Netsourcing: Renting Your Business Applications and Services over a Network

• Authors: Thomas Kern;Leslie Willcocks;Mary C. Lacity
• Venue: Netsourcing: Renting Your Business Applications and Services over a Network
• Year: 2002

From the Publisher:The definitive decision-maker's guide to renting business applications over a network. Netsourcing: The market, the players, the services A guide to the fast-changing netsourcing playing field Integrating netsourcing options within a total IT sourcing portfolio Even large-size customers can benefit from selective netsourcing Best practices for evaluating and selecting providers Choosing partners that fit your approach to business—and have real staying power Minimizing the risks of netsourcing partnerships Realistic best practices for managing technical, contractual, operational, and managerial risk Previewing new strategic options in netsourcing What you need to know about "next-generation" netsourcing services—and service providers Managing the netsourcing relationship successfully Achieving the "holy grail": the "win-win" outsourcing relationship Enterprise case studies: key outsourcing successes and failures What works, and what doesn't: the experiences of today's leading global companiesNetsourcing is the practice of renting or "paying as you use" access to supplier-managed business applications, made available to multiple customers over the Internet or other networks. The concept of delivering business applications as a service—or "apps on tap"—was initially called application service provision (ASP). But that term has proved too narrow. Today customers are using netsourcing to hand over entire business processes to service providers, smanage customer-grown applications. The netsourcing value proposition to customers is compelling: no upfront infrastructure costs or costly software licenses, business applications delivered in days/weeks, scalable solutions that grow or contract with the customer's business, flexible solutions with minimal switching costs, and minimal expensive in-house support staff—to name a few. Given these benefits, who wouldn't want to netsource? On the downside, there are significant netsourcing risks that must be mitigated. The netsourcing of business applications is still seen as an immature option primarily offered by unstable dot.com start-ups. Business managers worry about the reliability and security of the Internet, feel that their business requirements are too idiosyncratic for canned, "one-to-many" solutions, and do not trust outsiders to supply mission-critical systems. So how can businesses leverage the value offered by netsourcing while reducing its risks? How can businesses compare and integrate netsourcing with other sourcing options? Every business is asking questions like these. Netsourcing delivers the answers. Based on unparalleled research at the world's leading enterprises, this book identifies the key factors associated with successful outsourcing—from planning through ongoing relationship management, and beyond. The authors show you how to take full advantage of the dramatic changes roiling the outsourcing marketplace, helping you realistically assess the promise of next-generation outsourced services—and the capabilities of the service providers who offer them.