Eavesdrop on a conversation between two senior IT staff of a fictitious company charged with the successful execution of an outsourced arrangement that has just passed its two-year anniversary. Gain an insight into the difficulties they are experiencing, their search for the root causes and their development of a plan to deliver targeted improvement. The…
Outsourcing contracts have long contained intellectual property clauses. How do old abuses and recent changes in technology and business influence these and what the parties should be interested in? Intellectual property (IP) has long been a difficult subject. Many have found to their cost that their rights differ from what they expect. The timing of…
The outsourcing market is in turmoil. Customers are frequently disappointed by what they see. CIOs mark the growth of shadow IT. Suppliers have delivered savings in the past but the business feels the manacles of inappropriate service. What can be done to restore order and performance? On 28th August 1963, Dr Martin Luther King stood…
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) becomes effective on 25th May 2018. Those who assume that this is all to do with IT and Security are likely to have a rude surprise. Are you ready or is a serious threat hanging over you? St John the Divine prophesied the Four Riders of the Apocalypse: Conquest, War, Famine and…
The SIAM Professional Body of Knowledge has been published and is available free from here. William Hooper of Oareborough Consulting is delighted to have been part of the international team of SIAM experts who wrote the book. The Professional BoK and preceding Foundation BoK are practicable guides that support qualifications accredited by BCS The Chartered…
Outsourcing agreements come to an end, just as do some political treaties. What can those steering the perils of partition learn from each other? There are few experiences as visceral as the turmoil of politics. As a British citizen, I have taken my part and cast my vote on 23rd June, 2016. The comparison of…
Multi-supplier service is all the rage, together with its linking agent Service Integration and Management (SIAM). Wonderful in theory… How does one practically get multiple parties to collaborate towards a common end? It was recognised early in the development of multi-supplier models that there needed to be a unifying agent. A great deal of time…
The formation of a good sourcing agreement relies on clear thinking and agreement between the parties on what is to be done, why and how. The market and technology are changing so rapidly that the next agreement is likely to bear little resemblance to the last. How to make sure we ask the right questions…
Just when multi-supplier (also known as SIAM) contracting is starting to get under control, DevOps emerges. This article looks at the interaction of the two for the design of retained and sourced IT operations. The implications for service contracts are profound and largely un-tested. The pages of management journals have been liberally sprinkled with fads…
In the 1980s it was simple: there was little sourced service. Then came the bandwagon and many jumped on, keeping the thinnest retained shell. What are the challenges now as the pendulum of fashion and practice continues to swing? Trends in the Market Some projections of future events are little more than crystal-ball gazing. Others…
