|
by Frank Casale
As The
Outsourcing Institute celebrates its 10th anniversary, I’m
happy to point out that outsourcing itself has become accepted
business practice.
Traditionally, outsourcing was mostly practiced
by large companies seeking to farm out their IT and payroll
processing needs. But, this is all changing.
 Now,
small and mid-sized companies outsource too (see our Middle-Market
report. Outsourcing is also no longer restricted to IT.
It’s now about BPO, or business process outsourcing.
And moving key tasks and functions offshore
is now the norm and no longer a risky experiment.
As outsourcing moves more and more to the
mainstream of a company’s strategic plans, it has created
a huge opportunity for companies that not only want to save
money, but to gain access to top-notch workers it could not
otherwise afford to hire, or focus on just their core businesses.Despite
all this growth and acceptance, both experienced outsourcers
as well as first timers continue to struggle. The desire
is to truly understand if not perfect “the process.”
The choices of where one can outsource
have expanded enormously. The advent of BPO is a prime example
of this. The types of deals being structured—the contracts—are
more creative than ever before (see story p. 14).
This is good news for buyers. However,
it creates a need to better understand the new approaches
and determine what’s right for you.
And finally governance—the managing
of the outsource relationship—is quickly becoming recognized
for what it is—The Key to Success in Outsourcing.
With this backdrop, we present our annual
Buyer’s Guide. The cornerstone of the issue is our “Mastering
the Outsourcing Process."
Whether your challenge is the beginning,
the middle or the end of “the process,” this
guide will help you to better understand and better implement
best practices.
The 6 step outsourcing process is based on years of real
world experience working with thousands of organizations
through the global membership of our professional association.
In essence, this is based on real people
and real experiences. It’s what works.
What do you think? Contact me, Frank Casale,
or Stephen Taub, editorial director, at The Outsourcing Institute,
500 North Broadway, Suite 141, Jericho, NY 11753, or email
us at: editor@outsourcing.com.
|
