From the Archives | Cutter Consortium

IT Outsourcing Is Growing and Satisfying Most Customers

Wendell Jones

As stated in the previous article, an early 2003 Cutter Consortium survey found that IT outsourcing is growing and satisfying most customers, suggesting that more and more companies recognize that cooperative supplier relationships not only lead to cost savings and improved service but also help build stronger value-chain capabilities.

Business Process Outsourcing: An Emerging Business Strategy

Robert Reynolds, Jr.

Business process outsourcing (BPO) is a corporate strategy that is gaining popularity. Given the economic and governance challenges that so many of today's organizations face, the emphasis that many companies presently place on BPO strategies highlights the significance of this strategy and perhaps forecasts even more activity in the BPO area as the business community moves past these challenges. Over the next several years, the consensus forecast calls for a dramatic increase in BPO projects.

Twenty Customer and Supplier Lessons on IT Sourcing

Mary Lacity

From an initial focus on cost reduction, IT outsourcing has become a complementary, routine mode of managing IT. Based on our own estimates, global market revenues will reach US $150 billion by 2004, with 30%-35% of most large organizations' IT budgets managed by outsourcing arrangements. The question no longer is whether to outsource IT; instead the question is how to exploit the ever-maturing external IT services market to achieve significant strategic business leverage.

Despite 9/11 Aftermath, Offshore Outsourcing Continues to Grow

Wendell Jones

The managerial mindsets shaped by World War II and its aftermath were shaken by the steep rise in global competition during the 1970s and 1980s. Firms from countries that previously posed no threat began to enter US markets with quality products, a variety of products closely attuned to the tastes of affluent and discriminating consumers, and less expensive products based on more efficient foreign technology and cheaper labor. As a result, Japanese autos almost ran US vehicles off the road and the US steel industry was in tatters.

Business Process and IT Outsourcing: The Momentum Mounts

Robert Austin

IT and other operational managers often dislike the idea of outsourcing activities in their areas of responsibility. The reason for this seems pretty clear: outsourcing invites the possibility of added complexity, loss of control, and operational risk. Of course, outsourcing can result in all these things.

The Market for Modeling

Paul Harmon

The past few years have been slow for most of us. Companies have been focusing on saving money rather than on expanding or looking for new opportunities for growth. Most hardware and software vendors have been sitting and waiting for the economy to shift gears and start to grow again.