have irreconcilable differences. Likewise, vendors and clients in business-to-business relationships experience all of the pains of band members, teammates and marriage partners. Maintaining a positive relationship is challenging when everything goes well but adding in technological differences, language barriers and time zone disparities has the effect of widening the gap between client and vendor.
Shake, Rattle and Roll: Make Remote Management an Active Process
April 10th, 2012By Steve Rudderham
Most outsourcing arrangements are literally “out” sourced in that services are delivered from a remote location. Whether that location is within a few miles of your corporate headquarters or on the other side of the globe, you need to ensure the services are delivered in the appropriate manner without physically being there to oversee the operation. The provider often promises an “extension of your operations,” but this task often winds up being one of the biggest challenges of BPO, but fortunately there are a few basic steps BPO buyers can take to manageably ensure quality service delivery from remote locations.
By Heather Littlejohns
Companies seeking to locate new outsourced or shared services centers to offshore or near shore locations typically focus their exploration on factors such as price, local government support and incentives, cultural affinity with the target market, unemployment rates, labor pool, language skills, etc. But are companies really taking the necessary time to explore, assess and discuss their own points of differentiation as they are perceived by the local population?
