Future of Sourcing - Analysis https://www.futureofsourcing.com/tags/analysis en Innovations in Talent Management: Cambridge Health Alliance https://www.futureofsourcing.com/innovations-in-talent-management-cambridge-health-alliance <div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/FOS%20Header%20Image_Innovations%20in%20Talent%20Management_2.png"><a href="https://www.futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/FOS%20Header%20Image_Innovations%20in%20Talent%20Management_2.png" title="Innovations in Talent Management: Cambridge Health Alliance" class="colorbox" rel="gallery-node-1615--icSnW9V1S8"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/styles/juicebox_medium/public/articles/FOS%20Header%20Image_Innovations%20in%20Talent%20Management_2.png?itok=TBB5tXdJ" width="624" height="325" alt="Innovations in Talent Management: Cambridge Health Alliance" title="" /></a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-intro field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> <p>This October, the&nbsp;<a href="https://futureofsourcingawards.com/?__hstc=215510152.344406f4865c40604cf6029be7e958e0.1543422516683.1570835886974.1570842947555.661&amp;__hssc=215510152.2.1570842947555&amp;__hsfp=847670889" target="_blank">Future of Sourcing Awards</a>&nbsp;will celebrate organizations and individuals that have shown innovation, leadership and transformation in categories that are critical to the sourcing industry. Interviews with the finalists provide helpful insight about their projects, the problem they sought to solve and the impact to their organizations. Read about a new innovative team at Cambridge Health Alliance that proposes new opportunities, analyzes contracts, utilization, product standardization and many other cost savings initiatives.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <div> <h3><em>Can you outline why your team embarked on this project and the problem that needed to be solved?</em></h3> </div> <div>This initiative started in response to the need to develop a Supply Chain Analytics team. Cambridge Health Alliance leadership realized the potential of better managing vast amount of supply chain data. The Senior director of Supply Chain Management drafted a proposal to begin implementing analysts to work with the data and identify cost savings and utilization improvements for the organization. &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div> <h3><em>How were things done originally and what was the inspiration to innovate the process?</em></h3> </div> <div>There were very little analytics incorporated into supply chain strategies prior to the onset of the analyst team. The purchasing manager would run some usage data from the system and put together a projected cost impact as new contracts were presented. Today the team proposes new opportunities, analyzes contracts, utilization, product standardization and many other cost savings initiatives.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div> <h3><em>What KPIs did you use to measure success for this project? (For example: performance, customer satisfaction, revenue, sales or relevant financial gains?)</em></h3> </div> <div>The initial analyst was brought in on consulting, trial basis. After a few months, ROI was measured based on total savings dollars identified. &nbsp;Cambridge Health Alliance did not begin working on implementing the opportunities right away, but did see the value in moving forward with a second, third and then 4th analyst for the team, focused on varying areas, such as utilization, contracting, value analysis and financial analysis.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div> <h3><em>How do you plan to ensure that the new model remains relevant and adapts to the future needs of the market?</em></h3> </div> <div>The supply chain analytics program continually evolves to meet the needs of the organization. Members of the team work with committees and peers outside of the supply chain department, such as IT, nursing, operating room, facilities, finance and other clinical areas as the unique skills of our supply chain analysts are needed.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div> <h3><em>What advice do you have for those who may want to implement this innovative approach in their own organizations? </em></h3> </div> <div>Go for it! The analyst team has been such a huge asset to the organization in more ways than just providing insight to saving within the supply chain. The team works to bring cohesiveness to the organization, breakdown silos, gives a different perspective which allows for better strategies within the organization pushing us further into the future of healthcare.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div> <h3><em>What can you share that other companies can take as a &ldquo;lesson learned&rdquo; about talent management from your project?</em></h3> </div> <div>The approach of building a team one person at a time was a good strategy. Implementation is hard in most areas, as people resist change. Our team was easily accepted, but proving the value as each new member came on board. &nbsp;Let your analysts be creative and a forum to voice what they identify as needs and opportunities which providing support of senior leadership.