For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Status, Challenges, And Near-Term Tactics For Cloud Services In Enterprise Outsourcing Deals

by Paul Roehrig, Ph.D., November 18, 2009

The blab-o-sphere is full of warnings, proclamations, and sales pitches about cloud services and this is only making it tougher for IT decision-makers to sort the reality from the hype in the face of pressing technology challenges. Decision-makers are . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Do Your Software Contracts Permit External Use?

Buyers Should Act Now To Avoid Excessive, Unexpected Charges For Basic Third-Party Access To Their Business Systems

by Duncan Jones, November 12, 2009

Many IT sourcing managers are facing unexpected additional software costs because they have used their enterprise systems to work more closely with third parties, only to find that their license agreements include unreasonable extra charges for, or even . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Top Strategies To Ensure Continued Value From Offshore Services

by Sudin Apte, November 4, 2009

The vast majority of clients renegotiated rates in the past 12 months as a way to lower costs. However, this option isn't open to advanced offshore users that have already moved away from rate-card-based pricing, leaving these firms to ask what they can . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

What's Next For The IT-To-BT Transformation: The Contractualization Trend

by Henry Peyret, October 14, 2009

The combination of the current economic climate and business globalization is accelerating the evolution of business models toward a networked model, where businesses focus on their core competencies to add value and engage with other external and internal . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Seeking Flexible Outsourcing Deals

Australia's Department Of Defence Lays The Groundwork For A New Sourcing Strategy

by Tim Sheedy, August 25, 2009

For many IT sourcing customers, the arguments and potential legal battles concerning what is in scope and what is not — both for project work and managed services engagements — are constant thorns. The Australian Department of Defence, in the design of . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Creating Improvement Incentives In Application Outsourcing Contracts

by Bill Martorelli, August 17, 2009

Both suppliers and their clients continue to struggle with how to price applications outsourcing (AO) relationships for the best alignment of interests and shared risk. But only a relative minority of clients are ready for the leap to managed outcome . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

An Enterprise Software Licensee's Bill Of Rights, V2

Forrester Redefines 47 Basic Rights That Licensees Should Expect From Vendors

by R "Ray" Wang, July 7, 2009

Of all the assets that an enterprise acquires, enterprise software brings with it the most unusual, onerous, and restrictive set of constraints. In most cases, licensees may not resell, reuse, or share their license. Licensees often encounter numerous . . .

For CIOs

CIOs: New Sourcing Models Mean New Tactics For IT

by Sharyn Leaver, June 25, 2009

As emerging sourcing models such as managed hosting, SaaS, PaaS, and cloud-based services become more prevalent, traditional sourcing tactics, terms, and expectations may no longer be adequate. CIOs should be aware of the challenges their sourcing teams . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Take A Back-To-Basics Approach When Renegotiating Contingent Rates

by Patrick M. Connaughton, June 23, 2009

Current global market conditions have sourcing and vendor management professionals asking if the contingent labor rates they negotiated a year ago are still competitive, if other companies have had much luck getting new discounts, and how to best approach . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Inquiry Insights: BSS/OSS For Communications Service Providers, Q2 2009

by Michele Pelino, June 10, 2009

Forrester receives thousands of inquiries each year on a variety of topics that provide insight into the key issues and challenges facing our clients. Analysis of inquiries related to the business and operational support systems (BSS/OSS) issues facing . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Enterprise Software Licensing And Pricing Update, Q2 2009

by R "Ray" Wang, June 1, 2009

Rapidly deteriorating market conditions led to a shift in the major enterprise apps vendors' overall software licensing and pricing strategies. Forrester examined the status and progress of 12 vendors and their responses to client requests and concerns. . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Observe The Limitations Of SLA Penalty Clauses

by Bill Martorelli, May 18, 2009

Sourcing and vendor management professionals continue to struggle with devising contracts that balance risk between themselves and their suppliers. One of the most difficult challenges is devising service-level regimes in which a certain percentage of . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Yes We Can (Cut Our Software Maintenance Costs)

IT Sourcing Executives Can Take Advantage Of Increasing Flexibility To Obtain The Cost Savings They Need

by Duncan Jones, May 8, 2009

It's one of the unwritten rules of software that maintenance costs only go up — never down. But we used to say that about house prices too. Today, software vendors are coming under increasing pressure from customers to cut maintenance bills, but the vendors . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

