Take a look at any newspaper on any given day at the moment and the narrative focuses on economic matters, more specifically the uncertainty in Western European countries.  Markets are dominating the political landscape with profound effect as both Greece and Italy take drastic action and draft in sober-looking technocrats to steady the tiller.  Nevertheless, uncertainty remains and the prospect of the dreaded “double-dip”  looms large.  So how is this affecting the Outsourcing industry?

According to the outsourcing analysts HfS Research, over 40% of corporate IT leaders surveyed in their recent analysis said that a double-dip recession would lead to increased outsourcing.  (more…)

Technorati Tags: cloud computing, double-dip, new relationships, offshoring, Outsourcing, recession, technocrats, technology

Those who have been involved with Intellect for a long time know that we are very broad church.  We have experience and expertise in many different sectors and policy areas.  Members can often find the sheer wealth of content overwhelming.  However, I thought it worth mentioning the unique perspective offered by the ICON’s IT Giant’s series as something not to miss out on. (more…)

Technorati Tags: IT giants, Outsourcing, Tata

On the 14 September, Intellect’s Outsourcing & Offshore Group hosted the second joint conference of the year on Collaborative Working and Outcome Based Agreements with the National Outsourcing Association.  This event followed on from the previous event in May in Manchester.  We had both supplier and client perspectives as the central part of the approach.  Then, speakers from legal, standards and consulting approaches gave weight and analysis to the relationship. (more…)

Technorati Tags: collaborative working, National Outsourcing Association, outcome-based agreements, Outsourcing, The National Trust

It’s time to take a fresh look at existing and future outsourcing contracts, and It’s time for outsourcing relationships to transcend the normal client-vendor dynamic.

Over the last year, industry commentators, consultants, lawyers and academics, from over 40 organisations have discussed and analysed the future relationships between outsource buyers and suppliers. The paper, launched in the last week, states that the economic events of the last two years have not only dramatically changed the outsourcing landscape, but the future for outsourcing relationships also.

Click this link to read “A New Decade: A New Outsourcing Challenge,”

Technorati Tags: Outsourcing

As reported last week in Silicon.com “Taxman lifts lid on deal that’s saving HMRC £1bn,” the HMRC are planning to find more than £1bn worth of savings out of one of the UK’s largest outsourcing contracts. The contract is worth a significant £750m per year and provides the department with nearly all of its IT services and supplies comprising: 8,000 servers, 80,000 desktop PCs and 7,500 laptops. Their aim is to reduce costs and to simplify and streamline its core systems by reducing the number of computer systems used within the department from more than 600 to just 13.

But do the HMRC give enough consideration to their Outsource/Supplier relationship? As it turns out the answer is yes, they do. Mark Hall, who is overseeing the project, recognises that the HMRC and their suppliers must “transcend the normal client-vendor dynamic,” and that collaboration, “has to be about joint outcomes.” Furthermore that partnership “has to be about teams that are aligned and it has to be about both organisations taking the share of risk and reward.”

This thinking echoes the Intellect paper being launched shortly, “A new Decade, A new Outsourcing Challenge.” Individuals from over 40 organisations discussed and analysed the future relationships between outsource buyers and suppliers; they concludes that customers and suppliers need to have a shared and transparent understanding of their risk and reward issues and who is best placed to deal with them. A shift towards faster, less adversarial bidding processes that provides a forum for shared understanding through a genuine competitive dialogue are long overdue. The Outcome Based Agreements group will also be holding a roundtable shortly to assess the practicalities of OBA contracts in the development of a new way of working, underwritten by new procurement approaches focused on the delivery of business outcomes.

Please let us know if you’d like to attend either of these two events, full details are linked below.

Upcoming events:
A new Decade, A new Outsourcing Challenge - paper launch and industry discussion 12/10/10
Outcome Based Agreements: Achieving the outcome – roundtable discussion on the legal contracting implications of affectively implementing OBAs 13/10/10

Technorati Tags: outsource, Outsourcing

Nobody wants to look back; everyone wants to look forward and present their take on solving the state of the UK Public Sector. There are a myriad of amiable solutions, all underpinned by technology, available in the UK Plc. But the problem is that the public sector and the market place do not always conjoin in the what, how, and who of solutions, nor the wider social responsibility aspects of a public sector solution.
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Technorati Tags: #ukgovOSS, government strategy, Outsourcing, Public Sector reform