Although IT outsourcing is nothing new, it remains surprisingly challenging for professionals. This book assists the IT professional in several areas of the outsourcing process: establishing outsourcing relationships, maintaining and managing the relationship, and finally governing outsourcing projects successfully.

This book collects and reports on the results of a study conducted on the Chinese Software and Services Outsourcing (SSO) industry, focusing on one of its main players as a key case study. Two sets of research findings are presented: first, the knowledge management and communication processes inherent within a highly collaborative software development project between the case study company and one of its long-term UK clients are explored and distilled into specific practices; second, at the organizational level, the strategies used by the company to build and exploit capabilities and to dynamically configure resources to promote specific value positions along its outsourced services value networks are identified and discussed. The significance of these findings for similar China-based global high-tech firms and the value of this organizational form in moving closer to the goals of the 2020 enterprise vision are both discussed, along with the implications of the findings for EU/UK businesses operating in similar digital domains.

Presents a sector-wide review of cost-containment initiatives in higher education in the United States, concentrating on three areas: (1) collaboration--involving shared resources (including human resources), joint purchasing agreements, and opportunities for personal and professional contacts between institutions; (2) technological innovation--ranging from machines that automate to equipment that enables massive information processing, teleconferencing, and distance education; and (3) outsourcing--contracting with an outside vendor to provide a service; often done with support services in the past, but now being considered for core services as well. Since cost cutting is a reality, institutions could benefit from learning from others' experiences. For this reason, more comprehensive and standardized data collection would be in everyone's best interest.

Many companies have successfully used outsourcing to lower costs. But, unless the company's efforts are unusually good, true competitive advantage is fleeting when competitors begin outsourcing and achieve similar results. To build sustainable competitive advantage, leading companies are now using an advanced form of outsourcing, called global collaboration, to drive new revenue, quicken time-to-market, and increase innovation. Global collaboration impacts their top as well as bottom lines. But effectively adopting this approach requires adjustments to traditional outsourcing strategy, organization and processes.

The Global Business Process Outsourcing and IT Services Market exceeded $950 billion in 2013. Every indicator points to continued growth across all geographies and market segments for the foreseeable future. In order to drive innovation and realize the full benefit and value proposition of the services being outsourced, a shift in the method by which outsourcing services are procured is a necessity. Simply put, the current sales cycle and procurement approach is inefficient across time, quality, and cost parameters.Selling Outsourcing Services asks difficult questions, challenges the status quo, and provides an alternative mechanism to achieve timely contract execution by shifting the focus from the consequences of failure to collaboration, partnership, and success. An IT services executive with experience negotiating complex outsourcing services agreements across all industries, Grant Lange leads you through the process of putting your best foot forward and negotiating an outsourcing agreement that will yield timely, quality, and cost-effective delivery.

No company is an island in the world of business. Each company is locked into a complex network of relationships with its customers, suppliers and other counterparts. What happens in these relationships is critical to the success of any business. Managing a company's relationships and its position in the network is a central, but often misunderstood aspect of business. This new edition of Managing Business Relationships aims to help managers and students understand the reality of business networks and how to manage in them. It has been entirely rewritten to include the latest thinking and research from the IMP (Industrial Marketing and Purchasing) Group and includes new chapters on Intermediation in Business Networks, the Economics of Business Relationships and the Practice of Business Networking. Features: • Provides a structured way to understand business networks and their meaning for the practicing manager. • Offers a complete analysis of management in different relationships including those with customers, suppliers, distributors and development counterparts. • Presents a practical analysis of the problems and choices that managers face in developing and changing their relationships and a guide to the critical skills of business networking. The book is vital reading for students of business marketing, purchasing, business networks and relationship management. It is also a valuable resource for all managers operating in business networks, including those in marketing, purchasing, strategy, technical development and distribution.

The business landscape is changing. Outsourcing is now a growing phenomenon in which specific functions are subcontracted to specialist companies, often elsewhere in the world. IT represents a particular case for outsourcing, both in terms of benefits and potential inter-organizational problems. Deciding whether to keep IT in-house or to whether outsource it is a key management responsibility. Once a decision for outsourcing has been made, relationships with external provider(s) have to be established and managed. This book combines both research and practical examples to explore how this can be done successfully. Uniquely, the book provides a governance model for such partnerships, exploring the risks and responsibilities involved for both parties. Drawing on the theories of interfirm networks and the boundaries of the firm, here, it provides an accessible and cutting-edge perspective. Incorporating industry examples from a global network of companies (including four case specific chapters), this book investigates partnerships in industrial sectors and IT functions. An invaluable resource for those involved in IT and new technology management as well as strategic business management and planning, this book presents all the necessary theory with an indispensable practical perspective.