The Real Problem Of Counting Virtual Licenses

Software Sourcing Managers Should Understand The Licensing Impact Of Their Colleagues' Plans For Server Virtualization

by Duncan Jones, April 23, 2009

Software license agreements that vendors created and buyers accepted years ago fail to make clear how definitions of hardware-based metrics such as per-processor apply to today's virtualized data centers. Enterprises, hoping to cut costs by improving . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Function Points And Application Outsourcing

Usage Is Still Constrained, But Looks Set To Rise

by Bill Martorelli, April 23, 2009

Services buyers increasingly look for a standard, unambiguous way to evaluate the productivity of numerous outsourcing partners so that they can keep their suppliers "honest." Moreover, outsourcing consultants increasingly recommend using function points . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Emerging Outsourcing Models Require New Sourcing Tactics

Adjust Your Approach To The Reality Of New Alternatives

by Bill Martorelli, April 16, 2009

Emerging outsourcing models — including managed hosting, virtual managed hosting, and application hosting and SaaS — are proliferating. They generate interest among business buyers because of their flexibility and cost effectiveness. However, they often . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Tactics To Manage Currency And Inflation Risk In Your IT Services Deal

by Paul Roehrig, Ph.D., April 10, 2009

The new market reality is that costs have to come down in almost every commercial business sector due to current roiling economic pressures. This can seem nearly paralyzing to IT sourcing decision-makers trying to solidify strategies to survive the recession . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Offshore Negotiation Toolkit: Ammunition To Help Sourcing Teams Cut Rates And Mitigate Risks  (1.2 MB PPT)

by Sudin Apte, April 8, 2009

- Top questions about offshore rates - Five reasons why your offshore providers can cut billing rates - Understanding risks of low rates and providers’ current initiatives to cut costs

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Craft Your Negotiations Strategy To Reflect New Packaged Apps Licensing And Pricing Trends

by R "Ray" Wang, April 3, 2009

Results from Forrester's Enterprise And SMB Software Survey, North America And Europe, Q4 2008 reveal three major trends shaping contract negotiations strategy: 1) declines in software spending; 2) improved negotiating leverage for buyers; and 3) vendor . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Why Sourcing Professionals Need To Get Aggressive With "Bring Your Own PC" Programs

IT Initiatives To Allow Self-Provisioned Devices Could Cause Big Headaches For Sourcing Professionals Who Don't Get Involved Early

by Christine Ferrusi Ross, March 25, 2009

Bring your own PC programs are gaining a lot of interest with infrastructure groups today. Why? Because the idea of lower IT costs, less complaints from employees, and overall less conflicts with the business are too much to overlook. Today's employees . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

New Contract Terms For Outsourcing Deals

Economic And Vendor Risk Issues Require Sourcing Teams To Change Contract Clauses

by Bill Martorelli, March 17, 2009

A number of recent events involving vendor instability and geopolitical risk are underscoring requirements for tight contractual protections on the part of outsourcing clients. In the wake of events such as the admission of fraud by Satyam's CEO and recent . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Inquiry Spotlight: Contract Negotiations

by Liz Herbert, March 17, 2009

In the current economic environment having a solid contract is more important than ever. Forrester clients are recognizing the importance of having meaningful service-level agreements (SLAs) and achieving cost savings through effective contract negotiations. . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Base Your Oracle "Red Stack" Negotiations Strategy On Your Oracle Adoption Strategy

Preparation And Product Expertise Are Key To Winning

by R "Ray" Wang, John R. Rymer, Noel Yuhanna, March 13, 2009

Amidst worsening economic conditions and a rapidly consolidating vendor landscape, applications professionals will have the opportunity to consolidate their own landscapes by committing to single-vendor "platform stacks." IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

TechRadar™ For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals: Software-As-A-Service

CRM And Collaboration Are Growing, And Many New Categories Are On The Horizon, Q1 2009

by Liz Herbert, March 12, 2009

As software-as-a-service (SaaS) becomes increasingly important to firms' application strategies, sourcing and vendor management professionals are taking ownership of the research, purchasing, negotiations, and ongoing vendor relationships for these solutions. . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Complementing India With Nearshore Strategies: Spotlight On Spain

How European Firms Drive Nearshore Value With Spanish Resources

by Euan Davis, February 27, 2009

Sourcing executives rarely hear about Spain as a nearshore destination, but Spain attracts vendors and buyers alike with its large, well-qualified IT labor pool, world-class vertically focused services resources, competitive IT services rates, and potential . . .