&nbsp;</div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/talent-management" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Talent Management</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/analysis" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Analysis</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/supply-chain-management" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Supply Chain Management</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/future-of-sourcing-awards-cost-savings" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Future of Sourcing Awards Cost Savings</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/data" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Data</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-addthis field-type-addthis field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style " addthis:title="Innovations in Talent Management: Cambridge Health Alliance - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="https://www.futureofsourcing.com/innovations-in-talent-management-cambridge-health-alliance"><a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_linkedin"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_facebook"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_twitter"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_googleplus"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_pinterest_share"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_reddit"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_email"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_print"></a> </div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-region field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Region:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/regions/global" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Global</a></div></div></div> Tue, 24 Sep 2019 16:47:54 +0000 Future of Sourcing Awards 1615 at https://www.futureofsourcing.com https://www.futureofsourcing.com/innovations-in-talent-management-cambridge-health-alliance#comments What Makes a Spend Analysis Valuable? https://www.futureofsourcing.com/what-makes-a-spend-analysis-valuable <div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/Spend_Analysis624x325.jpg"><a href="https://www.futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/Spend_Analysis624x325.jpg" title="What Makes a Spend Analysis Valuable? " class="colorbox" rel="gallery-node-1283--icSnW9V1S8"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/styles/juicebox_medium/public/articles/Spend_Analysis624x325.jpg?itok=arL7EySS" width="624" height="325" alt="" title="" /></a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <div>Talking about the return on investment of a spend analysis can be a tricky subject. &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On one hand, procurement professionals typically see the value of a spend analysis right away. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t know what we don&rsquo;t know&rdquo; is a quick and dirty assessment of why a spend analysis is important &ndash; it provides the foundation to identify paths forward in strategic sourcing initiatives and, therefore, helps produce savings. While procurement may have a beat on which specific market initiatives to pursue based on apparent pain points, many more will be hidden in their spend data. A spend analysis draws this out.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On the other hand, it can be difficult to convince upper management of this value without assigning a specific ROI to the analysis. Upper management doesn&rsquo;t have the visibility into the sourcing process and shouldn&rsquo;t be expected to &ndash; that&rsquo;s what they trust you for. Because of this, tagging an ROI figure to the process seems like a good idea. It is a quick, easy number to track against for decision makers. But does this really make sense?&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>Where ROI Doesn&rsquo;t Make Sense&nbsp;</strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The goal of assigning ROI to a spend analysis seems like a good idea until you look under the hood. As luck would have it, I typically use a car example to explain what I mean by this.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Consider the idea that you&rsquo;re in the market for a new vehicle. You consider switching to an electric vehicle because gas prices are getting pretty high. Is this a good idea? One way to find out at a glance is to calculate an ROI on this purchase. Namely, you can find out at what point your new green car starts to save you money: &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <ul> <li>First, find some price points of electric vehicles in the market.&nbsp;</li> <li>Determine how much you can sell your current car for.&nbsp;</li> <li>Subtract the old car&rsquo;s sales value from the new car&rsquo;s price to develop a baseline target.&nbsp;</li> <li>Figure out your monthly fuel expense for the old vehicle to arrive at a break-even cost.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <div>Simple enough. However, this <a href="http://futureofsourcing.com/bridging-the-strategy-to-execution-gap" target="_blank">ROI calculation</a> considers the vehicle as a whole &ndash; what it can&rsquo;t do is tell you the ROI on the steering wheel, leather seats, sun roof or any other individual component. Spend analysis is similar in that it is a component of an overarching strategic sourcing initiative. You can&rsquo;t easily determine a true dollar ROI because those dollars are made within the sourcing projects that result from the analysis; finding a differential in savings due to spend analysis is murky at best. &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>I don&rsquo;t want to suggest that spend analyses should be conducted without a care for costs. It can be all too easy to get lost in the weeds, especially if you&rsquo;re looking at a large set of data points. When this happens, the amount of time (and therefore money) that goes into an analysis can explode if left unchecked. Procurement needs to ensure that a spend analysis has as much bang for the buck as possible. To do that, you must consider what your goals are and how you can best achieve them.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>Targeting Analysis Efforts&nbsp;</strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Take, for example, travel and entertainment (T&amp;E) spend. T&amp;E may represent a scant few percentage points of your overall spend. However, it may make up the bulk of individual line items in your analysis. As an example, one of my current clients has over 7,000 line items annually for Starbucks purchases alone, not to mention the thousands of other restaurants, pubs and burger joints on the list. You could spend hours collecting, consolidating and scrubbing these line items to come up with a clear view of per diem expenses like these. Before you do, however, ask yourself:&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <ul> <li>How much time will I need to invest to manage this spend?