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

Address The Governance Requirements Of Managed Outcome Engagements

by Bill Martorelli, October 26, 2009

The intensity of the recent economic crisis focused attention on immediate savings exemplified by renegotiation on billing rates for application development and maintenance (ADM) services, among other service types. However, with signs of stabilization . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

IT Staff Augmentation Trends: Hourly Rates For Key IT Positions  (530 KB PPT)

by Patrick M. Connaughton, October 16, 2009

Results from a survey of 89 firms that use IT staff augmentation services.

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

IT Staff Augmentation Trends: Companies Set Their Sights On 5%-10% Rate Reductions  (550 KB PPT)

by Patrick M. Connaughton, October 16, 2009

Results from a survey of 89 firms that use IT staff augmentation services.

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

IT Staff Augmentation Trends: Limited Data Availability Hampers Rate Benchmarking Efforts  (550 KB PPT)

by Patrick M. Connaughton, October 16, 2009

Results from a survey of 89 firms that use IT staff augmentation services.

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 Information & Knowledge Management Professionals

Web Conferencing 2009 Market Overview

Pick A Portfolio Of Providers To Meet All Your Conferencing Scenarios

by Ted Schadler, Claire Schooley, August 27, 2009

Web conferencing has become a key real-time collaboration priority for most enterprises. IT is working hard to pick the right suppliers, negotiate the right price, and drive adoption. But the market remains fragmented, pricing is often mysterious and . . .

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 Information & Knowledge Management Professionals

Tier Your Workforce To Save Money With Cloud-Based Corporate Email

Occasional Users Can Run Email In The Cloud For As Little As $2.43 Per Month

by Ted Schadler, August 13, 2009

Information and knowledge management (I&KM) pros are used to giving all employees the same software tools. While this has the benefit of simplicity, it often means buying licenses for software that is seldom or never used. With cloud-based email, . . .

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 Information & Knowledge Management Professionals

The Four Decision Factors For Open Source Enterprise Content Management

by Stephen Powers, August 5, 2009

Open source enterprise content management (ECM) initiatives are common in small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) or in department-level projects. Yet information and knowledge management (I&KM) professionals in major enterprises have started to . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Inquiry Spotlight: Cloud-Based Email, Q3 2009

by Christopher Voce, July 31, 2009

Interest in cloud-based email is rapidly rising. The promise of reducing operational costs and refocusing on their core competencies has many Forrester customers asking about the cloud. Cloud-based services like those of Google and Microsoft are more . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

The ROI Of Software-As-A-Service

A Total Economic Impact™ Analysis Uncovers Long-Term Value In SaaS

by Liz Herbert, Jon Erickson, July 13, 2009

Firms almost always consider software-as-a-service (SaaS) as a cost-advantage over on-premise in the short run due to its quick implementation times and pay-as-you-go pricing. But many firms question the long-term value of SaaS, wondering if the rent-versus-own . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Converting Salary Data Into Estimated Hourly Rates  (48 KB XLS)

by Patrick M. Connaughton, July 2, 2009

This tool uses salary data from full-time equivalent positions as a reference point to estimate a reasonable hourly rate for contingent labor. This tool is based on Figure 1 in the June 23, 2009, "Take A Back-To-Basics Approach When Renegotiating Contingent . . .

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 Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Decoding Mainframe Pricing Mechanics And Metrics

by Brad Day, June 10, 2009

Unraveling the complex pricing metrics and mechanics of IBM System z hardware and software requires tapping your most investigative infrastructure, operations, and procurement specialists. The first order of business is to understand the performance metrics . . .

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

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 CIOs

CIOs: Insist On TEI Calculations To Justify Business-Critical IT Investments

by Sharyn Leaver, April 22, 2009

Now more than ever, IT executives face difficult decisions around which IT investments in their portfolios to execute on, cancel, or defer. IT executives must identify the projects that are business-critical or strategic to maximize the business value . . .

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 Vendor Strategy Professionals

Predictions 2009: ePurchasing Market

Growth Slows Both Overall And For eProcurement But Is Strong In Other Areas

by Andrew Bartels, March 26, 2009

The ePurchasing market — software solutions for eProcurement, eSourcing, contract life-cycle management (CLM), automated spend analysis, accounts payable electronic invoice presentment and payment (AP-EIPP), services procurement, supplier performance . . .

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 Vendor Strategy Professionals

Is Open Source Software Confusing To CIOs?

Identifying The Most Urgent Communication Challenges For Vendors

by Stefan Ried, Ph.D., March 16, 2009

The budget situation in many IT organizations today means that CIOs are paying more attention to the open source discussion than ever before. We created a fictitious discussion between two CIOs to identify the major concerns and even confusion about the . . .