Multisourcing By Alliance: Getronics Uses Partners To Deliver Services Globally To Clients

On March 25, 2009, Getronics and six partner firms formally announced the Getronics Workspace Alliance. The group will collaborate to deliver managed desktop services and a range of associated capabilities for enterprise clients. Forrester got the lowdown on the new initiative from Jos Schoemaker, chief operating officer (COO) of Getronics, during a briefing at Getronics' new Dutch headquarters (HQ). Alliance partners offer services in 10 European Union (EU) states, the US and Canada, Japan, China, Mexico, and a range of other countries in Latin America, the Asia/Pacific region, and the Middle East. Market consolidation — like HP's acquisition of EDS — has recently diminished the competitive options for global delivery of enterprise desktop services. In light of this, sourcing execs should look at new initiatives like the Getronics Workspace Alliance as potentially interesting alternatives to the likes of IBM and HP/EDS for multicountry support of desktop needs. But be prepared to put more work in at the RFP stage and vendor governance to capture value from an alliance like this.