A Cozy Stable for Outsourcing Vendor Management Professionals
Well, the day has finally come. The so-called “Mystery Vendor Manager” and primary author here at 360° Vendor Management, has formally joined forces with Horses for Sources, which this week announced its entry into the analyst industry with a unique vision and niche – Horse for Sources is the only BPO outsourcing analyst organization focused on buyers. This is great news for our readers, as you’ll get the benefit of his... [Read More...]
Outsourcing Governance and “Who Owns Supplier Performance Management?”
What the $^^@#$ is supplier performance management? Procurement? Operations? That’s exactly the discussion Tim Cummins relates in his latest discussion on relationships and vendors. Evidently, at the close of International Association for Contract & Commercial Management (IACCM), the final executive roundtable debated this issue. As Tim says, they “questioned whether it is a role that Procurement groups are equipped to perform.”... [Read More...]
Outsourcing and Vendor Governance Predictions for 2010
Well, the end of 2009 is quickly approaching. Except for the yearend rush of outsourcing vendors trying to claim a final sign-on bonus or their potential clients trying to book severance into 2009’s blood-lined financials, there’s not much left to do, but prognosticate on what 2010 will hold for vendor management and outsourcing governance teams and their offshore and onshore vendors. So, please pardon me as I share my predictions for 2010. ... [Read More...]
How Relevant Is Forrester’s 2010 Sourcing and Vendor Management Roadmap?
Will the Forrester Research 2010 Roadmap for sourcing and vendor management professionals get you to where you need to go? I’m always interested in the professional analysts’ take on sourcing and vendor management. Paid pundits who spend as much time with paying buyer customers as they do with their pandering vendors’ analyst relations teams should have an interesting look on the industry, right? For the moment, we’ll ignore... [Read More...]
Commitment Matters: Outsourcing Contracts Are Worthy of More Thought
Tim Cummins’ blog, Commitment Matters is full of fascinating ideas. What else could one expect from the founder of the International Association for Contract and Commercial Management and someone who has been in the trenches. Tim’s article on the complexity of contracting exactly relates to what I’ve seen in outsourcing: a basic legal framework with innumerable details memorialized in hundreds of pages of schedules. The schedules... [Read More...]
Vendor Management Organizations Are a Bad Design
Does Your Vendor Management Organization's Design Serve the Enterprise? For some, vendor management organizations are a silver bullet that solve all problems. For others, vendor management organizations are the source of internal strife. Bottom line, for many organizations, they are a terrible solution. They hoard decision-making ability, distance ownership of execution and delivery from stakeholders, and focus on narrow contractual goals... [Read More...]
The Business of Outsourcing Certifications
Outsourcing Education is a Big Business It is highly likely that you’ve sought professional development to improve your vendor management and outsourcing management skills. There are very, very few resources available to vendor management and outsourcing professionals. As a result, you’ve probably encountered a few companies out there that specialize in training for vendor management professions. Have you noticed the pricing? Developing... [Read More...]
IT Outsourcing Metrics: A Good Example of Management Controls
Nick Krym of Pragmatic Outsourcing Provides a Great Example of IT Service Levels In the world of Service Level Agreements and IT outsourcing, contractual metrics are difficult to conjure because the work is intangible, with the exception of uptime, help desk/desk side services, and application development milestones. However, metrics are the dashboard by which effective vendor managers can effectively manage outsourcing vendors. Today, Nick Krym... [Read More...]
The Black Book of Outsourcing – Invaluable Resource or Red Herring?
How useful is Datamonitor's 2009 Black Book of Outsourcing Report? During this short week, I took the opportunity to take a hard look at the 2009 Black Book of Outsourcing, the source of innumerable vendor press releases touting so-called market leadership based on rankings provided by Brown and Wilson. In Scott Wilson’s own words, “The Black Book is known as the leading independent unbiased ranking of vendors as it surveys qualified users... [Read More...]
Outsourcing DIY: Less Expensive, Less Scary, More Effective
Manage Your Own Outsourcing Project Stephanie Overby’s CIO/Computerworld article is certainly thought-provoking. Essentially, Overby eschews spendy consultants for analysts and independent consultants, pumps up the smart employees already working for a company, recommends companies take advantage of less expensive templates available online, and finally suggests companies start with smaller projects where vendors get the opportunity to prove... [Read More...]
