Wave 5 of the technology revolution is upon us. (Preceded, of course, by mainframes, client/server, desktops and then the Internet.) Cloud computing is a key component of this new wave.
Contracts, of course, form the bedrock of beautiful outsourcing relationships. How do you contract for cloud services? Are cloud contracts different from contracting any IT service?
In his book “Cloud Sourcing the Corporation,” Ben Trowbridge outlines a list of concerns. He points out that many of the current cloud providers have business-to-consumer roots. “Their current contracting practices place much emphasis on the provider and not enough on the corporate customer,”… Read the rest
An article in Government Technology reports that the City of Minneapolis just renewed its contract for IT services with Unisys for another five years. It should add another $2.2 million in savings to the city’s coffers and will expand services to include cloud-based e-mail management, archiving, and retrieval services.
The article quotes Beth Cousins, the city’s interim CIO, as saying the partnership with Unisys is strong and very successful so far.
I’d say that’s almost an understatement. At Outsourcing Center, we selected the Minneapolis / Unisys relationship for two of the annual Outsourcing Excellence… Read the rest
Can companies using outsourced cloud solutions shift the blame for security breaches to the outsourcing provider? Who is ultimately responsible for security in the cloud?
This is one of the topics of a recent research study of UK firms by analyst firm Dynamic Market (and commissioned by security provider Sourcefire).
What’s your opinion on this issue? Click below on “Leave a comment” and share your perspective.
Services companies – including finance, HR, and consulting – comprise a fast-growing segment of cloud computing adoption, with 22 percent of these companies with fewer than 1,000 employees reporting they are using or planning to deploy cloud solutions, according to a recent survey.
In addition, 22 percent of the survey participants in companies with 100+ employees reported they plan to use cloud services in the second half of 2010.
These statistics are among several findings in a global survey of 1,500 IT professionals at SMBs.
Infosys is looking to acquire companies in the UK, France and Germany.
A new study reveals that 500,000 public sector jobs will likely be outsourced by 2015 in the UK in its efforts to combat inefficiencies and reduce government spending.
Convergys, Stream Global Services, Sutherland Global Services and Sykes Asia are assembling Spanish-speaking talent pools in the Philippines.
China’s hiSoft Technology International has taken over U.S. cloud computing provider Echo Lane, a top solution provider for Salesforce.com.
Irish BPO provider Abtran is adding 200 new jobs in its research and development area serving sales, customer service,… Read the rest
M.R. Rangaswami is a recognized software business expert. Prior to co-founding Sand Hill Group (known for its conferences and work in advising and uniting the software and services market) and founding the Corporate Eco-Forum, he held global VP marketing positions at Oracle Corporation, Baan Company, and Avalon Software. In 1997, he was named as one of the Top 25 Most Influential Technology Executives.
In this interview, M.R. shares his insights and opinions on the cloud’s upcoming impact on application development services.
What is driving adoption of cloud-based services?
M.R. Regardless of the hype, confusion, and complexity that seem to surround… Read the rest
Two words: cloud and SaaS. They’re a common thread in discussions for outsourcing plans these days because the advantages these technology-access models present to buyers are truly significant. Both are increasingly marketed as outsourced services. But are they really outsourcing? If so, are these models causing companies to overlook crucial aspects of outsourcing arrangements? Or is outsourcing morphing to simply “sourcing” – commoditized services that really don’t involve a relationship factor, governance frameworks, and other complexities?
In other words, is the notion of what constitutes “outsourcing” changing? To find the answer to this question, I invited four experts to a… Read the rest
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