Paul McDougall gets cover story treatment for his write-up of ABN Amro’s outsourcing intentions. (Also see Karen Watterson’s write-up, "ABN Amro Awards Major Outsourcing Contract.") The focus of "Division of Labor": what service providers are getting what chunk of the $2.2 billion dollar deal, the increased influence this gives Indian providers, and how the client must manage the work in a multi-vendor environment.
Here’s how the "deal divvies up":
- IBM: $1.9 billion for infrastructure management
- TCS: $250 million for application support
- Infosys: $125 million for application support
- Accenture, IBM, Infosys, Patni, TCS for an unnamed amount dedicated to application development.
For all the attention the media is giving this set of contracts, multi-vendor scenarios aren’t totally new to the landscape of outsourcing. Gartner has been talking up the multi-vendor scenario (and consulting on how to manage such an arrangement) for a long time. We shared advice on how it works from Phil Harris, the Director of the IT Services Business Management Shared Services Group for The Boeing Company, who also uses a handful of vendors to deliver his company’s IT services. (See "Tower Talk" and "Boeing Advice.")
A key to solid management, according to GM’s Ralph Szygenda, is to standardize as much as possible common IT processes. (See "Service Provider Standardization, Courtesy of GM.") As Mr. McDougall reports, GM is evaluating a number of vendors currently, in anticipation of restructuring its delivery of IT services once the 10-year contract it has with EDS ends next year. Its goal is to position itself to be able to tap a "consortium of vendors to handle its outsourcing needs."
ITIL — information technology infrastructure library — is mentioned as one approach to standardization. (See "IT Best Practices With ITIL."
Of course, such measures have their place in single-sourcing scenarios too. A major goal in all such engagements is to achieve flexibility. When everybody can sing a song using the same melody — albeit in different octaves — the song will be clear — and others will be able to join in.
