In previous blogs in September/October 2011 (Supplier Selection; Contract Negotiations; Relationship Management) I offered practical tips on how to manage and mitigate some of the risks that arise throughout the life cycle of a typical outsourcing. These risks may arise during the supplier selection process, in the course of contract…
An effective pricing model is a foundational component for long-term success in an outsourcing relationship. Success or failure in a relationship can often be traced in part to the wisdom, or lack thereof, of the pricing model. A good pricing model will create predictability while serving to align interests, allocate…
Back in 1999 Kevin Ashton, the British technology pioneer and cofounder of Auto-ID Center at MIT (creators of the global standard system for radio-frequency identification (RFID)), coined the term, the Internet of Things, to describe “uniquely identifiable objects (things) and their virtual representations in an internet-like structure.” Put simply, the…
India’s recent demand for European Union designation as a data secure country (see our blog) has brought the issue into the spotlight. Here we take a closer look at those nations which have achieved EU recognition and the benefits of doing so. Article 25.1 of the Data Protection Directive (in…
ZDNet blogger, Michael Krigsman, reported recently that nearly 70% of IT projects fail in some important way: An eye-popping number! There can be endless debate on the actual failure rate of IT projects – the answer most likely depends on the criteria used to define “failure” – but a couple…
The topic of the day appears to be “big data,” meaning the aggregation, mining, and analysis of data. This data analytics helps determine customer profiles so that companies can tune their offerings and sell more of the right things to the right customers. As recently reported in the New York…
According to a report in the Economic Times of India, the Indian government has demanded that the European Union designate her as a data secure country. The request came in the context of current bilateral free trade agreement negotiations. An Indian government official is reported saying “Recognition as a data…
Transition Services Agreements (TSAs) have become common (and more complex) in corporate divestitures, mergers, and spin-offs due to the increasing operational complexity of the environments impacted by these transactions. And if M&A activity increases as expected, despite a slow start in 2012, these agreements will continue to play an important…
Not too long ago a major supplier asked us what we are seeing in the cloud space. We thought the interchange might be of interest to readers of the blog — so here are some selected questions and our responses. What impact have you seen or expect to see Cloud…
Since the start of the 112th Congress, there has been a heightened focus on cybersecurity. Congress has not passed new cybersecurity related legislation since 2002 when the Federal Information Security Management Act was enacted. In 2011, the Obama Administration announced its cybersecurity proposal, and a number of bills are currently…