&nbsp;</li> <li>How sizeable (or negligible) is the spend within this category?&nbsp;</li> <li>What strategies do I intend to enact to save money in this space &ndash; does it require a detailed, line-by-line analysis?&nbsp;</li> </ul> <div>Often, the overarching sourcing strategies that would impact this spend may not require the same amount of spend analysis time investment as other categories. As such, procurement can save a lot of time by holding off on a detailed T&amp;E analysis until it is critical to do so.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>Considering <a href="http://futureofsourcing.com/why-cios-should-worry-about-tail-spend-management" target="_blank">Tail Spend&nbsp;</a></strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>As mentioned above, T&amp;E spend has a pretty long tail. This isn&rsquo;t unique to just T&amp;E&mdash;any category of spend can build up a big tail. But at what point should you consider attacking this tail a wasted effort? &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>I recommend establishing a line in the sand and sticking with it. Seek to analyze only suppliers in the top 90 percent of your total spend. This will weed out plenty of transactions while still delivering actionable results. Why? Because that huge tail will take considerable energy to address but it doesn&rsquo;t net much in terms of strategy.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>For example, take a supplier consolidation strategy. Say you have three suppliers providing the same product: to simplify this example, assume they all have an even slice of the volume pie. The carrot-and-stick market strategy is clear: &ldquo;Give us the best deal and you triple your volume with us. Give us a bad deal and lose it all.&rdquo; Will this be effective? &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>It depends on the overall spend volume. If a given vendor&rsquo;s average deal is for $100,000 and your spend is well above that point, you have a pretty tasty carrot and pretty big stick. But what if you are only spending $10,000 annually? Plenty of suppliers will shrug and offer similar terms and pricing that you are already getting &ndash; the carrot just isn&rsquo;t good enough to bait them. So, why spend the time when you don&rsquo;t have the leverage? More importantly for the spend analysis, why spend the time working to analyze this spend when it won&rsquo;t help you create leverage?&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>Missed Opportunities&nbsp;</strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The worst thing you can do is spend too much time on an analysis &ndash; doing so will lead to otherwise avoidable missed opportunity costs. &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>If I were to define what makes a spend analysis valuable, I&rsquo;d say it is an analysis that is both timely and impactful. Consider your entire population of data but target only the spend that is truly relevant to procurement&rsquo;s strategic sourcing goals.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/spend-analysis" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Spend Analysis</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/tail-spend" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Tail Spend</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/return-on-investment-roi" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Return on Investment (ROI)</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/data" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Data</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/analysis" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Analysis</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-addthis field-type-addthis field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style " addthis:title="What Makes a Spend Analysis Valuable? - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="https://www.futureofsourcing.com/what-makes-a-spend-analysis-valuable"><a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_linkedin"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_facebook"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_twitter"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_googleplus"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_pinterest_share"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_reddit"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_email"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_print"></a> </div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-region field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Region:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/regions/global" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Global</a></div></div></div> Fri, 21 Sep 2018 16:38:21 +0000 Brian Seipel 1283 at https://www.futureofsourcing.com https://www.futureofsourcing.com/what-makes-a-spend-analysis-valuable#comments Software Negotiations: Stakeholder Alignment and Leading the Negotiation https://www.futureofsourcing.com/software-negotiations-stakeholder-alignment-and-leading-the-negotiation <div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/Stakeholder_Negotiations%20624x325.jpg"><a href="https://www.futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/Stakeholder_Negotiations%20624x325.jpg" title="Software Negotiations: Stakeholder Alignment and Leading the Negotiation" class="colorbox" rel="gallery-node-1245--icSnW9V1S8"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/styles/juicebox_medium/public/articles/Stakeholder_Negotiations%20624x325.jpg?itok=Zrksrdv9" width="624" height="325" alt="" title="" /></a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-intro field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> <div>This article is the second half of a two-part series regarding