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 Demand Management - How to Align Stakeholders and Deliver on Promises
White Paper |
Category: Transition & Governance IT Infrastructure & Applications Finance & Accounting Services...
Demand management is not a new discipline. A clear understanding of labor, materials and service requirements is essential in order to have predictable delivery of any finished product. Traditional manufacturing businesses have had this process down pat for over 100 years. Information Technology (IT) organizations have employed variations of formal demand management methods since the 1960’s. IT organizations today have well-structured processes focused on prioritized expenditures, key resources and satisfied customers. In the last decade, sophisticated applications have hit the market containing logic that "understands" the dynamics of multi-source demand, business prioritization, budget accountability and the resource management necessary to get the work done. One of the first and most important steps to implementing a demand management structure with built-in accountability is establishing a process and tool to monitor, adjust, and govern the decisions surrounding how to best satisfy the inflow of new requests for service.
A demand planning model is designed to serve as a macro-level demand reporting and planning tool. A typical demand planning model is comprised of three key work categories, including: strategic initiatives, discretionary projects, and operational "run" activities, delivered internally or through an outsourcing arrangement. The overall goal is to establish an annual plan with an appropriate workforce mix and resource pyramid to meet investment objectives. On a monthly basis, creating a view into resource consumption allows a comparison to the planned year-to-date investment plan.
The objectives of demand management and the detailed planning processes that enable it are focused on managing the collection, prioritization and approval for new IT services and service upgrades. Operational service organizations are the delivery units for the approved demand and thus play a crucial role in the overall success of a demand management solution. As soon as both sides of the business request cycle are aligned around managing demand within approved budgets, resource constraints and committed timelines, the world of IT becomes a less stressful, more predictable place for customers and delivery teams alike. The objectives of demand management and the detailed planning processes that enable it are focused on managing the collection, prioritization and approval for new IT services and service upgrades. Operational service organizations are the delivery units for the approved demand and thus play a crucial role in the overall success of a demand management solution.
This white paper discusses how to get both sides of the business request cycle aligned around managing demand within approved budgets, resource constraints and committed timelines, making the world of IT a less stressful, more predictable place for customers and delivery teams alike.
 Service Level Agreements for HRO
eNews |
Category: Strategy & Business Case HR Services Outsourcing
One of the key elements to successful HR Outsourcing is the development and maintenance of metrics to manage service performance. But developing and agreeing appropriate metrics seems to be difficult for HR services. Why might this be?
The "New Market Entry" Sole Source Option
White Paper |
Category: Provider Selection IT Infrastructure & Applications Finance & Accounting Services...
Sole source has gotten a bad rap over the years. Most companies associate sole source with overpriced, provider favorable deals defined by their low service levels. Current conventional wisdom in the sourcing industry advocates a multiple provider approach which encourages healthy competitive tension and client leverage by spreading around project among those providers who deliver the best overall value. Sole source therefore, is anathema to procurement departments raised on the holy grail of competitive processes. However, even the most ardent supporters of the competitive process agree, albeit reluctantly, that there are the two "traditional" times when sole source may be appropriate, based on the business strategy and requirements of the buyer.
The first occasion where sole source would be appropriate, occurs when a company wants to re-new an existing outsourcing relationship. For example, if the current provider is meeting all of its contractual and intangible commitments (meaning, it is both a cultural fit and "easy to do business with"), including bringing new innovation, year-over-year productivity gains, and improvements in risk mitigation, then sole source would be the correct approach.
Because of competitive pressures, companies are now looking at the possibility of outsourcing processes that have not been outsourced before. The need to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and avoid investments in facilities, processes and systems has forced the, "art of the possible" discussions within the C-suite that culturally would not have taken place before. The processes under scrutiny are outside the normal SG&A processes and include some industry specific ones as well as those that touch revenue generation and product development. For example, Alsbridge is engaged in discussions with clients about outsourcing legal services, evaluating marketing and advertising expenses from an outsourcing lens, audit, and actuarial services to name just a few.
This desire to look at every cost within the enterprise drives the second reason we are seeing new market entry sole source projects. These are the unique situations in which a buyer's research shows there may only be one provider who has the capabilities needed by the buyer. What is not well known is that there is a third situation in which sole source makes sound business sense for both the buyer and provider. These are what we call "new market entry" sole source transactions. They are not common but happen more often than most in the industry realize - particularly today when windows of opportunity open quickly and speed is of the essence.
The Next Wave of Vendor Relationship Management
White Paper |
Category: Transition & Governance IT Infrastructure & Applications Finance & Accounting Services...
What is the next great strategic sourcing practice for sustaining cost reductions and driving an efficient, competitive business in an environment that is constantly and dramatically changing? The answer is in how companies are addressing vendor relationship management and creating incentives that better leverage the capabilities of their current providers.
Most mature outsourced companies have created a concentrated multi-provider base, often with a handful of large sourcing vendors playing a major role in supporting the organization. These efforts have shifted business critical processes and value chain activities to outsourcing providers, creating new major provider relationships that are vital to operational continuity. Accelerated software delivery life cycles, vastly more sophisticated infrastructure virtualization, rapid pace of process and technology convergence, and the need to work seamlessly with offshore vendors have made effective vendor relationship management more demanding and more critical than ever before.
These companies are developing a new set of vendor relationship management capabilities by creating vendor "tiering" structures - including processes, governance mechanisms, and systems to manage sourcing vendors on a day-to-day basis over the full relationship lifecycle.
This paper describes the new vendor relationship management and service management environments, the challenges of extracting increased value through vendor management, and the vendor relationship management best practices leading edge companies are already applying in order to deliver maximum value from their multi-sourcing provider base.
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