IAOP Chapter: Governance

Next webinar will be a collaborative effort with the Central America Chapter and is scheduled for August 7, 2009!

The next virtual meeting of the IAOP Governance Chapter hosted by Vantage Partners will be held as a joint virtual meeting with the IAOP Central America Chapter which is chaired by Chris Disher & Associates.  It will be held on Friday, August 7, 2009 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. EDT.

Join chapter chairs Danny Ertel of Vantage Partners and Chris Disher of Chris Disher & Associates as they discuss “Managing Cultural Differences in Offshore Relationships.” Each offshore location faces its own unique challenges – find out what they are in Central America and how to best manage them. The meeting will open with a few comments from the chapter chairs about outsourcing governance and then they’ll share results from the Vantage Partners Offshoring Relationship Management study to set up a discussion on the following questions: What are the most significant cultural differences between customers and providers in Central America offshoring relationships? How do those differences impact the challenges customers and providers face in managing their Central America offshoring relationships? What mechanisms are most effective for managing cultural differences and challenges?

If you have some experience, either as a buyer or a provider in an offshore outsourcing relationship, we want to hear from you.  If you haven’t already done so, please take this exciting 10-minute survey on offshore relationship management:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/Vantage__Offshoring__Survey

In return for you participation, you’ll receive a copy of “The Guide to Governance in Outsourcing Relationships” by Vantage Partners and results from the new” Offshoring Relationship Management Study.”

Mark your calendars and plan to join us!

IAOP members wishing to attend the upcoming meeting please email  the chapter coordinator at amanda.corbett@outsourcingprofessional.org

If you are not as yet a member of IAOP and would like a guest pass for the meeting, please Request a Guest Pass.

IAOP Members:

Click Here and login  to download past meeting presentations for all IAOP chapters

Most Recent Meeting held – May 20, 2009

The most recent virtual meeting of the IAOP Governance Chapter hosted by Vantage Partners was held as a joint virtual meeting with the IAOP India (Delhi) Chapter which is chaired by Lawscribe, Inc.

Chapter chairs Danny Ertel of Vantage Partners and Kunoor Chopra of Lawscribe discussed “Managing Cultural Differences in Offshore Relationships.”  Each offshore location faces its own unique challenges – participants found out what they are in India (Delhi) and how to best manage them.  The meeting opened with a few comments from the chapter chairs about outsourcing governance and then they shared results from the Vantage Partners Offshoring Relationship Management study to set up a discussion on the following questions:  What are the most significant cultural differences between customers and providers in India offshoring relationships?  How do those differences impact the challenges customers and providers face in managing their India offshoring relationships?  What mechanisms are most effective for managing cultural differences and challenges?

Panelists Godfrey Pinto, Director of Offshore Outsourcing at Gtech Corporation, and Gary M Zeiss, Esq., Vice President of Corporate Transactional Group at LawScribe,  shared customer and provider perspectives on effectively managing cultural differences and challenges to achieve maximum value in offshoring deals.

Meeting held – April 22, 2009

This Governance Chapter webinar was a collaborative effort with the Malaysia Chapter. 

Chapter Chairs, Danny Ertel of Vantage Partners and Bobby Varanasi of Outsourcing Malaysia hosted this hour long session and welcomed panelists Francis Meganathan, managing director of Cuscapi Berhad and Manoj Menon, partner & managing director from Frost & Sullivan.  Ertel & Varanasi led a discussion on the topic of “Managing Cultural Differences in Offshore Relationships.”  Participants gained insight into the unique challenges faced in Malaysia and how to best manage them.  Members may review the webinar recording and download the presentation by clicking on the Chapter Presentations link in our Knowledge Center.

Meeting held - March 9, 2009

A Governance Chapter webinar, hosted by Vantage Partners, was held on Monday, March 9, 2009. 

During this hour-long session, participants learned about “Outsourcing Health Checks:  How to Capture Additional Value Midway Through the Deal.”  Having achieved initial cost savings and survived transition, many customers learn that “stability” equates with “no new value.” Most companies lack a plan for capturing additional value during the remainder of their outsourcing deals, and as a result, end up squandering the opportunity to leverage lessons learned from the first couple of years of the relationship to improve results during the second half of the contract term.

