As BPO outsourcing matures and more and more companies are getting into the fray, increasing numbers of companies are now also realizing that perhaps outsourcing hasn’t been such a good deal. The “lift and shift” mentality so commonly afflicting companies is coming back to haunt them in the final analysis – issues from poor […]
The tales and travails of bad outsourcing agreements are probably as legendary as the stories of legions of foreign workers taking away American jobs. Yet, we don’t hear much about the agreements that lead to engagements gone wrong, to service levels not met or in worst case, services not being provided. Of course, […]
The idea of picking up or lifting a particular lot of work, and sourcing (the shifting) to a vendor is not new. And, the reasons for so doing are not new either. However, as more and more companies, of all sizes, further mature in their outsourcing experience and strategy, the “lift and shift” of […]
There is a new buzz in operations areas regarding Staffing Accuracy. Staffing Accuracy is the measure of actually supplied staff versus planned staffing in each interval of the staffing forecast. I expect good vendor managers to forecast staffing levels using the same intervals used in forecasting.
Without accurate transaction volume forecasts, staffing forecasts are meaningless. However, […]
Picture the job of a call center director who must provide staff to handle inbound sales calls in response to sales and marketing initiatives. Picture the job of an insurance claims operations director who also must provide staff to cleanse and adjudicate claims. If they don’t have a good estimate of inbound transaction volumes, how […]
People ask us all the time what to put into an outsourcing RFP. Top dollar consulting companies such as TPI, EquaTerra, and Everest Group all have different templates and processes. We believe that the RFP is the principle point in time where the company establishes their negotiation leverage while enforcing enough structure to permit an […]
Outsourcing vendors, with hundreds or even thousands of seats, make money by maximizing the utilization of those seats. Seats that sit idle do not generate revenue, thus providing either costly overhead or an opportunity for companies to increase capacity by soliciting business that is complementary in terms of time. For example, Philippine call […]
Your company makes money by providing outsourcing services to your clients. The more your workers are utilized and the less time that seats or systems sit idle, the more money your company makes. However, what does it take to win business in this globally competitive world? How does your company compete in […]
In Part One, we focused on site visits before you decided to outsource. If you haven’t read it yet, please do so, as you’ll find the differences between the two trips interesting. In this part, we’ll focus on the site visit basics when you’re performing due diligence during vendor selection.
Why Are You Visiting?
There is simply […]
This is the first of a two part series where we’ll focus on site visits before you outsource. In this part, we’ll focus on the site visit basics when you’re making-up your mind as to whether your want to outsource or what you should outsource. In the second part we’ll focus on due diligence activities […]
We’ve all heard the tragic stories of outsourcing gone wrong. In fact, the media’s stories only tell tales of companies whose relationships fail, forgetting to mention the bad vendor selection decisions, the dysfunctional day-to-day relationships of frontline vendor managers, and the Byzantine-like division of responsibilities among vendor managers, vendors, and remaining IT/Operations units. Behind every […]
Outsourcing metrics are measurements of performance used by companies to manage their outsourcing operations. Also referred to as key performance indicators, or KPI’s, metrics enable companies to enforce service level agreements (SLAs), compare vendors, and maintain day-to-day visibility into remote operations.
Many companies fail to recognize the value of metrics, looking only at end-of-the-day profits and […]
Almost daily, it seems that domestic private equity firms, from Blackstone Partners to General Atlantic Partners and Sequoia Capital, are directly entering the outsourcing world. Meanwhile, existing companies already in the midst of the outsourcing fray are now in merger mode, able to reach sky high multiples seemingly overnight. And why not? […]
Whether you are based in Bangalore, Beijing or Bacalod City, one of your biggest challenges will be selling your outsourcing services to Western buyers. It doesn’t matter if you are offering IT, BPO or KPO services, you will need to overcome language, cultural and geographic barriers in order to generate sales. Following are […]
That’s right. Get your feet on the ground and visit your outsourcing vendors. Before you make the determination to move operations of any size or sort offshore, do yourself, your business and your customers a material favor, and get over to wherever it is that your work is headed, and take a look. Kick the […]