The Best of 2009!

IAOP's Knowledge Center, Firmbuilder.com®, provides the information outsourcing professionals need to be successful in their jobs. With new articles loaded regularly, Firmbuilder takes the hassle out of finding documentation that will help you and your organization design, implement and manage simple or complex outsourcing engagements.

Check out the best of 2009 below!

Case Studies

Strategic Outsourcing: "One Finance" - Microsoft & Accenture - After years of rapid expansion overseas, Microsoft found itself running vast global operations that were supported by a fragmented finance and procurement organization. As a result, Microsoft kicked off the “One Finance” initiative, which brought to life the CFO’s vision for a global, integrated finance and procurement organization that would operate with efficient processes, effective controls and clear roles and responsibilities. To enable this vision, a single provider, Accenture, was selected to provide services to more than 90 international Microsoft subsidiaries.

The Second Generation Outsourcing Experience: McKesson and CB Richard Ellis – This is a candid story of a groundbreaking outsourcing contract for real estate and facilities – a relationship that saved over $30 million in its first generation. It seeks to answer the following questions: How does one find the next level of performance? How can you refresh your partnership? How do you respond to corporate change?

Risk Management in Outsourcing Transactions: Finding the Balance Between Certainty and Flexibility - An Air Canada Case Study - Scenario: A customer wants to retain a service provider to create, maintain and operate a strategic and evolving technology solution that supports core business processes and evolves with its business strategy. For its part, the provider wants to leverage this activity to bring the solution to market upon completion of its development. The ideal scenario is that the customer has fully scoped and understands its business requirements and has performed extensive due diligence on the provider’s capabilities and that the provider fully understands the customer’s requirements and has translated them into technical and system specifications. The reality, however, is that the timing, strategic nature of this activity and complexity often does not allow for this.

Outsourcing and Offshoring: The LEGO Story - This session will feature a detailed discussion about how the world’s foremost creator of unique construction toys has successfully used outsourcing and offshoring.

Best Practices

Midcourse Corrections in Outsourcing Relationships: How to Capture Additional Value Throughout the Deal - The first years of an outsourcing contract are focused on making the deal work. But what happens half way through the deal? Expectations on what the contract has to deliver often go out of sync, the relationship is hampered by commercial discussions and both supplier and customer claim the contract is not delivering the value expected. In order to maximize the value of the contract and strengthen the relationship between supplier and buyer, the Dutch mobile operator Vodafone Netherlands and their supplier Ericsson engaged US Boston-based Vantage Partners to execute a health check on the outsourcing contract and relationship to identify what went well and what could be even better.

The Challenge from Local to Global Development – SimCorp A/S – This presentation covered practical, hands-on knowledge of the processes of globalization — where theory and practices meet — which was the base for the establishment of SimCorp A/S’s first development unit outside of Denmark.


Socially Responsible Outsourcing: Promoting Equal Access to Opportunity in Low-Income Regions - This presentation highlights a new approach to business process and IT outsourcing, and is focused on creating opportunities for marginalized people in some of the world’s poorest regions. Using a method developed by a team of consultants from Stanford Law School, and building on earlier work by Digital Divide Data Founder Jeremy Hockenstein and Manchester University Professor Richard Heeks, it  describes  how organizations can identify and work with disadvantaged service providers to promote economic development.

IAOP Chapter Meeting Presentations

New York Chapter Meeting (June 4, 2009 )

The meeting featured presentations on "Trends in Pharma/Life Sciences Outsourcing: Sourcing Successes and Strategies in the Life Sciences and Healthcare Industry" delivered by Chris Nuttall of PA Consulting Group and "Capturing the Value in Pharma Sourcing/Life Sciences Sourcing: Maximizing the Opportunities and Managing the Risks," delivered by Paul Roy of Mayer Brown LLP. The presentations were followed by a lively panel discussion, moderated by Rebecca Eisner of  Mayer Brown LLP, on "The Future of Outsourcing in Pharmaceutical/Life Sciences Sector" and featured panelists from across the industry. Discussion centered around the specific challenges to the industry and identified opportunities where outsourcing can play a unique role in assisting customers.

Global Technology Industry Meeting (October 8, 2009) In addition to formal launch of the chapter and introduction of the chapter Governance Council and chapter charter, the meeting included a panel discussion on “The Science of Multi Provider Governance” led by Rajib Arjun of PWC. Panelists included Leslie Lambert of Sun Microsystems, Michelle Charpentier of Symantec and Michael Giannini of NetApp. We also had a discussion on “Secured Outsourcing per ISO 27002 - Information Security Management Systems (ISMS) standards” led by Raj Patel of Sun Microsystems. Finally, Dr. Gu of Tsinghua University presented “China’s Outsourcing Industry – A Perspective”, a unique perspective on services outsourcing in China.

Chicago Chapter Meeting (July 23, 2009)
The program included a continuation of the lifecycle of a deal theme plus a discussion on ways to leverage IT and differentiate yourself in today’s market. Bill Fowler, Principal Consultant from Compass America, Inc, and Lee Coulter, former SVP of Shared Services at Kraft Foods, provided an overall understanding of what benchmarking is, issues to anticipate and critical aspects of the benchmarking clause. The program continued with an insightful presentation from Sharan Hildebrand, Executive Director from The Symbio Group, entitled “Innovative Ways to Leverage IT and Differentiate Yourself in Today’s Market.” Participants heard about innovative and creative ways to advance their outsourcing message, product or service offerings.

San Francisco Chapter Meeting (April 7, 2009)
Chapter Chairs Stephen Johnson of Kirkland & Ellis LLP and G. Scott Phillips of Accenture welcomed a panel of experts who discussed “Hosting SaaS Solutions”. SaaS or Software-as-a-Service, allows companies to focus their attention and budget on the applications and the results of the applications. Without SaaS, focus and budget are often dominated by IT, hardware and support infrastructure. The panel discussed various types of outsourcing software, online services and broader on-demand services.

Click here for other Chapter Meeting Presentations from 2009.

2009 IAOP Trends Reports and Surveys

IAOP's Global Outsourcing Trends Report: How Changes in the Global Economy are Affecting Outsourcing and Its Professionals
In this presentation, Michael Corbett discusses how outsourcing will be instrumental in rebuilding the global economy. Highlighted are recent results from IAOP’s latest European Member Survey.

2009 IAOP Salary Survey Results
This survey data, especially when combined with earlier research by IAOP on the skills, job and organizational profiles of outsourcing professionals and the companies they work for, provides the first clear and compelling picture of a new and very important profession.

2009 Client and Provider Survey: Early Findings
An up-to-the-moment study conducted by the Duke Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) provides the framework for an interactive session comparing the pattern of outsourcing in Scandinavian firms versus the rest of Europe and the USA.

Event Presentations from IAOP’s world-renowned Outsourcing World Summit Series and The Outsourcing Leadership Series - In 2009, IAOP produced several events featuring presentations that were both thought-provoking and packed with information. We recommend that you peruse each event for presentations that are relevant to you and your firm.

The 2009 Outsourcing World Summit®

The 2009 Asia-Pacific Outsourcing Summit

The 2009 IAOP Global Human Capital Forum

The 2009 European Outsourcing Summit

Red Cross International Response Fund

This year, in lieu of member gifts, IAOP is making a donation to the Red Cross International Response Fund,  which provides immediate disaster relief and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance and other support to help those in need. We hope you share our support of this worthy cause to help the victims of countless crises around the world, including the millions that have been impacted by the recent earthquake in Haiti. Click here if you wish to make an additional donation.