software negotiations. The first part focuses on <a href="http://www.futureofsourcing.com/software-negotiations-how-to-plan-ahead-and-create-competition" target="_blank">advanced planning and creating competition</a>. &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <div>In the <a href="http://www.futureofsourcing.com/software-negotiations-how-to-plan-ahead-and-create-competition" target="_blank">first half of this series</a>, we covered the importance of collecting crucial information regarding your software spend, user details and requirements. The next step in the process is analyzing the data to understand the available next steps and points of negotiation. But, before you head into negotiations with your respective vendors and break out the pen and paper to finalize the contract, be sure you&rsquo;re aligned with your stakeholders. For many organizations, procurement staff are dedicated to IT but not under one business unit. As a result, the goals of each respective business unit vary and coming to a decision on selecting a software provider requires additional conversations.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Gaining alignment begins with sharing the sourcing responses and providing all decision-makers with an opportunity to review and become familiar with the contending vendors, their capabilities and pricing. Procurement teams can enable the decision-making process by creating an objective report that summarizes the sourcing results (RFP, pricing analysis, etc.), as well as the go-forward recommendation. Beyond simply sending this report out via email to all involved stakeholders, procurement teams should set aside time to review the report with stakeholders. Since the results have already been shared, this review should be more of a conversation regarding the next steps, rather than a detailed presentation of the results that could leave stakeholders feeling like they&rsquo;re drinking from a fire hose. &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Building this extra step in to the software sourcing process creates the opportunity to discuss and address any gaps in next steps and recommendations. The key here, however, is a combination of active listening to understand stakeholders&rsquo; concerns and agility in adjusting the recommendation if need be. These constructive conversations will reinforce alignment between procurement and the involved stakeholders and allow the process to move forward.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>While those initial steps in the process may include additional scoping calls or demos/proofs of concept, you will eventually make your way to the negotiation table. Now is procurement&rsquo;s time to shine by effectively managing the process on behalf of its stakeholders.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>This includes:</div> <ul> <li><strong>Establishing a realistic timeline</strong>: <a href="http://www.futureofsourcing.com/forging-an-alliance-between-procurement-and-our-stakeholders" target="_blank">Work with your stakeholders</a> and the supplier to understand, based on capacity, a realistic date to have pricing finalized and begin contracting. If you&rsquo;re in the midst of a renewal, this will most likely be dictated by the expiration of the current solution.</li> <li><strong>Assigning responsibility</strong>: Communicate to your stakeholders and selected supplier that you will be the primary contact during the negotiation process. A single point of contact during this process is crucial for a clear flow of communication between the business and the supplier, as well as to navigate any obstacles that may arise.</li> <li><strong>Define targets</strong>: Use pricing collected from the market (e.g., pricing in the market is 10% lower than current/proposed pricing) or put a dollar amount on any SLA violations and low utilization rates. When communicating targets to the suppliers, make sure you are doing so in a cohesive manner that has the full support of your stakeholders. You don&rsquo;t want to be providing feedback piecemeal as something will more than likely fall through the cracks.</li> <li><strong>Stay informed</strong>: During this process you may want to consider joining all calls your stakeholders have with the vendor. While you are the main point of contact for all things related to the pricing negotiations and procurement process, if it is an existing vendor, there might be solution-related calls. This does not mean you need to be an active participant, but being present keeps you in the loop on any service-related updates, especially anything that might be coming in and out of scope.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <p>Going to market for software can be tricky, but procurement teams are in a prime position to make sourcing and negotiation a seamless process. Beyond pricing, procurement can help stakeholders gain a clearer picture of their software needs and spark the conversation not only for securing more competitive agreements but also for vetting new or additional tools that can better serve their needs. When approached as a collaborative effort, procurement can drive more value out of software agreements and ensure stakeholder satisfaction.