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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.
7 Tips for IT Asset Management in an Outsourced Model
White Paper |
Category: Strategy & Business Case Transition & Governance IT Infrastructure & Applications...
More and more organizations are including IT Asset Management (ITAM) in their outsourcing deals with scope ranging from inventory management to software compliance as part of overall IT service delivery. While ITAM continues to grow in complexity due to the requirements introduced by an evolving technical landscape (i.e. clustering, virtualization, and complex compliance models to name a few), the outsourced deal models have not caught up. Often ITAM is inserted in these IT outsourcing models without purposeful consideration of expectations and requirements.
As a result, many outsourcing deals fall short in the ITAM arena, ranging from not meeting expectations, to costly remediation projects. In one example, the outsourcing provider made three separate attempts to deliver ITAM services over a five year outsourcing contract term, only to result in ITAM surfacing as a deal breaker during the renewal negotiations. In another example, over $10 million worth of software license compliance fees came into legal dispute after the outsourcing provider and client disagreed over terms of liability and accountability during a vendor audit.
This white paper expands on seven tips for both the client and outsourcing provider to keep in mind when considering ITAM in the outsourced deal model.
ITAM can be successful in an outsourced environment if the client’s ITAM capabilities are known and a business goal oriented ITAM roadmap is defined. This will provide critical input to the ITAM solution, transition and operation stage of your outsourcing agreement. The Alsbridge ITAM strategy service can help determine your current ITAM capabilities, assist in identifying the target capabilities and develop a roadmap that is specific to your outsourcing goals.
Making Outsourcing Successful: The Human Element
White Paper |
Category: Strategy & Business Case Transition & Governance IT Infrastructure & Applications...
This white paper, based on hundreds of man-hours of direct experience by Alsbridge's outsourcing consultants, discusses the key elements for the people, the provider, and the company to consider in order to effectively cope with change and the potentially negative effects change can have on your human capital.
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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