For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Vendor Scorecard: Measuring The Strategic Health And Value Of A Relationship   (176 KB XLS)

by Patrick M. Connaughton, Elizabeth Rose, October 27, 2009

Forrester recommends developing at least three levels of scorecards for measuring the overall value and performance of an IT vendor relationship: operational SLAs; business-level SLAs; and a less quantifiable but equally as important strategic value scorecard. . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

IT Staff Augmentation Trends: Hourly Rates For Key IT Positions  (530 KB PPT)

by Patrick M. Connaughton, October 16, 2009

Results from a survey of 89 firms that use IT staff augmentation services.

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

IT Staff Augmentation Trends: Companies Set Their Sights On 5%-10% Rate Reductions  (550 KB PPT)

by Patrick M. Connaughton, October 16, 2009

Results from a survey of 89 firms that use IT staff augmentation services.

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

IT Staff Augmentation Trends: Hiring Plans Show Signs Of Life, VMS Adoption Is On The Rise  (680 KB PPT)

by Patrick M. Connaughton, October 16, 2009

Results from a survey of 89 firms that use IT staff augmentation services.

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

IT Staff Augmentation Trends: Limited Data Availability Hampers Rate Benchmarking Efforts  (550 KB PPT)

by Patrick M. Connaughton, October 16, 2009

Results from a survey of 89 firms that use IT staff augmentation services.

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

RFP Template For Temporary IT Staffing Services  (99 KB XLS)

by Patrick M. Connaughton, September 25, 2009

This template is intended to give firms a starting point for creating a RFP for temporary staffing services. Firms should view this as only as starting point and should make sure to adapt it to their own specific needs, including adding and removing sections . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

TechRadar™ For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals: ePurchasing, Q3 2009

Services Procurement And EIPP Are Hottest, Supplier Performance And Automated Spend Analysis Show Promise, But Supplier Portals Start To Decline

by Patrick M. Connaughton, Duncan Jones, July 22, 2009

Forrester has used its TechRadar™ on the various subcategories of ePurchasing software to identify which offer the most reliable and fastest-growing sources of business value. We found that eProcurement and eSourcing give the best ROI, with electronic . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Supplier Performance And Risk Are Top Of Mind — Can Software Solutions Help?

by Patrick M. Connaughton, July 14, 2009

In the current economic conditions, it's no surprise that supplier performance management (SPM) is the fastest-growing category of ePurchasing software. Companies desperately need a way to pinpoint their underperforming and risky suppliers and take appropriate . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Converting Salary Data Into Estimated Hourly Rates  (48 KB XLS)

by Patrick M. Connaughton, July 2, 2009

This tool uses salary data from full-time equivalent positions as a reference point to estimate a reasonable hourly rate for contingent labor. This tool is based on Figure 1 in the June 23, 2009, "Take A Back-To-Basics Approach When Renegotiating Contingent . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Take A Back-To-Basics Approach When Renegotiating Contingent Rates

by Patrick M. Connaughton, June 23, 2009

Current global market conditions have sourcing and vendor management professionals asking if the contingent labor rates they negotiated a year ago are still competitive, if other companies have had much luck getting new discounts, and how to best approach . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Selecting Vendor Management Systems: Differentiating Criteria

by Patrick M. Connaughton, April 14, 2009

Companies looking for a new vendor management system (VMS) have a wide variety of software solutions to choose from that on the surface appear to have very similar functionality. With so much commonality across the leading solutions, sourcing and vendor . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Forrester's Rapid Decision Tool For VMS RFPs  (183 KB XLS)

by Patrick M. Connaughton, April 14, 2009

Rapid decision tool using the criteria outlined in the report, "Selecting Vendor Management Systems: Differentiating Criteria"