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/software" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Software</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/negotiations" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Negotiations</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/stakeholders" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Stakeholders</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/analysis" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Analysis</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/vendor-management" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Vendor Management</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-addthis field-type-addthis field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style " addthis:title="Software Negotiations: Stakeholder Alignment and Leading the Negotiation - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="https://www.futureofsourcing.com/software-negotiations-stakeholder-alignment-and-leading-the-negotiation"><a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_linkedin"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_facebook"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_twitter"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_googleplus"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_pinterest_share"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_reddit"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_email"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_print"></a> </div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-region field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Region:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/regions/global" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Global</a></div></div></div> Fri, 10 Aug 2018 16:39:19 +0000 Kevin Fraser 1245 at https://www.futureofsourcing.com https://www.futureofsourcing.com/software-negotiations-stakeholder-alignment-and-leading-the-negotiation#comments EMEA As-a-Service boom contrasts sluggish traditional outsourcing activity https://www.futureofsourcing.com/node/745 <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>We&rsquo;ve just published the latest ISG Index, which includes &ndash; for the first time &ndash; a view on the growing As-a-Service market. Whilst combined second-quarter ACV in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) market fell by 18% year-on-year to &euro;2.2 billion, the new data reveals record growth of the As-A-Service segment, contrasting the sluggish activity in traditional sourcing.</p> <p>On one side, traditional sourcing fell 28%&nbsp;to &euro;1.6 billion, its lowest ACV in seven years. This is largely owing to a lack of large awards and a noticeable pullback in contract restructurings. However, the As-a-Service market, at &euro;600 million, was up 38% for the same period.</p> <p>Over the first six months of the year, the EMEA market generated &euro;4.9 billion in combined ACV (which includes both traditional and As-a-Service activity), flat with the prior year. Although traditional outsourcing values declined during this period, As-a-Service ACV grew 38%, reaching its highest point ever and passing the &euro;1 billion mark for the first time. This growth was fuelled by an impressive lift in Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) activity, which rose 63%. Software as a Service (SaaS) logged a respectable 9% growth in the same period.</p> <p>Globally, these As-a-Service activities now represent 36% of the combined market, having nearly doubled their share since early 2014. ISG predicts that this segment will continue to see accelerated growth in the months and years ahead, both globally and in EMEA, as clients leverage increased automation and continue to shift operations to the cloud. The global combined market saw ACV of &euro;6.4 billion awarded in the second quarter, down 2% from the prior year. At the half year, global ACV of &euro;13.4 billion was up 10% compared with the first half of 2015, with record high As-a-Service values somewhat offsetting the sluggish performance in the traditional outsourcing market.</p> <p><strong>Market insights</strong></p> <p>By market, the Nordics led the way. In the first half, its traditional outsourcing ACV was up 25% over the second half of 2015, and more than doubled compared with the first half of 2015. France followed their lead, with values up 14% sequentially and up by one-third year on year as a result of some large contract awards. However, performance in the other sub-regions was lacklustre.</p> <p>In the UK, EMEA&rsquo;s largest market, the figures revealed a surge in the value of traditional outsourcing of almost 40% compared with the admittedly soft previous half-year period. Compared to the first half of 2015, ACV fell 11% as the result of a pullback in contracting activity.</p> <p>Despite healthy contracting activity, which rose by a third for the half year, DACH&rsquo;s traditional market ACV plummeted by 71% sequentially and 30% year on year as large companies in the region adopted a characteristically cautious approach to some of the newer transformational services in the market.</p> <p><strong>Sector breakdown</strong></p> <p>By industry, Financial Services remained the leading sector for both value and contracting activity. Its &euro;1 billion ACV represented a decline of 17% compared to the first half of 2015, despite its number of contracts increasing by 17% for the same period.</p> <p>Manufacturing had its strongest 12-month performance since 2011 and while slightly down on the prior period&rsquo;s impressive performance, the first half picture was positive, up 34% on the previous year. Other industries fell short at the half year; with the exception of Retail, which was up slightly on a small base.</p> <p><strong>Looking ahead</strong></p> <p>EMEA&rsquo;s traditional sourcing markets pulled back in the second quarter and came in at lower levels than projected, due to a lack of large deals and restructurings, and alongside some challenging macro-economic factors within the European Union. These factors, and notably the result of the UK referendum on EU membership, will continue to have an impact, although it is too soon to tell exactly what this will look like. We expect traditional market ACV for the year may come in slightly lower than 2015. At the same time, As-a-Service growth should continue along on a steep, upward trajectory as corporations in EMEA increasingly harness the flexibility and speed on offer.