For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Organizing Apps Maintenance Work For Outcomes

Preparing To Reorganize Work Is Key To The Effort

by Bill Martorelli, August 2, 2010

Many customers that are seeking the next threshold of value are interested in gaining the benefits of managed outcome relationships but are still struggling to execute the transition. Why? Transitioning to managed outcomes is more than merely adjusting . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Inquiry Spotlight: Growing Demand For Vendor Management, Q1 And Q2 2010

by Christine Ferrusi Ross, July 26, 2010

The vendor management office (VMO) is becoming an increasingly important competency in well-run IT organizations. Forrester tracked all of the inquiries sourcing and vendor management (SVM) professionals asked us in the first half of 2010 and found that . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Inquiry Spotlight: Offshoring, Q1 2010

Q1 2010 Saw An Increase In Offshore-Related Inquiries

by Sudin Apte, July 21, 2010

Sourcing and vendor management (SVM) professionals want to gain additional benefits from incumbent offshore suppliers, particularly incremental savings and improved relationship governance. Many clients are also considering new providers, and they're . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

A Simple Scorecard For Evaluating Technology

by Galen Schreck, June 11, 2010

This scorecard will help you compare prospective technologies as they apply to your organization. The risk-adjusted scores that this tool outputs should be used to evaluate both the potential and the risks of technologies that the organization is interested . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

SaaS Adoption 2010: Buyers See More Options But Must Balance TCO, Security, And Integration

by Liz Herbert, May 19, 2010

Forrester recently interviewed more than 1,000 enterprise software decision-makers to find out their investment strategy for 2010. The growing maturity of software-as-a-service (SaaS) combined with buyers' desire for solutions that allow them to conserve . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Real-World Insights Into SaaS Implementation Success

Satisfied SaaS Buyers Share Their Dos And Don'ts

by Liz Herbert, May 5, 2010

As more firms examine software-as-a-service (SaaS) as an option for strategic enterprisewide deployments, SaaS buyers are weighing the tradeoffs between the appeal of fast deployment, flexibility, upfront cost savings, and reduced dependence on internal . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Forrester's Emerging Technology Evaluation Methodology

by Chris Andrews, April 27, 2010

Sourcing professionals need to bring more focus, clarity, and transparency to their emerging technology evaluations. To help, Forrester has created a framework consisting of six factors to consider as you organize and prioritize new technologies for your . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

How Secure Is Your Offshore Work?

Are Indian Vendors Taking Holistic Measures Or Simply Checking The Box?

by Sudin Apte, March 31, 2010

Terrorist attacks, data theft, and financial fraud remind us of the importance of offshore security. Government agencies and the industry association Nasscom have boasted the swift creation of long-term measures like a new statutory act or initiatives . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Maximizing Innovation From ERP Service Providers

Insights From NASSCOM 2010

by Liz Herbert, March 24, 2010

NASSCOM 2010, held in February in Mumbai, India, explored whether the service provider landscape has room for innovation, despite its maturity. Leading providers unanimously agree that there is still much room for innovation — service innovation to drive . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Centralizing Your Strategy For Telecom Sourcing Simplifies Contracting And Vendor Management

by Brownlee Thomas, Ph.D., March 23, 2010

Defining a centralized IT strategy for telecom services sourcing helps firms with distributed organizations simplify and streamline the contracting process. It involves establishing common practices for qualifying vendors to submit proposals; defining . . .

For Technology Sales Enablement Professionals

Technology Buyer Insight Study: Preferred Or Exclusive Vendor Relationships

As Buyers Stratify Their Suppliers, Sales Must Re-Evaluate How To Deliver Value

by Scott Santucci, February 16, 2010

Buyers are actively evolving their techniques for dealing with technology vendors to either get more value from a particular supplier or negotiate more favorable terms to save money. While many technology vendors are all too aware of the presence of procurement . . .

