The merging of software and services and the emergence of cloud computing will radically recast the IT services industry over the next three years. New suppliers will emerge, and many current providers will face consolidation. But making consulting or outsourcing decisions today based on a provider’s planned investments or an industry’s potential direction can be a time-wasting rathole. Yet, ignoring the changes will leave you locked into bad contracts with underperforming or obsolete providers. This keynote will show sourcing and vendor management professionals how the market for IT services is morphing, what those changes mean over the next three years, and how customers can leverage the upheaval to add value to their organizations.

• How will the shifting economics of the industry affect firms’ use of IT services?
• What are the key risks SVM professionals should mitigate in services contracts?
• How will relationships between IT services firms and clients change as the market evolves?

How does a business transform IT, and what role does sourcing play in that transformation? Dev Muhkerjee of Sears will discuss how he helped transform Sears’ technology organization, and what he required from sourcing to make it happen. This keynote will discuss the tradeoffs and other considerations when building a long-term technology vision:

• What factors are critical when transforming IT?
• How can businesses ensure their IT transformations are successful in the long term?
• Where can sourcing add the most value in that transformation both immediately and over the length of the journey

Each attendee is able to schedule up to two 20-minute One-On-One Meetings with the Forrester analysts of their choice, depending on availability. These meetings are consistently rated as one of the most popular features of Forrester Events.

The IT services landscape continues to evolve, and more dramatic change is on the horizon. During the past 10 years, IT service delivery models have morphed from on-site to global and from staff augmentation to fully managed services. Sourcing and vendor management executives have had to accommodate and facilitate these increasingly diverse and complex sourcing models and now face the ultimate challenge: the cloud. How relevant is the cloud to sourcing executives, and how should a sourcing executive think about cloud computing options? Eric Cohan, Director of IT Procurement at Dell, will share with the audience his IT sourcing strategy and discuss how traditional models and bleeding-edge models work together within his domain.

Most organizations make decisions about what to keep internal and what to outsource. But when Jonathan Pettus of NASA was asked to ensure that IT supported the agency’s core mission, he set up a program to review what NASA should keep strategically, what services should be delivered by third parties, and then how to make sure those services were sourced cost-effectively and at the right quality. This keynote will discuss:

• What tradeoffs should firms consider when deciding whether to outsource?
• What’s the right governance model for a strategic outsourcing environment?
• How can firms ensure that their long-term objectives are met in the face of severe short-term financial pressure?

Mexico’s Nearshore Package Concept

No other country is closer to the US than Mexico and no one can match an offer that includes NAFTA benefits, human capital capabilities, the same time zone, a very similar business culture, IP protection, strong support from the government that includes cash grants, and a healthy political scenario.

The 40-Year Old CIO

If, as they say, life begins at 40, then this is what the new-age CIO needs to know about the practicalities of sourcing, what their options are, and what they need to stay away from.

Forrester analyst Liz Herbert will describe Forrester's TEI™ methodology and discuss the results of her recent report on SaaS.

Companies need telecom services deals that meets both short- and longer-term goals — cost savings and flexibility. You always need the best prices for services rendered but you also want the right dose of flexibility built into your contract to avoid unpleasant surprises, like paying for what you don’t need or paying more than you expected over time. Telecom service contracts are notorious for being unfriendly and unforgiving to buyers, so it’s important to get the deal right the first time. This keynote panel discussion with your enterprise sourcing and vendor management peers will share insights and practical strategies for achieving successful, right-fit telecom services deals:

• What does a best-practice telecom deal look like?
• What are the most important future trends in telecom services that buyers need to understand when negotiating their contracts?
• What are the right negotiation and vendor management techniques to ensure flexibility over time?

Come and join your peers at a fun cocktail reception where you can discuss the event and share your experiences.

Mexico’s Offer of IT Services Companies

Mexican global companies provide high-quality, low-cost IT services with a proven track record of satisfied clients and a vast majority of them already have US-based operations.

Before the recession, the major software vendors held all of the negotiating cards, but the balance of power shifted back toward the buyers in 2009 — the economy, the scarcity of discretionary projects, the emergence of SaaS, and open source alternatives made traditional ISVs hungrier. Also, paradoxically, customers’ increased satisfaction with their current software versions has them asking if they really need to pay for rights to regular upgrades. All of these changes in the software market have buyers asking: Will this trend continue in 2010, or will software vendor failures and acquisitions actually reduce buyer choice and turn it back to a seller’s market? This keynote will discuss that issue, including key questions:

• What industry trends will affect software negotiations in 2010?
• What should buyers expect from their incumbent software vendors in 2010 and beyond?
• What concessions will software vendors offer, and what will they expect in return?

Each attendee is able to schedule up to two 20-minute One-On-One Meetings with the Forrester analysts of their choice, depending on availability. These meetings are consistently rated as one of the most popular features of Forrester Events.

Today’s economy has many clients worried about the viability of their vendors. But financial stability is just one of many risks a company faces when using third parties. This keynote will discuss how Russell Investments built a strong vendor management program, including thorough assessments of how vendors affected the firm’s overall risk profile. Questions to be answered include:

• What business risks are most affected by the use of third-party vendors?
• What tools and techniques can companies use to see early warning signs of risk and address them?
• How can clients use strong vendor management to reduce vendor risk in their organizations?

Forrester analyst Patrick Connaughton will describe Forrester's TechRadar&trade: methodology and discuss the results of his recent report on e-Procurement.

While developing and managing the utility industry’s leading portfolio of energy efficiency programs and services for data centers and IT infrastructure, Mark Bramfitt has confirmed what many have postulated: IT managers make poor decisions regarding equipment efficiency, often leading to or exacerbating capacity planning failures. PG&E’s customers in Northern California, including leading high-tech firms in Silicon Valley, are increasingly looking to energy efficiency measures and technologies to take the sting out of runaway IT growth rates. In this session you will learn:

• What is driving the focus on energy efficiency in the data center and IT markets.
• The leading measures and technologies that yield cost savings and help avoid capacity crunches.
• How utilities are partnering with customers to unlock the potential benefits of energy efficiency and demand response to mutual benefit.