News Analysis: Infosys Buys Lodestone for $350M
Global outsourcing and Bangalore Infotech bellwether Infosys (NASDAQ:INFY), announced its agreement to purchase Zurich-based Lodestone Management Consultancy for $350M. A quick analysis of the news reveals: Infosys strengthens its EMEA and SAP presence. Lodestone brings 850 employees which 750 are front line delivery personnel. 200 clients. Lodestone’s 200 clients span industries such as life [...]
Trends: The Battle For CMO Mind Share
Marketing and Advertising Budgets Are The New Land Grab Constellation Research, Inc. predicts that the global advertising market (paid search, display, and classified) will hit $125B by 2015. While IT budgets continue to stay flat, marketing budgets are up. Warc’s recent Global Marketing Index (GMI) entered positive territory in March 2012. Consequently, the heat [...]
Four Myths About the Indian IT-BPO Industry
From zero to over $50 billion in 20 years. That’s been the meteoric rise of the Indian IT-BPO industry. For an industry of such significance, to India and the world, it is not very well understood outside the industry. Perhaps because it doesn’t manufacture a physical product. Or perhaps because it is such a new [...]
Xchanging — A New Procurement BPO Provider Enters the Stage
Even though Xchanging went through a period of transition during some accounting scrutiny in the UK this past year, their recently launched US BPO operation in procurement is gaining steam. Perhaps most important, their launch into thi…
Friday Rant: It’s Coming, But Should We Blur BPO, Consulting and Software Lines?
I had the opportunity to catch up with an old friend last week, an industry insider in the broader services market. After a summer cocktail, the conversation quickly turned to the blurring of lines between BPO, consulting and soft…
New Research: Trapped by Procurement BPO? Don’t Get Stuck in the First Place or Un-muck Yourself Now
We’re excited to announce the publication of a new Spend Matters Compass series research brief: Trapped by Procurement BPO? How to Pull Your Organization Out of the Mire. Authored by Phil Fersht, Founder and CEO, HfS Research and …
NorthgateArinso – More than you might suspect….
Dr Pepper (full disclosure – my favorite beverage) had an ad campaign for years claiming their carbonated drink was “so misunderstood“. Over the years, I’ve encountered a number of technology and services firms whose reputation or brand stood for one thing but the company was actually something else altogether. NorthgateArinso (NGA) is somewhat in that camp. [...]
To Outsource Or Not To Outsource, These Are The Questions
Before Bill Kutik has a chance to tease me about the intensity (aka length and depth) of this post, be forewarned that there is serious “how to” material below. Every organization outsources parts of HRM, almost no matter how your define outsourcing. From using 3rd parties to do background checking or COBRA administration (both of [...]
Monday’s Musings: Putting An End To The Conflict Of Interest Among Some Sourcing Advisors
Many Services Firms Seek Unfair Advantages With Market Makers Service providers continue to battle it out in the über competitive market for large annual multi-million dollar contracts. Market makers who serve as sourcing advisors, (i.e. management consultants, analysts, or vendor specialists) often influence the outcome of large sourcing contracts and system integration projects. Consequently, more [...]
Reengineering Work: Obliterate AND automate
I have been invited to moderate a customer panel on next-gen BPO at the Cognizant Community event next week. The theme of the conference is The Future of Work”. When I look at the wide range of industries represented on the panel, the economic models behind today’s BPO, the technologies which are influencing every business [...]