Chapter Chair, Danny Ertel of Vantage Partners introduced special guest Rene Herlaar, Vodafone Netherlands, who discussed Vodafone’s experience creating significant value midway through a deal by conducting a Health Check that enabled both parties to identify, diagnose, and address value-leaking deficiencies in areas such as innovation, scope management, issue resolution and decision-making.

Meeting held – January 20, 2009

The Governance and East China (Shanghai City) Chapter’s held a combined webinar, hosted by Vantage Partners and Bleum, Inc, on Tuesday, January 20, 2009.

At this value-packed meeting entitled “Managing Cultural Differences in Offshore Relationships.” Danny Ertel, Governance Chapter Chair, opened with a few comments about outsourcing governance and then shared results from Vantage Partners’ new Offshore Relationship Management Survey which set up a discussion on the following questions: What are the most significant challenges that customers and providers face in managing their offshore relationships? How do those challenges differ from challenges in onshore deals? What cultural differences present significant challenges? How do those challenges differ by geography?  What are the unique challenges in offshoring to China? What are customers and providers doing to meet those challenges? Eric Rongley, East China-Shanghai City Chapter Chair, followed with an update on his chapter.

Then Andy Wang, ODC Manager from Bleum, Inc, and Joe Olson, Vice President Product Development from Red Prairie, joined Danny and Eric for an exciting discussion.  Joe shared a customer’s perspective on the challenges in offshoring to China and some mechanisms for dealing with those challenges.  Further, Andy described how service providers can manage the unique challenges presented in offshore relationships.  The webinar concluded with a Q&A session.  It was a very informative and insightful session.  If you are an IAOP member and were not able to join us, you may visit our Knowledge Center and review the recording.

If you would like to participate in the survey, please visit:www.surveymonkey.com/Vantageoffshoresurvey

Governance Forum - September 9, 2008

The IAOP Governance Chapter hosted the 2008 IAOP Governance Forum at the Marriott Chicago, located on the Magnificent Mile in Downtown Chicago.  This one day forum covered the various aspects of outsourcing governance and was specifically designed to help you achieve greater value from your outsourcing engagements.
 
Meeting Held – September 4, 2008

The Governance Chapter held its latest webinar on Thursday, September 4.

Offshore outsourcing presents some interesting and unique challenges in managing relationships across many miles, time zones, languages and cultures. Our discussion focused on “Offshore Governance – Lessons From Experience,” and our panel of speakers included Timothy Campos, chief information officer for KLA-Tencor, Dale Christopherson, COP and PMO director, global sourcing for Lawson Software, Alan Arenson, Information Officer, Vendor Management for AXA Equitable and Greg Shaw, Senior Vice President Globalization PMO for State Street Corporation.  This dynamic discussion was moderated by Sara Parker Enlow of Vantage Partners.

Panelists shared their experiences of managing offshore outsourcing relationships, including challenges and best practices.

Meeting held - Tuesday, June 10, 2008

The latest Governance Chapter Webinar was held on Tuesday, June 10. 

Our second knowledge sharing session in 2008 addressed the topic of “Making Governance Operational.”

Outsourcing governance is about much more than boxes and lines on an organization chart.  Effective governance requires a clear set of processes for managing a myriad of activities from the contract, to performance, to consumption, to joint planning.  While many companies acknowledge the need for some processes for managing their relationships, they often don’t do a good job at putting them into practice, or they don’t recognize the need for some processes until a problem has already arisen.

Special guests Paul Fox, Vendor Manger from ING Bank, and Ernie Zibert, South Pacific Client Delivery Manager for Hewlett-Packard, shared their experience and expertise in defining governance processes and putting them into practice.

January 23, 2008 – Chairman’s Summary:

The most recent IAOP Governance Chapter meeting was held via webinar on January 23, 2008 and focused on remediation and renegotiation. Thank you to our guest speakers, Neil Hirshman from Kirkland & Ellis and Doug Plotkin from PA Consulting.