For CIOs

Categorize IT Outsourcing Investments To Ensure Success

by Chip Gliedman, February 12, 2010

Contracting with third-party providers to supplement and complement internal IT resources represents about 20% of IT spending globally. However, 15% to 30% of surveyed organizations are dissatisfied with various aspects of their outsourcing relationships. . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

FAQs About Vendor Management Systems And Managed Service Providers

by Patrick M. Connaughton, February 1, 2010

Forrester clients ask us many questions about vendor management systems (VMS) and managed services providers (MSPs) — ranging from what pricing models are available to whether it makes sense to contract both together, and of course, what shortlist of . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

How To Implement The 10 Steps To Multisourcing

by Euan Davis, John C. McCarthy, January 28, 2010

Only meticulous planning will reap the rewards from systematic multisourcing. Forrester's 10-step checklist guides executives through the critical phases of planning, executing, and governing a multisourcing model. This checklist explains each step and . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

IT VMO Effectiveness Survey

by Patrick M. Connaughton, January 21, 2010

As a first step to building stronger internal advocacy, VMOs need to better understand what the current level of satisfaction is with their services. To help VMOs toward this goal, Forrester has assembled a 40-question satisfaction survey designed to . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Five Key Elements Of Risk In Transitioning To Managed Outcome ADM Relationships

by Bill Martorelli, January 20, 2010

One of the major drivers for entering into managed outcome relationships for application development and maintenance (ADM) services is the transfer of delivery and financial risk from the customer to the supplier. However, entering into managed outcome . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

How Effective Is Your IT Vendor Management Office?

Forrester's 40-Question VMO Stakeholder Satisfaction Survey

by Patrick M. Connaughton, January 20, 2010

Many vendor management offices (VMOs) are still fighting an uphill battle when it comes to establishing credibility within their organizations. VMOs have tried to market themselves, but ultimately this only takes them so far. For the VMO to ultimately . . .

For Security & Risk Professionals

Twelve Recommendations For Your 2010 Information Security Strategy

by Khalid Kark, January 11, 2010

As we enter 2010 and look ahead, the challenges we face are very familiar. The technology has been changing as usual, the business has been demanding more and more from security professionals as expected, and we continue to outsource some of our responsibilities. . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Surviving A Software License Audit

Control The Process To Minimize The Risk Of Unexpected Charges

by Duncan Jones, January 4, 2010

There's nothing wrong with software companies doing license audits — they have to protect their intellectual property (IP) — but sometimes audits can be painful, or even terminal, for IT sourcing and vendor management leaders. Not only did companies face . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Case Study: BP Uses A 2.0 Sourcing Model For Global Telecommunications Services

T-Systems Becomes BP's Integrator For Multisourced Network And Telecom

by Brownlee Thomas, Ph.D., December 23, 2009

Global energy group BP has granted T-Systems a landmark contract to provide telecommunications services on a worldwide basis. The new five-year contract, which has an estimated value of $450 million, makes T-Systems BP's global information and communications . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Sourcing Pros: Don't Forget About Your Friends In Enterprise Architecture

Consolidating Vendors? Make Sure EA's Voice Is Heard On Strategic Products And Services

by Christine Ferrusi Ross, December 2, 2009

When focusing on the cost-cutting elements of your sourcing strategy, vendor consolidation is likely top of mind. However, simply eliminating service providers or product vendors based on low spend or limited relationships can pose serious risks for the . . .

For Market Research Professionals

The State Of Enterprise IT Services: 2009

Business Data Services North America And Europe

by Pascal Matzke, John C. McCarthy, November 6, 2009

As the global economic downturn continues to put pressure on IT budgets, companies are taking a variety of measures to get more value for the money spent on IT services. But unlike the last recession in 2001 to 2002, when outsourcing and offshoring benefitted . . .

For Security & Risk Professionals

Shift In Expectations: Modernizing Your SRM Program

by Robert Whiteley, October 28, 2009

In September 2009, Forrester hosted a two-day event designed to help security and risk professionals understand the top three shifts impacting their job heading. This document summarizes the key recommendations we made to help master the shift in expectations . . .

For Application Development & Delivery Professionals

Modernization Decisions: Should Client Leave Adabas When It Leaves The Mainframe Platform?

by Phil Murphy, October 28, 2009

Applications professionals at a government agency had been operating a suite of custom Adabas applications for decades. The agency was facing mounting economic pressures, it was seeking avenues for cost reduction, and the large bill for the agency's shared-services . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Vendor Scorecard: Measuring The Strategic Health And Value Of A Relationship

by Patrick M. Connaughton, October 27, 2009

Forrester recommends developing at least three levels of scorecards for measuring the overall value and performance of an IT vendor relationship: operational SLAs; business-level SLAs; and a less quantifiable but equally as important strategic value scorecard. . . .