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Simplifying Staff Augmentation With Contingent Workforce Management Solutions

by Patrick M. Connaughton, March 20, 2009

Contingent workforce management (CWM), the strategic procurement process for temporary staff, is getting a lot of attention these days. This is surprising given the tough market conditions, since in a recession, nonpermanent staff is often the first to . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Case Study: A Manufacturer Lowers Costs With Automated Spend Analysis

by Patrick M. Connaughton, January 14, 2009

Over the past five years, a successful global manufacturer increased its size tenfold through various acquisitions — good news for the company but essentially outstripping its strategic sourcing group's ability to effectively manage spend. The rapid growth . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Best Practices: Successfully Planning For And Managing Automated Spend Analysis Projects

by Patrick M. Connaughton, January 14, 2009

Forrester estimates that only 13% of the companies that have implemented eSourcing solutions have also rolled out automated spend analysis. At a time when vendor consolidation and cost cutting is paramount, why isn't there higher adoption of a tool that . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Case Study: US Specialty Retailer Improves Sourcing With Automated Spend Analysis

by Patrick M. Connaughton, January 14, 2009

Centralized strategic sourcing was just in its infancy at this large retailer and it was feeling the growing pains. Without an accurate and credible single source of spend data, it was difficult to justify many of the hard decisions required to move to . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Modern Global Trade In Tough Economic Times Requires Next-Generation Software Solutions

by Patrick M. Connaughton, November 6, 2008

In tough economic times, global procurement leaders and trade compliance managers are once again under the spotlight to reduce supply chain costs. The challenge? Most companies are already running an ultra-lean business as a result of years of automation . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

The ROI Of RFID For Asset Tracking

A Total Economic Impact™ Analysis Uncovers Big Benefits When Minimal Inventory Controls Are In Place

by Patrick M. Connaughton, Roy C. Wildeman, July 29, 2008

Asset tracking using active Wi-Fi-enabled RFID tags is getting more interest these days. Why? For one, even with the high cost of tags, there's actually a clear ROI in sight for these investments. To illustrate this, we created two conservative ROI models . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

The ROI Of RFID For Supply Chain Visibility

A Total Economic Impact™ Analysis Links Gains To Depth Of Systems Integration

by Roy C. Wildeman, Patrick M. Connaughton, July 18, 2008

Among the various applications of radio frequency identification (RFID), employing the technology for supply chain visibility has generated particular enthusiasm and controversy for manufacturers and distributors across a variety of industries. Amid the . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Market Overview: Field Service Management

by Patrick M. Connaughton, Elisse Gaynor, July 15, 2008

Historically, organizations have struggled to get their arms around field service management (FSM). However, recent market dynamics, vendor commitments to service-oriented architecture (SOA), and the development of industry-specific solutions are all . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Forrester TechRadar™: The Extended Supply Chain Application Ecosystem, Q2 2008

Wireless Fleets Forge Ahead; Global Trade Management Goes Mainstream

by Patrick M. Connaughton, April 15, 2008

Skyrocketing oil prices, pressure from low-cost competitors and ever-changing, complicated global trade regulations are enough to make even veteran supply leaders want to hide their heads in the sand. Add to that mix an aging and expensive-to-maintain . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Warehouse Management Systems, Q1 2008

HighJump And Manhattan Associates Lead Our WMS Evaluation

by Patrick M. Connaughton, March 21, 2008

Forrester evaluated leading warehouse management systems (WMS) vendors across approximately 50 criteria and found that HighJump and Manhattan Associates established early WMS leadership thanks to their strong core capabilities and strategic road map. . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Transportation Management Solutions, Q1 2008

Oracle And i2 Lead In Current Functionality; Sterling Commerce Leads In Strategy

by Patrick M. Connaughton, January 29, 2008

To achieve higher service levels, better asset utilization, and lower logistics costs in the modern supply chain, a new breed of transportation management solution (TMS) is required — one that supports multiple modes and many languages at a . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Which Service Provider Is Right For Your Supply Chain Project?

by Patrick M. Connaughton, January 23, 2008

Supply chain management (SCM) service providers play an important role in helping enterprises more efficiently plan and execute their supply chain strategies. Spending on SCM services will continue to grow due to increasingly complicated global networks, . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Location-Intelligent Business Solutions Put GIS On The Enterprise Agenda

by Patrick M. Connaughton, Elisse Gaynor, January 4, 2008

Location, location, location! The rise of geographic information systems (GIS) as an enterprise application contender should have business process and applications professionals adopting this long-time real estate mantra. As firms continue to squeeze . . .