♦  Outsourcing Research

Outsourcing Risks

Once enterprise strategy has been clarified, you can perform another useful test to assess which of your processes should be kept in-house, whether because of their strategic value or need for control, and which can be outsourced. The "core" versus "context" framework, conceived by Silicon Valley strategy and innovation expert and bestselling author Geoffrey Moore, urges companies to focus their resources only on "core" activities (i.e., those processes that yield strategic advantage). "Context" operations - all other supporting activities - can be potentially outsourced. Cisco, known for being one of the most aggressive and progressive users of outsourcing (it has outsourced all manufacturing and logistics for years), uses this framework as a foundation for its business strategy.

Even within the same industry, what is core and what is context varies from organization to organization. Moreover, these are not static classifications. As technology enables greater automation and further efficiencies, processes become more commoditized and exportable. Yesterday’s value-added is, loosely speaking, today’s commodity. As corporate strategy evolves, the enterprise’s energies and resources must constantly be reallocated. This evolution applies to the provider marketplace as well as to the buyside; the list of processes available from outsourcing providers is continually expanding.

Learn more about Outsourcing Risks in Assessing Offshoring Risks (CB-1431)

Caribbean Outsourcing

The Caribbean Nearshore also continues to scores well on U.S. process knowledge when compared to the Zagada Institute 2005 report, indicating the region’s adeptness with the operational practice of U.S. political, business and economic system.

Consistent with our earlier methodology, the report segments the Caribbean Nearshore as having both an English and Spanish-speaking brand components, and summarizes the strengths and challenges of each market.

Economic dimension of the market is briefly summarized through metadata as well as the strategic challenges facing the region as it expands. Comparative data is presented on the Nearshore - Offshore Far East nexus to assist corporate executives in their sourcing deliberations.

Learn more about Caribbean Outsourcing in Caribbean Contact Center & BPO Report 2008 - 2010 (ZA-4809)

Contact Center Outsourcing in Mexico

The large call centers in Mexico are equipped with the most advanced hardware and software technologies. Outsourcing service providers will continue to incorporate new technologies to increase their efficiency and services for customer support and sales promotion. For example, American Express, operate an in-house call center in Mexico and offers local and international services. However, rather than investing heavily in new call center infrastructure they are contracting with outsourcing service providers.

Existing call centers have focused their investments in maintaining their technological edge, but not in expanding their operations or establishing new call centers. An explanation given by analysts in the sector indicates that some of these companies are considering relocating to other Latin American countries that offer more cost-effective alternatives, especially labor cost savings. To date, all outsourcing call centers that are established in Mexico maintain their operations in the country and have not migrated. Qualfon, a leading local service provider is an exception, with additional centers in Argentina, Costa Rica, Guyana and the Philippines.

Learn more about Call Centers in Mexico in Mexico Executive Call Center Report 2007: A Bilingual Oasis (ZA-4804)

Infrastructure Outsourcing and Managed Services

The increasing alignment of the network to business operations will ensure that the networking services market will remain healthy in the coming years. The network is now viewed as a revenue generating stream, indicating that continued investments will be made to ensure flexible, agile networks that can react to and support business change. Managed and outsourced network services have been evolving to encompass other important infrastructure elements. As more intelligence is built into enterprise networks, so the logic of hosting enterprise applications and data becomes more compelling and Datamonitor foresees more offerings from services providers that contain both networking and hosting services.

There are number of factors dictating enterprises’ decision to engage in third-party networking services. Among others the demand for managed and outsourced networking services may stem from a need to reduce complexity, an inability to undertake complex integration, the fact that IT is seen as business critical and an attempt to achieve competitive differentiation, as well as a desire to focus on core competencies. In addition, enterprises are looking for third parties that can help them to keep up with changing business dynamics, relating to areas such as mergers & acquisitions and changing partner/supplier ecosystems.

Learn more about Infrastructure Outsourcing in Infrastructure Outsourcing and Managed Services (Market Focus) (DB-1470)

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