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-company field-type-entityreference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><article about="/company/isg" typeof="sioc:Item foaf:Document" class="node node-companies node-published node-not-promoted node-not-sticky author-steveg odd clearfix" id="node-companies-981"> <header> <h2 class="node-title"><a href="/company/isg" title="ISG">ISG</a></h2> </header> <span property="dc:title" content="ISG" class="rdf-meta element-hidden"></span><span property="sioc:num_replies" content="0" datatype="xsd:integer" class="rdf-meta element-hidden"></span> <div class="content clearfix"> <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, &quot;Bitstream Vera Sans&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Information Services Group (ISG) (NASDAQ: III) is a leading technology insights, market intelligence and advisory services company, serving more than 500 clients around the world to help them achieve operational excellence. ISG supports private and public sector organisations to transform and optimise their operational environments through research, benchmarking, consulting and managed services, with a focus on information technology, business process transformation, program management services and enterprise resource planning. Clients look to ISG for unique insights and innovative solutions for leveraging technology, the deepest data source in the industry, and more than five decades of experience of global leadership in information and advisory services. Based in Stamford, Conn., the company has more than 800 employees and operates in 21 countries.</span></p> </div></div></div> </div> <div class="clearfix"> <nav class="links node-links clearfix"></nav> </div> </article> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/advisory" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Advisory</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/analysis" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Analysis</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/brexit" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Brexit</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/cloud" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Cloud</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/financial-services" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Financial Services</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/manufacturing" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Manufacturing</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-addthis field-type-addthis field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style " addthis:title="EMEA As-a-Service boom contrasts sluggish traditional outsourcing activity - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="https://www.futureofsourcing.com/node/745"><a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_linkedin"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_facebook"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_twitter"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_googleplus"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_pinterest_share"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_reddit"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_email"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_print"></a> </div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-region field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Region:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/regions/global" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Global</a></div></div></div> Fri, 22 Jul 2016 19:52:37 +0000 John Keppel 745 at https://www.futureofsourcing.com TOP TEN: (Even More) Outsourcing Insults https://www.futureofsourcing.com/node/878 <div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/xTop-Ten-Insults-Feb-2016-1-420x215.jpg.pagespeed.ic_.vNMhkCCTq7.jpg"><a href="https://www.futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/xTop-Ten-Insults-Feb-2016-1-420x215.jpg.pagespeed.ic_.vNMhkCCTq7.jpg" title="TOP TEN: (Even More) Outsourcing Insults" class="colorbox" rel="gallery-node-878--icSnW9V1S8"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/styles/juicebox_medium/public/articles/xTop-Ten-Insults-Feb-2016-1-420x215.jpg.pagespeed.ic_.vNMhkCCTq7.jpg?itok=RucjWYSR" width="420" height="215" alt="" title="" /></a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>A couple of years ago, as part of our ongoing Top Ten series we published&nbsp;<a href="http://outsourcemag.com/top-ten-outsourcing-insults/" target="_blank">a collection</a>&nbsp;of some of the finest, most cutting terms of abuse ever heard in a professional environment (soon to be followed by&nbsp;<a href="http://outsourcemag.com/top-ten-more-outsourcing-insults/" target="_blank">a second</a>): along with transforming the global business landscape, members of the outsourcing community certainly appear to possess world-class talents in the fields of invective, calumny and scorn&hellip;</p> <p>Having spent a few quarters catching our breath, we thought it might be time to revisit this topic, and we&rsquo;ve spent a while collating possible entries (pausing only to pick our jaws up off the floor or to collapse in amazed hysterics). Remarkably, there were so many gems we couldn&rsquo;t limit the list to ten, so expect a follow-up to this follow-up over the next couple of weeks. Meanwhile, prepare for some truly tremendous insults levelled by, and at, your peers&hellip;</p> <p><strong>1. &ldquo;They were so bad, we&rsquo;d have had a less negative impact on our business if we&rsquo;d put our customers straight through to our competitors&rsquo; sales departments.&rdquo;</strong><br />We suspect the leading contact centre provider in question won&rsquo;t be approaching this lady for a testimonial&hellip;</p> <p><strong>2. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of those &lsquo;touchy, feely, assault-y&rsquo; types.&rdquo;</strong><br />Said to the Outsource editor about a fellow from one of the largest BPO providers, sponsoring an event last year, who &ndash; lo and behold! &ndash; proceeded at the drinks reception that evening, after a successful day and a few gallons of wine, to slip his arm around the midriff of a dumbfounded woman working on event ops who hadn&rsquo;t said to him a word of encouragement, or anything else. You know who you are, sir: shame, shame on you.