Archive for the ‘BPO’ Category

The other day I happened across a discussion asking the question: “What are the most important things to consider before moving…to a cloud-based solution?”

Darned good question.  The opening—very valid—questions included things like:

1. TCO (total cost of ownership);
2. Data security;
3. SLA (service level agreements);
4. ROI (Return on Investment);
5. Data backups, Disaster Recovery, & Business Continuity Planning (BCP)

These are very typical things to find in Requests For Information (RFI), Request for Proposal (RFP).  They are very representative of what (CxO)  executive management will want to know—particularly before signing off on expensive, far-reaching, solutions.

But!  Do not forget the Users!

Put yourself in their shoes, or better yet, get users’ input directly. Perhaps the #1 question is, "Will they use it?"

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Back in the late 90s, as we were enjoying the glow of the dot.com boom, Andy Grove, CEO of Intel,  predicted, “…all businesses will be internet businesses, or they won’t survive.”  Instead, companies adapted to having an internet component to their business.

Now, in the late 00’s and heading into the ‘10s, Software as a Service (SaaS) has become credible, taking its rightful place as a mature business concern.  Increasingly, traditional software vendors (and others) are realizing their product offerings can continue in conventional form (here’s CD/DVD, you install, and maintain) or as a service completely delivered via the web (SaaS).

I think the path of SaaS will be parallel to what we found after Andy Grove made his original prediction for the internet.  I do not feel, ‘all software companies will be SaaS companies, or they won’t survive.’  Instead, many will develop a SaaS component of their business.

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A common starting point

The internet’s ubiquitous nature has made possible so much. If it were not for the internet (like the utilitarian ‘phone,’ it’s time to stop capitalizing ‘internet’) the notion of Software as a Service (SaaS) wouldn’t even exist. Yet while incredibly empowering, the internet can be incredibly devastating when it fails.

Saying, ‘…the internet is down…’ is often akin to using the ever popular Read the rest of this entry »

Generally considered Universally True: It costs more to get a new customer than to keep an old one.  Whether we’re specifically talking about SaaS providers, or not, this seems to be lost on so many businesses.  How much more profitable might a wireless carrier be, for instance, if they focused on keeping existing customers, rather than incessantly focusing on new?

Listening to the likes of quarterly reports from Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, for instance show companies focused on gaining more new customers than the number of old ones they lose. How much more profitable might they be if Read the rest of this entry »

Along the path I have followed, there are a few things I’ve discovered when selecting a vendor (or business partner). A few of the ‘popular’ ones I’ve discussed below. To help lend credence to my comments, you may appreciate my roles have included being a P&L head, product manager for a SaaS/BPO unit, global technical account manager, and doing joint-venture assessments involving some multi-$B concerns.

References
Requests for references create love/hate feelings, depending on whether you’re the one receiving the request. If you are making a major decision, such as outsourcing a key business process, you will be keenly interested in talking to others about their experiences with the given vendor. Any experienced vendor

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Who Goes First?

A lot has been said already regarding BPO (Business Process Outsourcing), SaaS (Software as a Service), and ‘Cloud’ computing.  The ‘cloud‘ remains somewhat dubious for folks because it is a term whose definition continues to evolve.  Most of what is written seems to talk to those ‘in the know’ or from a perspective of ‘everyone’ already doing it.  But what about those of you who have yet to take the plunge? Who have yet to outsource their first application and/or business process?

The odds are, Read the rest of this entry »

Phil Fersht, a recognized BPO analyst, shares with us a discussion with Lee Coulter.  Coulter, SVP of Kraft Foods Global Shared Services Group, highlighted some high-level thoughts on BPO, where it’s successful, where it has yet to perform.  There are two areas I want to append to the discussion:

1)       Behavior is a key player behind success. Lee is right, behavior of both client and provider are the more likely determiners of long-term success.  The MSA (master service agreement) is something often toiled over for months, sometimes it’s never even truly completed. Eventually it gets stuck on a shelf and simply gathers dust. Once the process has matured (e.g. after 90 days), it’s typically looked at very infrequently.

As a result, Read the rest of this entry »