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TPI Top 5: Will Volcanic Ash Impact Your Data Center?
by Gaurav Kumar, Senior Advisor, TPI India

Volcanic ash continues to disrupt travel and business across continental Europe without predictability, while also compounding environmental and climate change issues. IT executives globally are pausing to reconsider whether their existing data center facilities can stand the test of time and the ever-more-frequent tests of nature making headlines almost daily around the world.

Here are the TPI Top 5 considerations for IT executives looking to determine the efficacy of their current data center facilities:

1. Air contaminants and RF interference
2. Soil composition
3. Building structural stability
4. Assessment of flood patterns
5. Scalability of shared infrastructure

The pre-Socratic Greek philosophers and Vedic Hindu thinkers believed the world constitution and fundamental powers were derived from four classical elements – Earth, Water, Air and Fire. These may just be the things to watch while reflecting on the robustness of your existing data center in light of the vagaries of nature.

TPI’s seasoned strategy and assessment experts can help you achieve your global sourcing goals through objective advice, knowledge of your industry and experience with arrangements from simple to complex.

E-mail Gaurav Kumar, Senior Advisor, TPI India, or phone him at +91-99451-99951 to learn more.

TPI Top 5 …

Market Data and Trends

1Q10 Global TPI Index Review of the Outsourcing Industry: Large Contract Restructurings Lifted Outsourcing Market in First Quarter

Recently released data from the 1Q10 Global TPI Index shows that contract restructurings, in which clients renewed, renegotiated or expanded existing contracts, lifted the global outsourcing market during the first quarter of 2010.

The 1Q10 Global TPI Index, which measures commercial outsourcing contracts valued at $25 million or more, recorded total contract value (TCV) of $19.5 billion, up 25 percent from the first quarter of 2009. Contract restructurings accounted for 42 percent of TCV, far surpassing the previous record of 29 percent set in 2006.

While restructurings fueled the growth in two of the three regions of the world and IT outsourcing (ITO) and also accounted for three of the four mega-deals awarded in the quarter, an analysis of TPI Index data indicates that the market is continuing to recover at the slower pace it began in the middle of last year. TPI anticipates restructuring activity will continue at an above-average level for the rest of 2010 but is unlikely to account for as high a percentage of TCV as more new-scope contracts are added to the pipeline.

To view presentation slides, please visit http://www.tpi.net/pdf/index/1Q10-TPI-Index.pdf.

Point of Views

Contracting for “The New Normal” — Why Today’s Contact Center Services Outsourcing Transactions Call for Streamlined Agreements
by Tony Zmudzin, Director, TPI

Changes in the contact center services environment brought on by the economic downturn include a need to complete contract agreements much more quickly, more effectively and less expensively than in the past. Key to this streamlined approach is a thoughtful and purposeful integration of data collection, statement of work, service level agreement and business terms content. This TPI point of view explains ways to streamline sourcing processes that apply to contact center operations of any size.

Read the point of view...

New Ways to Deliver Software Help IT Organizations Better Meet Business Needs
by Mike Voss, Director, TPI

Many IT organizations are being asked to “do more, do it faster and do it with less” — simultaneously — to meet the ever-growing demands of the business and play a vital role in a company’s ability to compete globally. These organizations often add resources or seek other ways to develop these capabilities quickly but have limited success due to aging systems or tight capital budgets. This TPI point of view outlines the combination of software delivery approaches that can provide the most effective application portfolios of the future.

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New Research Estimates TPI Clients Have Saved $50 Billion Through Sourcing

In a random sample of 120 transactions it advised on in the last five years, TPI found that its clients saved on average more than 33 percent by sourcing. After one-time and ongoing management expenses, the savings averaged more than 17 percent. Over the life of the agreements, the clients saved an average of $70 for every $1 they spent with TPI on advisory fees.

Sourcing Industry Leaders Come Together to Discuss Strategies for Growth

TPI announced today that more than 100 executives from leading service providers and law firms came together this week to discuss strategies for meeting challenges and capitalizing on opportunities in the current market at the 2010 TPI Americas Sourcing Industry Conference (SIC).

ComputerWeekly
Can China catch India without a Y2K?

Global Services
Outsourcing Market Signals Slow Recovery, Experts Rule Out a Bounce Back

The Wall Street Journal
Outsourcers Wrestle With a Rebound

Information Services Group Announces First Quarter 2010 Financial Results

HRO Today
When Less Means More
by Jeff Croyle, Partner, CHRO Services,TPI  

CIO
What IT Outsourcing Boom? Renegotiations Dominate IT Services Activity

IT Business Edge
12 Outsourcing Trends: Out with Labor Arbitrage, In with Added Value