Outsource Magazine

The TPI Index, a quarterly snapshot of the global outsourcing market, allows us to identify trends and to track key developments in the outsourcing marketplace over time. So far this year, we have seen a generally steady...

The National Outsourcing Association Awards (NOAA) 2012 sponsored by Wipro took place last night, October 25 in central London. Every year these awards seek out and spotlight both best practice and excellence in outsourcing...

The key focus when outsourcing the supply chain is to delegate those activities that take time but do not utilise your organisation’s strengths or require your specific expertise. By outsourcing, you can free up your...

We all know the benefits of the cloud for outsourcing business processes. Dumping all that internal infrastructure in favour of remotely hosted applications which are more reliable, scalable, up to date and cheaper. Still, the...

For many years, CIOs have sought to successfully tread the path to becoming a true partner to their business and the executive management team. As a recent Ernst & Young study (DNA of the CIO) finds, however, only a limited...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #29 Autumn 2012. There has been lots of talk about how much cloud computing will change the IT industry. You don’t have to be far-sighted to realise the impact...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #29 Autumn 2012. The internet-enabled world means that we will become more and more dependent on the internet and ICT. It is an understatement to say that...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #29 Autumn 2012 Organisations outsource applications development for many reasons. In our work, we have come across the good – cost reduction; the bad – a...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #29 Autumn 2012. I am answering this question from the perspective of the core competence of my company which specialises in communications technology strategy and...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #29 Autumn 2012, as part of a portfolio feature entitled 'Procuring Excellence'. To read the other parts of this feature, see the introduction and index here. In...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #29 Autumn 2012 It’s boom time for procurement outsourcing – but what’s it all about? We put some of the most pressing questions in the space to our team of...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #29 Autumn 2012, as part of a portfolio feature entitled 'Procuring Excellence'. To read the other parts of this feature, see the introduction and index here. Here...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #29 Autumn 2012, as part of a portfolio feature entitled 'Procuring Excellence'. To read the other parts of this feature, see the introduction and index here. The...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #29 Autumn 2012, as part of a portfolio feature entitled 'Procuring Excellence'. To read the other parts of this feature, see the introduction and index here. The...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #29 Autumn 2012, as part of a portfolio feature entitled 'Procuring Excellence'. To read the other parts of this feature, see the introduction and index here. The...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #29 Autumn 2012, as part of a portfolio feature entitled 'Procuring Excellence'. To read the other parts of this feature, see the introduction and index...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #29 Autumn 2012 DLA Piper in association with Outsource is running a survey looking at some of the biggest questions in outsourcing. To launch the survey – which...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #29 Autumn 2012   In many ways these are great times for the customer contact business, with new technology providing hitherto-unthinkable opportunities for...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #29 Autumn 2012 In today’s global services outsourcing arena, increasing numbers of companies adopt “multisourcing”; that is, they select and combine...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #29 Autumn 2012 It is worth dusting off those old shared service centre business plans. When organisations set up SSCs in the 1990s and early 2000s, most paid lip...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #29 Autumn 2012 In the 19th century, “…most large households had a still room for distilling spirits and here were brewed an exhaustive repertoire of items:...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #29 Autumn 2012 The drive towards multi-channel, increasingly non-voice customer contact is inexorable for two reasons. First, because consumers demand it. Second,...

How do you – and should you – deal with your internal customers? In the transformation of the transactional finance function from back office to a service function we need to consider how we define customers, what service...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #29 Autumn 2012 Companies are speeding up their outsourcing of key internal functions, especially now that cloud computing models have become so popular; this will...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #29 Autumn 2012 Since prehistoric times, the tributaries to the Amazon delta have undergone numerous changes to their main course: large and small movements, as...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #29 Autumn 2012 The economic crisis may not have fundamentally changed the buying behaviour for large sourcing projects in Europe, but trends indicate that...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #29 Autumn 2012 If one word above all others has dominated the outsourcing space over the last year, it’s been “cloud”. But even though the cloud has now...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #29 Autumn 2012 Termination is often the last thing on the parties’ minds at the outset of a new project or business relationship. Motivated by a need and...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #29 Autumn 2012 In the world of outsourcing and relationship management, nomenclature is a peculiar obsession. As buyers of services, we struggle with whether we...

To read the first part of this article, click here. When using public clouds which are offered globally to a range of audiences from enterprise companies through to small businesses and consumers there is a risk of data...

You’ve received board approval, and like many corporations your board decided the outsourcing destination to be India (the Mecca of outsourcing). As project lead you’ve worked very hard to select the right vendor as partner...

When considering cloud the inevitable security questions arise around where your data centres are, what happens to my data and how I can ensure the decision I am making does not expose us to risk. Blatantly ignoring cloud in...

The first time I visited Belfast, over 20 years ago, the Troubles were still at full tilt and my over-riding feelings were of a friendly, but particularly edgy, city. On my recent return, I found that the city has been...

The shortlist for this year's National Outsourcing Association Awards is now out - and, once again, some of the biggest names in the space are competing to triumph on one of the biggest nights of the European outsourcing...

