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

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 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

Create Your Sourcing Strategy By Facing Up To Your Organization's Business Realities

Look Beyond Crisis Management To Set A Forward-Looking Strategy

by Andrew Parker, Caroline Roeleveld-Hoekendijk, October 20, 2009

While the road to economic recovery is expected to be rocky, by now most businesses have understood the effects they will suffer and have taken measures to shore up business stability. Sourcing and vendor management leaders — like other managers — will . . .

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: Hiring Plans Show Signs Of Life, VMS Adoption Is On The Rise  (680 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

Checklist: SOW And MSA Considerations For Managed Outcome Engagements  (37 KB XLS)

by Bill Martorelli, October 13, 2009

One of the keys to success in establishing managed outcome relationships is to contract for them successfully using elements of the relevant toolset such as the statement of work (SOW) and the master services agreement (MSA). In practice, the two document . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Business Context Self-Assessment For Sourcing Leaders  (108 KB XLS)

by Andrew Parker, October 8, 2009

Sourcing executives should use this self-assessment workbook to help them understand the business context of their firm and provide a background to work on setting sourcing strategy priorities.

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Mobility User Profiles, Apps, And Devices  (98 KB XLS)

by Brownlee Thomas, Ph.D., September 9, 2009

This workbook contains an overview of mobility user profiles (user job roles and tasks, locations, applications, devices, access and support requirements), as well as mobile applications by role (mobile applications supported) and mobile devices by role . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

A Formal Policy Is Needed To Reduce Mobility Costs

by Brownlee Thomas, Ph.D., September 9, 2009

Corporate mobile is growing fast, which naturally increases costs — for usage, support, and administration. By 2012, nearly three-quarters of corporate employees will use mobile devices for work. To control costs while also ensuring employee productivity, . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Corporate Mobility Policy Outline — A Sample Table Of Contents  (34 KB XLS)

by Brownlee Thomas, Ph.D., September 9, 2009

This workbook is a sample table of contents to aid sourcing professionals in the creation of a formal mobility policy.

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 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

Enterprises Should Push Supplier Networks To Deliver Interoperability

The Plethora Of Discrete Networks Detracts From ePurchasing's Value

by Duncan Jones, July 30, 2009

Enterprises use supplier networks to trade electronically with their suppliers, but they find that insufficient cooperation between rivals limits potential progress. Chief purchasing officers (CPOs) and their ePurchasing program managers struggle to get . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Trends That Will Reshape R&D Post-Recession

Sourcing Professionals Need To Prepare For Global Design Services

by Sudin Apte, July 23, 2009

Product development is poised to undergo huge changes in the next two years. From headquarters-centric R&D centers, firms will instead globally distribute their R&D structure to more effectively enter new geographic markets. To sell in local markets, . . .

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

TechRadar™ For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals: ePurchasing, Q3 2009

Services Procurement And EIPP Are Hottest, Supplier Performance And Automated Spend Analysis Show Promise, But Supplier Portals Start To Decline

by Patrick M. Connaughton, Duncan Jones, July 22, 2009

Forrester has used its TechRadar™ on the various subcategories of ePurchasing software to identify which offer the most reliable and fastest-growing sources of business value. We found that eProcurement and eSourcing give the best ROI, with electronic . . .

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

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

Inquiry Spotlight: Companies Prepare For Growth In Telecommuting

by Brownlee Thomas, Ph.D., July 8, 2009

During the past year, Forrester's IT sourcing and vendor management analysts have fielded a growing number of client inquiries from enterprise clients specifically about telecommuting. Most of these inquiries have come from CIOs and IT directors. The . . .

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 . . .