</p> <p><strong>3. &ldquo;They, not hope, were the very last thing left in Pandora&rsquo;s box. They were supposed to escape with all the other evils but they couldn&rsquo;t find their way out of the box.&rdquo;</strong><br />This superb summation (describing the speaker&rsquo;s outgoing app-dev provider) was delivered to hearty applause at a conference in the autumn of 2014 and it&rsquo;s stayed fresh in the memory of the colleague who recounted it to us. We&rsquo;re not surprised: hilarious, erudite and mordant, it&rsquo;s got it all.</p> <p><strong>4. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t tell me that guy hasn&rsquo;t killed someone. Probably a whole ton of people. Hell, he&rsquo;s probably offed a few on his way from the airport.&rdquo;</strong><br />The lady who opined thus to Outsource did so with a visible shiver, and we realised that she was being deadly (pardon the pun) serious. We later discovered that the gentleman in question is a former member of his country&rsquo;s armed forces, and has seen combat &ndash; though, hopefully, not whilst in transit to an outsourcing awards night&hellip;</p> <p><strong>5. &ldquo;She lights up the room.&rdquo;</strong><br /><strong>&ldquo;Yes, with a red lamp she puts by the window.&rdquo;</strong><br />A former colleague overheard two of outsourcing&rsquo;s&nbsp;<em>grandes dames</em>&nbsp;describing a younger woman in this way towards the end of last year. We at Outsource are not here to pass judgement: in challenging economic times, we&rsquo;ve all got to put bread on the table&hellip;</p> <p><strong>6. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a joke, a farce, a charade. It&rsquo;s a bloody disgrace. And I&rsquo;m saying that, and I&rsquo;ve actually &lsquo;won&rsquo; one of the damn things!&rdquo;</strong><br />Uttered with more disgust than words on screen could ever convey, the above sums up perfectly why certain of the industry awards in the global outsourcing arena might not have&nbsp;<em>quite</em>&nbsp;the integrity for which one might hope&hellip;</p> <p><strong>7. &ldquo;They make the Cosa Nostra look like the Boy Scouts of America.&rdquo;</strong><br />In a similar vein, at least one Outsource contributor believes there may be a few methodological shortcomings on the part of one of the leading analyst organisations. Perish the thought!</p> <p><strong>8. &ldquo;The only way he&rsquo;s getting into Heaven is so all the righteous can feel even more blissful beating him up for eternity.&rdquo;</strong><br />We&rsquo;re thinking the gentleman who told this to Outsource wasn&rsquo;t paying too much attention in theology class &ndash; but we can forgive him, as he was talking about one of our competitors!</p> <p><strong>9. &ldquo;He thinks he&rsquo;s God&rsquo;s gift to women. I&rsquo;ve asked the whole office and we&rsquo;re unanimous that we&rsquo;d prefer piles.&rdquo;</strong><br />It&rsquo;s rare to find the Outsource editor speechless, but when this fabulously damning quip was relayed to him he was genuinely dumbfounded. To be fair to its author, we&rsquo;ve spent enough time with the would-be Lothario in question to know where she and her colleagues are coming from.</p> <p><strong>10. &ldquo;You remind me of that guy from&nbsp;<em>Reservoir Dogs</em>. You know, the one who cuts off the cop&rsquo;s ear.&rdquo;</strong><br /><strong>&ldquo;Michael Madsen?&rdquo;</strong><br /><strong>&ldquo;Yeah, that&rsquo;s it. Michael Madsen.&rdquo;</strong><br /><strong>(preening) &ldquo;You think I look like him?&rdquo;</strong><br /><strong>&ldquo;No.&rdquo;</strong><br />To demonstrate, in closing, that we at Outsource can laugh at ourselves just as much as at anyone else, the above conversation took place between a thitherto charming, fascinating and positively delightful woman and&hellip; the editor himself. (Just to clarify: no ears have been harmed in the making of this publication.)</p> <p>So there you have it: all&rsquo;s fair in love, war and outsourcing, apparently. If you&rsquo;ve got your own examples of top-notch taunting, peerless persiflage or incredible invective, get them over to the editor at <a href="mailto:jliddell@sig.org">jliddell@sig.org</a> &ndash; we&rsquo;ll try to incorporate as many of them as possible into subsequent columns.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/satire" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Satire</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/outsourcing" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Outsourcing</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/human-resources" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Human Resources</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/talent-management" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Talent Management</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/analysis" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Analysis</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-addthis field-type-addthis field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style " addthis:title="TOP TEN: (Even More) Outsourcing Insults - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="https://www.futureofsourcing.com/node/878"><a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_linkedin"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_facebook"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_twitter"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_googleplus"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_pinterest_share"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_reddit"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_email"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_print"></a> </div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-region field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Region:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/regions/global" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Global</a></div></div></div> Tue, 01 Mar 2016 14:35:38 +0000 Jamie Liddell 878 at https://www.futureofsourcing.com https://www.futureofsourcing.com/node/878#comments