Krystian Bestry is the European Delivery Head at Infosys BPO - and a Vice President of Poland's Association of Business Services Leaders (ABSL). Ahead of ABSL's 3rd Annual Conference (taking place September 10-11 in the...

Adrian Bettridge is Senior Partner at Baringa Partners, a consultancy focussed on the wholesale and retail energy markets, the utilities sector and the financial services industry which has been shortlisted in three...

In high-performing business process outsourcing (BPO) relationships, client and provider collaborate effectively to deliver business services. They manage end-to-end performance, resolving service issues first before worrying...

The global crisis and subsequent economic downturn caused significant operational and financial challenges for most US firms, and now we see a similar play-out in Europe. The next round of outsourcing is being driven out of...

Jonathan Jorgensen is Group Business Development Director at Access UK Ltd, which has just been shortlisted in the 'Business Enabler of the Year' category at the UK's National Business Awards, being presented this year on...

Since he formed the company that bears his name in 1987, Marco Stefanini has seen it grow into one of Brazil's largest tech companies and an increasingly prominent player on the global stage. We spoke with the Stefanini CEO and...

In the mega-deal era for IT outsourcing contracts, companies often entered into decade-long deals for hundreds of millions of pounds. Those days it appears are over, according to the quarterly Global TPI Index, which tracks IT...

To read Part 1 of this article, click here.  Why does crowdsourced testing work? To understand why crowdsourced testing works, it is important to understand the set of biases that infest most testers and test managers...

According to a recent survey by Iron Mountain and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC), in Europe, mid-sized businesses are placing themselves at unnecessary information security risk. The average index score for information risk...

In today's rapidly growing and truly global software industry, success is now more than ever dependent on the quality of the software. A good quality product or service leads to satisfied and loyal customers - the main ambition...

"And so proceed ad...

Nick Araco is the President and CEO of the CFO Alliance, a "community that brings together the experience, knowledge, and collective wisdon of peers, subject matter experts, and academic authorities to enable senior financial...

The Herculean scandal precipitated by the admission from G4S that it was unable to honour its contract to provide more than 10,000 security staff for the London Olympics seemed to come with all the speed of a Bolt from the...

When social game provider Zynga - the San Francisco-based developer of CityVille and FarmVille, among others - was looking for an organisation to handle its interactions with its nearly 300 million customers globally, it wasn't...

Over the last 20 years India has created a place for itself as a global technology services hub and is now one of the preferred outsourcing locations. Initially, the draw was a source of cheap but educated labour; however,...

The G4S crisis is shining a spotlight on the consequences of when things go wrong through outsourcing. It demonstrates that whether client or supplier, any outsourced contract or large programme needs careful risk management....

Recent events with G4S and LOCOG/the government’s procurement of security for the Olympics will clearly not be leaving the headlines any time soon. Indeed you could be forgiven for thinking this was a security event, not a...

In an effort to standardise and centralise processes, as well as minimise costs, many companies turn to outsourcing some or all of their IT processes.  However, this introduces new and challenging risks to the business...

The holy grail of organisational design is being able to change when the world that you live in changes. But actually effecting change in public sector organisations has been a particular challenge for politicians down the...

One of the most eagerly awaited nights in the European outsourcing calendar is, of course, the annual European Outsourcing Association Awards, which this year took place on June 27 at London's much-feted Law Society. At a gala...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #28 Summer 2012  With over 2.5 quintillion bytes being created every day, data has got very big indeed – and so has the commercial opportunity implied by...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #28 Summer 2012  The UK and US legal markets are in the throes of change. With depressed economies, rising client exasperation with the status quo and, in the...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #28 Summer 2012  As the well-known proverb has it, “the pen is mightier than the sword”. But implied is a fact that is difficult to contest: he who wields...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #28 Summer 2012 In recent months a debate has arisen around the utility – or otherwise – of the term “outsourcing”: is that one word sufficient, or...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #28 Summer 2012  Few consultants are more highly regarded – or more controversial – than John Seddon, MD of Vanguard Consulting and a legend in the world...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #28 Summer 2012  At the end of May, Outsource partnered with law firm Stephenson Harwood to produce an exclusive dinner and roundtable debate on the topic...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #28 Summer 2012  Both Anne Marie Forsyth and Sidney Yuen have devoted a big part of their careers to building up two of the leading industry associations for...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #28 Summer 2012     The triple threat of Solvency II, the reduced yields from “traditional” asset classes that mean new classes need to be...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #28 Summer 2012     The highly sophisticated tools now available to recruiters would boggle the minds of their predecessors of only a couple of decades...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #28 Summer 2012  Over the next few years, all businesses in the UK, including those with a single employee, will be considering how best to deliver the...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #28 Summer 2012     The inevitable firm, but fair, deadline reminder from the editor has given me welcome respite from a complex and gruelling...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #28 Summer 2012  On 25 January 2012, the EC released a draft Regulation which (together with a Directive to apply primarily in respect of law enforcement by...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #28 Summer 2012  Tim Cummins is the renowned President and founder of the International Association for Contract & Commercial Management (IACCM). We...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #28 Summer 2012 Earlier this year, the Sourcing Interests Group (SIG) held its second London Roundtable bringing together a broad range of experts from across the...

