For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Looking Beyond Global Providers For SAP Services

Smaller Providers, Regional, And Industry Specialists Offer Strong Options

by Liz Herbert, November 10, 2009

Firms seeking SAP services expertise often ask if smaller, regional providers and industry specialists can fill their needs. Beyond the global multinational consultancies (MNCs) and leading offshore providers featured in The Forrester Wave™: SAP . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

The State Of Enterprise IT Services: 2009

Business Data Services North America And Europe

by Pascal Matzke, John C. McCarthy, November 6, 2009

As the global economic downturn continues to put pressure on IT budgets, companies are taking a variety of measures to get more value for the money spent on IT services. But unlike the last recession in 2001 to 2002, when outsourcing and offshoring benefitted . . .

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 Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

European Offshoring Shows Moderate Growth

by Sudin Apte, October 28, 2009

Offshoring of IT jobs from Europe shows signs of slow growth as firms try to cut costs. While the percentage of IT services that go offshore — especially from the non-UK market — is very small, Forrester's Enterprise IT Services Survey, North America . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Market Overview: PLM Deployment Support

New Offerings From Vendors And Service Providers Lower Implementation Hurdles

by Roy C. Wildeman, October 21, 2009

As companies pursue a more ambitious agenda for product life-cycle management (PLM), the complexity of their application deployments is on the rise, creating a host of new integration, data migration, and customization challenges for application development . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Assessing Your Onshore/Offshore Staffing Ratios

Shifting More Staff Offshore Drives More Savings Than 5% To 10% Rate Reductions

by John C. McCarthy, October 13, 2009

With the economic collapse and the sudden downturn in IT budgets, we have seen a large spike in the number of inquiries from clients asking about the best mix of onshore versus offshore staff at their global delivery model suppliers. Based on more than . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Tata Consultancy Services: Using The Downturn To Reposition Its IT M&A Services

M&A Services SWOT Analysis: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Q4 2009

by Daniel Krauss, Pascal Matzke, October 6, 2009

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has primarily focused on the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) IT requirements of clients in the financial services industry for many years. Backed by its strong IT system and process knowledge and experience, it has mainly . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Why Do You Need Tier Two Providers? (And You Do Need Them!)

Understanding The Specialization Value Tier Two Providers Can Offer

by Sudin Apte, September 8, 2009

Many clients today are looking to add one or two midsize IT service providers to their current portfolios of top offshore companies. But the offshore midmarket is full of confusion — it includes a crowd of 300-plus players, and almost 90% of them look . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Ten-Point Checklist For Assessing Eurocentric IT Partnerships For Global Delivery  (36 KB XLS)

by Euan Davis, September 1, 2009

Euro-centric IT services partnerships will grow as India’s pure-plays seek deeper penetration for their application expertise and local providers respond to client demands for cheaper IT service delivery. In this checklist, Forrester assumes that local . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Outsourcing SAP Operations Expands With Economic Uncertainty

by Bill Martorelli, Liz Herbert, August 17, 2009

Continuing economic pressures are contributing to the new popularity of outsourcing services for SAP operational services, complementing the large, well-established market for implementation services. Diverse offerings now coexist within the marketplace, . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Assessing Your European Service Provider's Partnering Strategy For Global Delivery

European Sourcing Teams Need To Understand How GDM Partnerships Get Implemented

by Euan Davis, August 11, 2009

Offshore service propositions are filtering down to the European market as local IT service providers partner with India's pure-plays. Each needs the other in a symbiotic relationship fueled by Indian scale and European revenue growth. Sourcing groups . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Understanding Today's Demand For IT Services

Project Work Is Down But Has Growth Potential; IT Outsourcing Is Just Weak

by Tim Sheedy, Andrew Bartels, August 11, 2009

The IT services market is behaving peculiarly in this tech downturn. While project-based IT consulting and systems integration work is now falling, it: 1) held up remarkably well until Q4 2008; 2) is down less than other categories of IT spending; and . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

IT Services: Banking And Insurance Services Budget Data  (542 KB PPT)

by Ellen Carney, August 6, 2009

A data chart on IT services banking and insurance budget data.

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

How Do Service Providers Blend Global Delivery For European Clients?

by Euan Davis, August 6, 2009

IT process maturity and robust service management structures allow firms to aggressively leverage offshore resources through their provider's global delivery model. But many European firms need a staggered, blended approach to global delivery. Large international . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

IT Services: Banking And Insurance Service Provider Selection And Satisfaction Data  (546 KB PPT)

by Ellen Carney, August 6, 2009

Data chart on IT services banking and insurance service provider selection and satisfaction data.

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

How Europeans Tune Global IT Service Delivery Models

Deal-Makers Hedge Offshore Risk With Blended Models

by Euan Davis, August 5, 2009

The IT services industry in Europe continues to mature, with global delivery strategies superseding traditional offshore approaches. First, movers with standard IT process models configured for sourcing maturity fully exploited global delivery; now, a . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Evaluating Satyam's New Avatar — Mahindra Satyam

by Sudin Apte, July 31, 2009

With Tech Mahindra emerging as the winning bidder, uncertainty about Satyam's ownership ends. While investigation of financial irregularities and criminal proceedings against the founder will continue for several years to come, the company moves on to . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Will Your Offshore Provider Survive The Recession?

by Sudin Apte, July 23, 2009

Most offshore players are facing rough business weather for the first time. In the 20 years since the inception of the industry, Indian players have seen only growth; even since the beginning of the recession, they are only now facing serious challenges . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Assessing Your Offshore IT Service Provider's Recession Readiness  (66 KB XLS)

by Sudin Apte, July 10, 2009

This test checks the health of your offshore IT service provider by asking a total of 20 questions on 10 topics or key issues. Some questions check for symptoms that the provider is struggling, and others look at the provider's strategy to fight the recession. . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Best Practices For Selecting And Managing Your SAP Implementation Provider

Lessons Learned From Interviewing SAP Client References

by Liz Herbert, May 18, 2009

Forrester surveyed 154 SAP implementation client references and found that they were most satisfied with providers' technical expertise and pricing transparency, but rated them lower on change management, training, and skills transfer. References also . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: EMEA SOA Systems Integrators, Q2 2009

IBM, CSC, And Wipro Lead, With THBS And Accenture Close Behind

by Tim Sheedy, May 8, 2009

In Forrester's 62-criteria evaluation of EMEA service-oriented architecture (SOA) systems integrators, we found that IBM Global Services (IBM), CSC, and Wipro lead the pack because of their broad and deep SOA experience and the quality of their reference . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: North American SOA Systems Integrators, Q2 2009

IBM And Infosys Lead The Pack, With Wipro Close Behind

by Tim Sheedy, May 5, 2009

In Forrester's 62-criteria evaluation of North American service-oriented architecture (SOA) systems integrators, we found that IBM Global Services (IBM) and Infosys led the pack because of their broad and deep SOA experience. Accenture, Deloitte, Wipro, . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Inquiry Spotlight: Banks' Key Outsourcing Questions

by Euan Davis, April 24, 2009

Forrester has noticed an increase in outsourcing questions from banking clients — not surprising, given the tremendous pressure banks face today. These inquiries highlight a variety of outsourcing-related concerns, from tactical rate questions to broader . . .

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 Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Global IT Infrastructure Outsourcing, Q1 2009

IBM, Wipro, And HP Lead, But Overall Maturity And Quality Are High

by Paul Roehrig, Ph.D., April 6, 2009

Forrester evaluated leading global IT infrastructure outsourcing service providers across 31 criteria — including an additional 25-item reference client survey — and found that IBM and the combined HP/EDS firm both stand out from the . . .