The fourth webinar in the series on Governance Across the Life Cycle, addressed the remediation of problems and the renegotiation of contracts. It looked at some of the typical problems that buyers and providers face in a mature relationship and some strategies for addressing them and making the necessary adjustments going forward.

Danny Ertel, chair of the Governance Chapter framed up the key challenges faced by parties in a troubled relationship and facilitated a discussion with guest panelists Neil and Doug.

In addition a short document to be available at the Governance Chapter Open House at the Outsourcing World Summit in February.

Fifth Meeting: November 8, 2007

The IAOP’s Governance Chapter held its fifth meeting on Thursday, November 8, 2007 and discussed the topic of “Decision-Making Rights & Responsibilities: Beyond the Basics.”  The meeting was moderated by Danny Ertel, Chair of the Governance Chapter and Partner at Vantage Partners. Danny hosted special guests Marni Dicker, VP of Business Affairs and Corporate Legal Counsel for SNC-Lavalin Profac, and Ron Barbera, Executive Consultant, Relationship Alignment Solutions for IBM Global Technology Services.

Danny opened with thoughts on why it is important to get clear on rights and responsibilities for decision making and why this is a key aspect of outsourcing governance and relationship management. Danny highlighted the D-I-C-N (Decision Driver, Inform, Consult, Negotiate) framework as one approach to clarifying roles and responsibilities for decision making.

Marni Dicker from SNC-Lavalin Profac explained why decision making can be complicated when there are various types of agreement models and type of contracts. Marni also emphasized the importance of strong relationships regardless of the details of the contract, as trust and credibility play a role in all decisions.

Ron Barbera from IBM’s Relationship Alignment Solutions group discussed challenges that can arise when the contract actually dictates who makes the decisions - such as when decision makers are only the ones who sit at the top of the organization. Ron talked about why that’s not always the best approach and it can be beneficial for decisions to be spread out among different roles and responsibilities within a defined framework.

The meeting concluded with a series of useful follow-up questions including:

What can you do up front and early in the relationship launch to establish clear decision making roles and responsibilities?

What have been the big pitfalls or challenges related to clarifying decision rights and authority?  What’s your advice for avoiding or mitigating those problems?

Are buyers aware of these types of decision making issues and how are they reacting to them during the selection process?

Fourth Meeting – July 16, 2007

The fourth IAOP Governance Chapter meeting, moderated by Danny Ertel, was held on Monday, July 16th, beginning at 11:30am EDT.  Danny opened the meeting by sharing some thoughts on why the parties need to begin to put in place effective governance and relationship management early, rather than wait until steady-state. 

Karl Boone, a member of PA Consulting’s Management team and Certified Outsourcing Professional instructor, then shared some advice on what outsourcing customers need to have in place in order to enable a smooth transition, including:

·      A realistic transition plan

·      Governance processes (e.g., for change requests, communication, risk management, etc.) that are well-understood and agreed by both parties

·      A Service Management Organization that is aligned between the customer and supplier

·      A plan for stakeholder management

·      Rapid ramp up of resources

·      Joint understanding of the technical solution

Karl also shared some critical steps customers should take, and potential challenges/pitfalls to watch out for during transition. 

We then heard from Nadia Johnson, an experienced manager with Pfizer who is responsible for making governance happen through transition day-in and day-out.  Nadia shared her perspective on critical steps to take during transition, possible challenges, and the importance of getting started early with governance.

The webinar then concluded with a robust Q&A and closing comments, with Nadia, Danny, and Karl sharing their perspective on questions such as:

·      Given how busy transition is, how do you get the necessary attention on creating a Service Management Organization (SMO) early on?

·      How do you set the tone for appropriate escalation (given that different companies have different views of escalation, depending on their cultures)?

·      How quickly can vendors realistically ramp up their side of the SMO?

·      Where do good metrics come from for the transition phase?

·      How do you strike the right balance between relationship building between both sides and getting right level of escalation?

·      How can you enable new SMO team members to transition into their new roles?