What are customers intending to do this year with their outsourcing strategies? When when we spoke to 1055 customers, intermediaries and vendors across the global sourcing industry earlier this month, they gave us the real picture
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The Industry Speaks, Part III: Demand for outsourcing is reaching new heights, but will vendors disappoint?
let’s talk about outsourcing vendors, and what on earth they are going to do when these tasty labor-arbitrage deals start to fizzle-out.
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The Industry Speaks, Part II: When the labor arbitrage deals dry-up (and they will), customers will select vendors that can deliver business-value…
Whether it’s cash management in Casablanca, or payroll in Patagonia, there’s one guy who’ll have a Harvey Ball polished and ready for you. Enter Everest Group’s rock-loving, paint-balling enthusiast, Anand Ramesh, who lives and breathes global sourcing locations. However, before you read the excellent guest article he’s submitted for us, please spend a few minutes assisting Anand with his new study to understand how companies are leveraging offshore locations – particularly for high-value services – and how the landscape is likely to evolve.
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Want to know about global sourcing? Then we’ll lend you Anand…
So it’s time to drip-feed the intentions and experiences of 1055 buyers, intermediaries and vendors into the global sourcing industry. We’ll be discussing the results from our “Seeking the New Normal in Outsourcing Delivery” in full at the Global Services Conference on 28th January, but the nuances behind why – and how – companies are exploring sourcing delivery models, as we come out of a painful recession into an uncertain climate, need to be aired and discussed. There’s been a lot of talk about a “New Normal”, or a “Reset Economy”, that things will never be quite the same as…
My earliest memory of outsourcing was ringing to complain about a utility bill and getting a polite, but calmly authoritative, Scottish girl at the end of the line. I knew immediately that I wasn’t going to get a ton of mileage with my quest for justice that day… We’ve spent a lot of time discussing outsourcing locations here, and one we’ve overlooked is Scotland. And it’s not because I’m a Brit and the Jocks don’t like us very much – it’s simply the fact that they don’t make a great deal of noise about what a stellar location they have….
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Searching for the cloud? Then look to the Highlands…
We’ve had a huge amount of debate concerning the future direction of outsourcing advisory services, and today, we can exclusively reveal a sea-change in the advisor industry landscape with Alsbridge’s acquisition of TAG, the leading life-cycle expense management advisor for network services. Essentially, this is the first genuine coming-together of IT and network-connectivity sourcing services within an advisory model. While most traditional outsourcing advisors are firmly-rooted trying to maximize cost-efficiencies for their clients through lower-cost labor offerings in IT and BPO, they often overlook the additional savings on the table they can generate for CIOs through smarter sourcing and management…
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Alsbridge doubles-down on data-rich consulting with TAG acquisition
Thanks to all of you who participated in December’s survey “Seeking The New Normal in Outsourcing Delivery”. In total, 1051 companies gave their opinions, with a strong mix of buyers, intermediaries and providers participating to give us an unprecedented pulse on the outsourcing industry. About time we had less prophesying and some actual hard facts on what’s really going on out there… In anticipation of releasing the results of the study later next week, I’d like to recap some recent thoughts on where the industry is headed, to help make sense of what is really happening in the industry. And…
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Weekend recap: the "new normal" in the outsourcing delivery business
Right on cue with our discussion earlier this week, the “void” just got bigger as software analyst legend, Bruce Richardson, announced his departure from the analyst community to take on the role of Chief Strategy Officer at software giant Infor. Known in the industry as “Mr AMR”, Bruce has entertained us for years with his famous “First Thing Monday” newsletter and blog. I, personally, have Bruce to thank for bringing me back to the analyst fold with AMR in 2007, and being a guide and mentor to myself and many other analysts during his role as Chief Research Officer. Like…
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Adieu to a research legend
So the “great analyst roll-up” is in full swing, with Gartner’s announcement today to acquire another competitor, this time the Burton Group, for 56 big ones. This comes hot on the heels of my former firm, AMR Research, also being acquired by Gartner. I won’t go into the details of the mechanics of these mergers, as you can read exhaustive commentary, debate and analysis over at Carter Lusher’s blog. However, I did want to discuss what this means to our sourcing industry. Limited choice for alternative opinions
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The great analyst roll-up is on… who’ll step into the void?
