EquaTerra Thought Leadership

All You Need to Know About Today's FAO Industry

Mon, 3 Jan 2011 05:00:00 GMT

EquaTerra and Horses for Sources present findings from our inaugural 2010 edition of the Finance and Accounting Outsourcing (FAO) service provider performance and satisfaction (SPPS) study. Approximately 1 hour.

Pharmaceutical R&D Outsourcing: Best Practices, Trends and Predictions

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 05:00:00 GMT

The pharmaceutical industry has traditionally been one of the most progressive andmature industries in its use of outsourcing, whether for selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) functions or discrete functions within research and development (R&D). While R&D outsourcing (RDO) has often been smaller in scope, within the past two years it has expanded into regulatory outsourcing and some of the more progressive pharmaceutical organizations have both considered and implemented this expanded scope in their R&D functions. In this informative webcast, our outsourcing industry panelists explores RDO’s past, present, and future. Approximately 50 minutes.

Sourcing Initiative Success Part 1 - The Top Five Reasons Sourcing Initiatives Fail

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 05:00:00 GMT

When changing service delivery models, organizations that fail to develop and implement an effective risk mitigation plan have a much higher potential for failure. Those that meticulously plan for the change not only stand a much better chance of success but also achieve their desired benefits much faster. This paper discusses the top five change management risks we see in sourcing initiatives. The second paper in this series addresses how to mitigate the risks.

Sourcing Initiative Success Part 2 - How to Avert the Top Risks in Sourcing Initiatives

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 05:00:00 GMT

The first article in this two-part series analyzed the top five causes of sourcing change management failure: lack of leadership alignment, poor communication, prolonged time to solution implementation, lack of preparation for transition, and lack of alignment with the sourcing solution. This paper offers a three phase model to successfully mitigate risks and manage change.

Achieving Legal Spend Optimization in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Corporate Legal spend has largely remained untouched as it is seen as too specialized and difficult to address. However, as companies seek further opportunities to improve service delivery, legal departments are facing pressure not only to reduce costs but also to run their function as a contributing business. They're expected to participate more in operations, provide legal review for new products and markets, and continue protecting their companies amid increased regulation and litigation. This webcast explores the many strategies to optimize legal spend in today's environment. Approximately 1 hour.

Real Estate and Facilities Management: How to Optimize Complex Outsourcing Strategies with Verizon Services Operations

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 05:00:00 GMT

As organizations add multiple providers, more complex governance relationships are the result. Today's changing environment requires a comprehensive focus on governance or companies risk losing value from their outsourcing relationships. Approximately 1 hour.

Service Integration: Maximising the Benefits of a Multi-Sourced IT Environment

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 05:00:00 GMT

In a world where most IT organisations source their requirements from a multitude of service providers, Service Integration is the key to unlocking the benefits of this multi-sourced environment - reducing risk, driving cost savings, improving the quality of service provided to the end user.

EquaTerra Blog: 2011: The Year of Service Integration?

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 05:00:00 GMT

The Service Integration model is specifically designed to provide a common operating model and ensure seamless end-to-end service delivery across all service providers. Will it replace "innovation" as the buzzword of 2011?

Is Green the New Black? How Implementing a Green IT Strategy Can Help You Keep Your IT Organisation Out of the Red

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Renewed interest in environmenally responsible information technology (IT) is fueled by an increasing recognition that a green IT strategy can be an effective vehicle for driving cost savings and optimising IT investment. Which initiatives should your organisation consider?

IT Outsourcing Trends and Satisfaction Levels in the Financial Services (FS) Industry across Western Europe: 2010

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Data from the pan-European Information Technology outsourcing (ITO) service provider performance and satisfaction (SPPS) study, conducted in late 2009 and 2010, has been reviewed to create a Financial Service (FS) specific analysis to provide in depth insight into the IT Outsourcing trends and satisfaction levels with providers serving organisations in this sector across Western Europe. More than 380 outsourcing contracts are included in the analysis.

EquaTerra Blog: Will Offshoring Hit the Proverbial Brick Wall in 2011?

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 05:00:00 GMT

quaTerra research has found that offshoring will continue to grow, and grow faster proportionally than overall third-party services spend, with no wall in sight.

Defining New Business Models for 21st Century Competitive Differentiation

Thu, 9 Dec 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Global Integration and the Ascendance of Competency-based Models: The need to cut costs has spurred organizations to narrow the focus of the activities they perform internally. It is increasingly clear that legacy Western business models across many industries (e.g., media, public sector, retail, pharma) are unsustainable in their historical form necessitating more aggressive cost-cutting, partnering and specialization of offerings.

