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Bolster Your Contract with a Strong Benchmarking Clause

By on February 14, 2013 in Benchmarking, Top 5

Benchmark clauses allow you to assess the service you are receiving against the market to ensure it is competitive. A successful benchmark needs to be swift so that it drives implementable change and does not consume more time and money than it is meant to save. When hammering out your next contract, consider the following Top 5 essential features of a worthwhile benchmark.…

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Looking for a benchmarker? Ask some questions

By on February 11, 2013 in Benchmarking

Benchmarking business and IT operations is a tried-and-true method of ensuring that internal and/or external service providers are performing efficiently in terms of costs and service quality.  A good benchmark shows how an organization is doing relative to industry peers and market standards, identifies improvement opportunities and provides a stake in the ground from which to plan and implement a transformational change strategy.…

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IT Financial Management: the More Things Change…

By on April 25, 2012 in Benchmarking

Tim Langley-HawthorneLast week’s IT Financial Management Association (ITFMA) conference in San Francisco marked the 25th anniversary of the association dedicated to professionals involved with the financial management of IT.  Conference attendees came from a variety of industries and government organizations with some attendees travelling from as far afield as Africa.

After the conference, I reflected on the fact that, despite monumental shifts in technology over the last 25 years, the fundamental issues facing IT financial management professionals haven’t really changed.  We may be talking now about Cloud instead of CICS, and Tablet PCs rather than Time Sharing, but the financial challenges of today’s CIO are similar to those faced by the Data Processing Manager 20+ years ago.…

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Cloud Pricing Still Foggy

By on August 2, 2011 in Benchmarking, Cloud Computing, Restructuring Outsourcing Contracts, Sourcing

Scott Feuless2One of the key benefits cloud computing promises to deliver is that of flexible, usage-based pricing for IT resources: use more, pay more; use less, pay less.  This model gives businesses transparency into actual consumption and eliminates – at least in theory – the problem of managing insufficient or idle capacity.  The result is optimized efficiency and a more agile enterprise.…

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Waiting for the Innovation Fairy

By on May 31, 2011 in Benchmarking, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), Emerging Technologies, Gainsharing, Innovation, Organizational Change, Outsourcing, Sourcing, Transformation

MaxIf you expect something, you should have some way of knowing whether or not you get it.

A sizable portion of IT executives seem to be missing that point.  According to a recent survey cited in CIO magazine, “67 percent of IT leaders say they rely on outsourcers to turn ideas into new and improved processes, but just a third actually measure the impact of innovation delivered by their service providers.”

Sounds like a recipe for disappointment.…

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Being a Hero vs. Doing Things Right

By on May 17, 2011 in ADM, Benchmarking, Call Centers, Governance, Infrastructure, IT Outsourcing, ITIL, Offshoring, Outsourcing, Service Providers, Sourcing

Chris_Pfauser_052109Let’s say you’re a talented and ambitious young IT professional. Late one Friday afternoon, the VP of sales corners you in the hallway and says his laptop has crashed, just as he was finishing a presentation for a Monday morning meeting with a new customer.

Do you:

A: drop everything and restore the document, even if it means calling in colleagues and working over the weekend.…

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Benchmarks: More Than a Number

By on May 13, 2011 in Benchmarking, IT Outsourcing, Outsourcing, Top 5

MaxDefined in basic terms, a “benchmark” of an outsourcing deal is simply a comparison of one set of numbers against another, with the objective of adjusting pricing terms to more closely reflect market standards. 
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But benchmarking can and should be much more than a discrete exercise aimed at cost reduction. Used properly, benchmarking allows you to demonstrate an ongoing and proactive commitment to quality and continual improvement.…

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