And now we can finally put that year to bed, surely we can look forward to a more normal 2010. Of course we can 
Here are some of the more serious moods and moments from a rather epic year in our industry…in chronologial order: Satyam: It was like riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten Think before you fire: The cost of replacing IT talent Forget 2006, let’s go back to ‘96 Global business on a Knife-edge: Bonuses, H-1Bs and Naïve Protectionism Where should outsourcing vendors invest their marketing dollars in this climate? Datamonitor…
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…and the more serious moments of ‘09
And on a less serious note, here’s the more amusing side to 2009… Meaningful use of Twitter discovered Obama to ban offshore outsourcing India shows us how to innovate Swine Flu can impact your service levels Proof that you can stabilize your operations eventually… It’s all about hitting the ground running after you sign the contract Remote Infrastructure Management anyone? Getting to a point where you can lay in one place and not have to do anything ever… Being middle-seated… all the way to Orlando Payback can be sweet…
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The best of Horses in ‘09… the funnies
Most people I speak to can’t wait for 2009 to be put to bed. People suddenly awoke to the realization that everything they have grafted so hard to achieve in their lives could be seized from them, because their economy had failed them. Like everything else in this world, we always wait until its too late before taking drastic action, and 2009 epitomized this reactionary mindset that dominates so much of our society. However, I did want to sign off from 2009 with a dose of realism… fancy phrases such as “New Normal”, or “Preparing for the Recovery” only wash…
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2009 – the year of papering over cracks
If there was a Nobel Prize for industry analysts, this guy walks away with it – he’s super cool, talks a good game, and has done very little beyond, well, be super-cool and super-smart… and with a French accent to boot. So today, I thought we’d give IDC’s Sebastien Ruest the chance to prove there’s a bit more substance behind the snowboarding, hockey-stick-wielding playboy façade 
Sebastien’s proving IDC’s nearshore model by leading it’s global services research from Canada, and developing a solid reputation in the industry as one of the industry analysts who “gets it”. So I thought it…
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Getting a bit of Ruest (Part I)
Earlier today Apple activated a new product page layout which you can check on iTunes. As you can see on the screenshot, the new pages look much nicer. Instead of being text-heavy Apple is focusing users attention on screenshots of an iPhone application as well as additional information such as reviews. Instead of just one app screenshot being shown, there are now 3. iPhone developers should immediately adjust to this change. Now that the emphasis is clearly on the first few sentences of the description, developers should be more concise in describing their apps, since that’s all that shown by default. If you click the “…more” link, the area will expand to show all the text, but again, that’s not the default look anymore. Also make sure that first 3 screenshots should make user interested and understand the idea of the application.
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iTunes App Store gets new layout
Firstly: my apologies to everyone for hopping on the perennial “Predictions Bandwagon”. One may as well say “Stop press everyone, I’m just such an important smarty-pants you should listen to ME ME ME!” As Newt Gingrich told us earlier this year: “There is not one living being that can accurately predict the outcome of this crisis, all we can do is continue the dialog and the answers will slowly unravel”. Secondly: we’ve conducted two major studies with outsourcing buyers globally this year (and am currently sifting through 800 responses – and counting – from our current industry study). While we…
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2010 Predictions for the Outsourcing Industry
One of the advisors which has really made a strong move in the sourcing business this year is Alsbridge. Much of that has been down to its strong track record with clients, but its also made some canny investments to augment its advisory services. One of these I’ve had some exposure to is ProBenchmark, which has been running some excellent webcasts looking into how pricing trends and dynamics in IT services. I caught up with CEO Ben Trowbridge the other day, and he wanted to let us know about a webcast ProBenchmark is running next week – you can register..
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Are prices really dropping, or are services merely being disaggregated?
Before you tuck into your Thanksgiving turkey and guzzle a gallon of bad quality Chardonnay, please take 10 minutes to complete our industry-wide study entitled “The New Normal in Outsourcing Delivery”. And if you’re in Asia or Europe, currently giving thanks for US declaring itself independent from everyone else, this includes you too. Anyhow, we are actively seeking the collective opinions and experiences of services customers, providers, and advisors and need 10 minutes of your time to complete this quick survey, designed especially for the patience-challenged, attention-deficit-inclined executive. Simply click on the following link): Click here to complete our survey…
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Complete our survey. Now
There’s little doubt about what’s been providing the rocket-fuel behind the rebounding services business: IT outsourcing. Simply put, there are plenty of eager providers to choose between, they have access to most of the technical skills companies need, and their rates are far cheaper than retaining or hiring staff inhouse. Some are also getting pretty handy at becoming consultative business partners, and not simply low-cost body shops. Our recent study tells the real story – 50% of enterprises are either kick-starting, or scaling-up, their ITO right now. “So tell us something new”, I hear you groan into your laptop screen……
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Can IT overcome its credibility crisis?
Our recent discussion on Xerox’s acquisition of ACS certainly served up some meaty discussion, and even got picked up by CIO.com, among other media. My dear friend, and former colleague at AMR Research, Dana Stiffler(pictured), recently sent us in some of her views on the merger. Dana actually got promoted today to VP and Head of Research for AMR’s services research, where she will be offering clients “cashable benefits, or your money back” with her group’s output. Anyhow, thought this a good time to showcase her talent… Over to you, Dana: Xerox-ACS: Cloud Services Potential, or Dinosaurs Huddling Together for…
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Xerox-ACS: Cloud Services Potential, or Dinosaurs Huddling Together for Warmth?
Today we received a vivid proof that applications we make are really popular with users. Some of the players cannot do with just a game on the screen, they want to have their own tangible option! Mr. N (won`t give up the name for privacy reason) expressed willingness to order from us a certain quantity of Bubble Wrap from the like-named game developed for Nokia Ovi Store . Definitely it is far more exciting to pop bubbles at home, when there are a few hundreds metres of real bubble wrap at you disposal! Mr N was quite serious about the matter and inquired the price, method of payment and time of delivery. He also specified the desired size, as only 150mtr x 1.5mtr wide or 100mtr x 0.5mtr wide wrap would answer his needs. That made us mull over the question what we will do if users decide to order a beauty from iGirl or spilled in Drunk Sniper liquid? Maybe we should create less realistic graphics?
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Tangible popularity