Outsourcing is where organisations work together using their specialised resources innovatively to achieve aims and objectives that could not be realised on their own. Successful outsourcing can thus only be achieved through...

Kellie Goldstein is CFO, Emerging Markets for Thomson Reuters. We caught up with Kellie following her presentation at the CFO Exchange in London, to get some insights into her role and some of the structural innovations taken...

There is no question about it - the current operating environment across the UK, Europe and indeed the world is still an incredibly difficult one. This is not least in part due to the fact that it’s nearly impossible to...

It's been a fascinating - and hugely significant - few quarters for Serco, with the outsourcing giant making a number of strategic acquisitions and continuing to take huge bites out of the UK and European market. At the 12th...

The world in which we live Many of us pay for our internet, telephone, utilities and even settle our credit card bills using standing orders and direct debits. These types of payments mean we don’t forget and make life...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #27 Spring 2012 as part of the Planet ITO feature. Click here to read the introduction and other articles taken from Planet ITO. The question has been asked...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #27 Spring 2012 as part of the Planet ITO feature. Click here to read the introduction and other articles taken from Planet ITO. IT is getting...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #27 Spring 2012 as part of the Planet ITO feature. Click here to read the introduction and other articles taken from Planet ITO. With shrinking...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #27 Spring 2012 as part of the Planet ITO feature. Click here to read the introduction and other articles taken from Planet ITO. There are...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #27 Spring 2012 as part of the Planet ITO feature. Click here to read the introduction and other articles taken from Planet ITO. The...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #27 Spring 2012 as part of the Planet ITO feature. Click here to read the introduction and other articles taken from Planet ITO. “It’s a...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #27 Spring 2012 as part of the Planet ITO feature. Click here to read the introduction and other articles taken from Planet ITO. Cloud...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #27 Spring 2012 as part of the Planet ITO feature. Click here to read the introduction and other articles taken from Planet ITO. IT outsourcing...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #27 Spring 2012 I happened to attend a conference recently where one of the speakers spoke very passionately about "loyalty outsourcing" – it made me take a step...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #27 Spring 2012 From the shop checkout assistant who wishes you a good day whilst looking right into your eyes, to the online support that informs you “55 per...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #27 Spring 2012 Outsource: Caroline, thanks for joining Outsource. Can you tell us about your current role – and a bit of background on how you came to occupy...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #27 Spring 2012 This is the time of year that market trends and forecasts are commonly published, and this is no different within the supply chain arena. I’ve...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #27 Spring 2012 David Eveleigh is General Counsel, BT Global Services - BT Legal. In advance of his presentation at the Legal, Regulatory & Compliance...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #27 Spring 2012  Peter Drucker is credited with challenging businesses to “do what you do best and outsource the rest” – but is this really all you need...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #27 Spring 2012 Recruitment globally has been undergoing revolutionary change in a perfect storm of new technologies and shifting philosophies. For the latest in...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #27 Spring 2012 It is “the backbone of the outsourcing marketplace”, according to ISG’s Duncan Aitchison – and there’s no denying the huge importance of...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #27 Spring 2012 Two decades into his career with Microsoft, Norm Judah has risen to the dizzy heights of CTO Worldwide Services. Looking for insight into the...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #27 Spring 2012 The recent High Court judgment in AstraZeneca (AZ) v IBM (22/11/11), in which the Court was required to interpret the exit provisions in an IT...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #27 Spring 2012  It’s a crucial part of the UK economy – but like that economy, the country’s customer contact space is facing an array of challenges....

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #27 Spring 2012 With the finance function of today a very different beast from its incarnation of a couple of decades ago, isn’t it time organisations brought...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #27 Spring 2012  Social media is often held up as the windsock to gauge how fast the winds of change are blowing; when Google+ gained 25 million users in just...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #27 Spring 2012  It’s easy to create a start-up now. Everyone and her mum wants to create a start-up because it’s so cool to call oneself an...

This article originally appeared in Outsource Magazine Issue #27 Spring 2012  Like Rome, great customer satisfaction isn’t built in a day – it’s an ongoing process that needs to be taken right to the heart of an...

Outsource magazine, one of the world’s leading channels for outsourcing strategy and thought leadership, along with the ACCA, the global professional body for accountants, have powered into 2012 with a partnership designed to...

Frank de Reij is Group CPO, Air France-KLM. In advance of his presentation at the forthcoming CPO Exchange, to be held February 22-24 in Munich, Germany, we spoke with Frank about the procurement transformation journey he and...

In Part One of this article, we looked at current data protection issues inherent within cloud computing. Here, we look at the trend towards cloud usage in spite of those issues, plus the data protection developments to watch...

Jeroen Jacobs, René van Kleef and Samir Kumar Parija look at success factors in the offshoring process... Transitions of IT services are always a challenge to execute successfully, but intercontinental transitions contain...