UK IT Service Provider Performance and Satisfaction Study: 2010

Mon, 6 Dec 2010 05:00:00 GMT

The 2010 UK IT Service Provider Performance and Satisfaction (SPPS) study investigates over 650 outsourcing contracts held by over 220 of the top ICT spending organisations in the UK. The total annual value of the contracts included in this study is over �14 billion, accounting for around two-thirds of the total UK outsourcing market in terms of annual contract value. All commercial sectors are represented in the study, as is the public sector, including both central and local government organisations.

EquaTerra Blog: Seeking FAO Success? Go Global

Thu, 2 Dec 2010 05:00:00 GMT

What are the characteristics and attributes of the buyers, the deals and the service providers that are having the most FAO success?

Equaterra Blog: Taking the Pulse of the Pharma R&D Outsourcing (RDO) Market, Part 3 – Risks and Mitigation Strategies

Wed, 1 Dec 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Many pharma buyers understandably feel that the risks associated with RDO are higher than with in-house R&D because getting a drug to market in the most cost-effective and timely manner is a major contributor to the success and growth of any pharmaceutical company, and it is a strategic “core competency.”

Real Estate and Facilities Management: A Bad Transition is Like Going on Honeymoon and Fighting All the Time

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Transition projects seem to be about minimizing problems and accelerating the transition efforts as much as possible instead of realizing the high expectation. What does this mean for the relationship between a buyer and their service provider? This article shares some of the root causes of why transition projects fail and provides some guidance for addressing them.

EquaTerra Blog: Taking the Pulse of the Pharma R&D Outsourcing (RDO) Market, Part 2 – RDO Process and Benefits Sought

Mon, 29 Nov 2010 05:00:00 GMT

EquaTerra typically does not find that most pharma firms have a single unified RDO strategy much less an operational plan of action and timeline.

EquaTerra Blog: Taking the Pulse of the Pharma R&D Outsourcing (RDO) Market, Part One – RDO Drivers

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 05:00:00 GMT

While the global pharma industry is of the most experienced when it comes to back-office business process and information technology outsourcing, the level of penetration and maturity is mixed when it comes to other emerging outsourcing areas such as R&D. Many firms are mature relative to outsourcing activities such as preclinical and clinical trials RDO work but most are still exploring, for example, drug research and registration RDO work.

EquaTerra Blog: Why Going Green is Helping to Keep Financial Institutions' IT Organisations Out of the Red

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 05:00:00 GMT

‘Going green’ is a key component of most financial institutions’ corporate social responsibility policies, but there is increasing recognition that it has the potential to deliver much wider business benefits including bottom line cost savings and investment avoidance.

3Q10 Pulse Survey Results - Podcast Excerpt Series

This podcast series highlights governance and transition findings from EquaTerra's 3Q10 Pulse Survey and is derived from an hour-long webcast that took place October 26, 2010. Stan Lepeak, EquaTerra's Director of Global Research, moderates. EquaTerra's Nico Boot, Executive Director Information Technology - Europe and Asia Pacific, and Brian Walker, Managing Director IT Consulting - North America, are also featured.

EquaTerra Blog: Five High Impact 2011 Agenda Items for CIOs

Thu, 11 Nov 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Our clients are asking about the areas in which they should focus their attention, and those in which the greatest opportunities for improvement exist.

Podcast: Get Your Outsourcing Governance Right in 15 Min -- Which Model Fits Your Needs?

Thu, 11 Nov 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Actionable Intelligence From EquaTerra and Horses for Sources How does an organization that has outsourced create the most effective structure for managing contracts? Governance models range from simple to sophisticated, and finding the right one can be challenging. EquaTerra and Horses for Sources come together in this podcast with depth of research and experience to share insight on what contributes to some organizations' failures to get governance right. Approximately 15 minutes.

EquaTerra Blog: Obama in India: Global Sourcing on the Presidential Agenda?

Tue, 9 Nov 2010 05:00:00 GMT

The president who has routinely lectured US business on the evils of shipping jobs offshore and has pressed for tax legislation changes that would make the economics of global sourcing less appealing took a more constructive tone on trade while in India,

EquaTerra Blog: The Search for Innovation in Shared Services and Outsourcing

Mark Trepanier comments on a Horses for Sources webcast discussion. What is innovation and what motivates it?

Global Finance & Accounting Outsourcing Service Provider Performance and Satisfaction (SPPS): 2010

Wed, 3 Nov 2010 05:00:00 GMT

The 2010 global FAO study investigates 110 F&A outsourcing contracts held by more than 90 of the top F&A spending organizations worldwide for organizations' satisfaction with their service providers. The total annual value of the contracts included in this study exceeds $1 billion in terms of annual contract value (ACV). All industries are represented in the study, as is the public sector, including both central and local government organizations.