Following a muted 2023, business leaders in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region are cautiously optimistic about 2024. Within the current APAC sourcing market, as buyers prepare for the coming year, they are actively leveraging inventive commercial models, emerging location trends, and innovative pricing constructs to optimize the value they achieve from service providers. In this webinar, Everest Group analysts explored how APAC buyers can develop forward-looking sourcing strategies with the potential of advancing innovation in their outsourcing relationships and portfolios as value acceleration takes priority in 2024. What questions has the webinar answered for the participants? What are the top forward-looking strategies in APAC for outsourced services buyers for 2024? What location strategies are sourcing leaders planning to adopt in 2024 to achieve increased value from their service provider portfolio? What are the pricing trends and forecasts in APAC? What are the new-age commercial models observed in the APAC market? How should APAC-focused procurement leaders shape their contracting and negotiation strategies in 2024?  

Persisting economic uncertainty and increasing geopolitical pressures continue defining the macroeconomic environment this year. Because outsourcing service providers are unable to pivot to meet changing demands, buyer satisfaction with providers is hitting a record low, and the Asia Pacific (APAC) region is no exception. In this webinar, our analysts discussed shifting buyer expectations and the defining characteristics of the outsourcing climate in 2023 from an APAC-focused lens. We also explored what sourcing leaders are doing to navigate uncertainties across a range of levers, including service provider portfolio shifts, location and talent strategies, pricing and contracting tactics, and engagement models. Our speakers discussed: What are the macroeconomic trends shaping the APAC outsourcing market? What are the top focus areas in APAC for buyers of outsourced services? What location and talent strategies are sourcing leaders adopting to overcome increasing uncertainties? What are the pricing trends and forecasts in APAC? Which skillsets are facing more demand? How should APAC-focused procurement leaders shape their contracting and negotiation strategies?

This Executive Brief is available only to Outsourcing Excellence members. For information on membership, please contact us Negotiation is an important part of the strategic sourcing process, both in the context of new deals and renewals. It enables an equitable legal agreement between the enterprise and the provider(s). This Executive Brief describes how organizations can develop an effective negotiation strategy and execute it to achieve their sourcing objectives. It examines key points to consider, common misconceptions, the role of equitable terms to incentivize services delivery, components of an interest-based negotiation strategy, and a case study on how a large company negotiated with its largest services supplier. Scope All industries and geographies Contents This report examines the: Importance of negotiation in the strategic sourcing process Components of a well-structured negotiation strategy Key negotiation myths Note: Everest Group publishes executive briefs for senior executives from enterprises. These briefs address hot industry topics and particularly challenging issues of the day in an easy-to-digest format.

This report is available only to Outsourcing Excellence/Cybersecurity members. For information on membership, please contact us Organizations run significant risks, both financial and operational, when they do not periodically assess the security risks vis-à-vis their strategic suppliers. Such an assessment requires an evaluation of suppliers’ criticality to determine whether they support critical businesses and/or are critical in terms of security, and accordingly conduct periodic risk assessments to ensure data-/evidence-driven decision-making. In this executive brief, Everest Group analysts provide best practices for a well-defined cyber risk management process across the supplier life cycle, incorporating best practices from industry standards such as ISO 27001-2, ISO 27036-2, and ISO 27701:2019. Note: Everest Group publishes Executive Briefs for senior executives from enterprises. These briefs address hot industry topics and particularly challenging issues of the day in an easy-to-digest format.

This report is available only to Outsourcing Excellence members. For information on membership, please contact us An effective supplier stratification and governance model is key to evolving from a traditional savings model to a value creation-based business model. Many Vendor Management Offices (VMOs) are increasingly building a robust supply base stratification model and strengthening their governance approaches through a strong governance structure, defined roles and responsibilities, an effective communication matrix, and regular performance monitoring to drive actual business value. It is vital to understand what makes a supplier strategic for any supplier management organization. It is equally important to identify the right set of strategic suppliers to enhance business value through a constructive engagement. Achieving the right balance between investing in a supplier and realizing the potential value requires a well-thought-out supplier stratification model and a robust supplier governance approach. In this Accelerator, we provide a framework to create a robust supplier stratification strategy based on a prioritization methodology that defines the supply base’s strategic importance across tiers. We also lay out a roadmap to create a strong supplier governance model to help enterprises determine their current maturity states and, accordingly, create an effective action plan. Scope All industries and geographies Contents This accelerator outlines the approach to establish a robust supplier stratification and governance process and share: A guide to effective supplier stratification based on our prioritization framework Organizational engagement strategies when selecting strategic vs. routine suppliers Ways to create and implement an effective supplier governance model Ways to incorporate elements such as a governance structure, roles and responsibilities, communications, and performance monitoring when laying out a supplier governance process

Risk management is a vital component of supplier management and is in the spotlight today amid the evident failure of certain large corporations to build adequate resilience in their operating models. Organizations realize that they can no longer rely on an established operating model and have started looking at risk management strategically to gain a competitive edge and stay relevant in a fast-evolving landscape. Third-party Risk Management (TPRM) is the procurement function’s responsibility in most organizations. While this function is part of a wider risk strategy under a risk-focused group, procurement typically manages the TPRM program, including outsourcing-related risks. Deriving strategic value from risk management requires buyers to adopt a risk-conscious approach to manage their outsourcing portfolios. As buyers chart their approaches to achieve the target risk management maturity, they need to factor in multiple considerations to decide the best-fit risk management program for managing outsourcing-related risks, including treating risk management as a strategic differentiator, shifting the ownership to strategy leaders, increasing technology leverage, and focusing on risk management transformation. In this viewpoint, we study the outsourced risk management landscape, with a focus on supply 
base / location risks and service provider risks. We outline the factors necessary to build a best-in-class risk management organization by outlining the key challenges with current risk management practices and ways to develop comprehensive risk management capabilities. Scope Risk management processes across supply base / location risks and supplier risks All geographies and industries Contents In this viewpoint, we study the following topics: Current risk management practices Key challenges with current risk management practices Emerging best practices in the risk management domain Membership(s) Procurement and Supply Chain Sourcing and Vendor Management

This report is available only to Outsourcing Excellence members. For information on membership, please contact us A key role of the Vendor Management Office (VMO) is to drive innovation from its most strategic suppliers, that is, those with the most strategic role in business success. This push requires multiple levels of oversight in a VMO, such as organizing innovation days; encouraging active supplier participation, idea-sharing, and execution; monitoring business-line VMOs to ensure they track emerging metrics such as process improvement and innovation with strategic suppliers; and fostering cross-functional collaboration to enable a strong platform for strategic supplier partnerships. In this Executive Brief, Everest Group analysts share the best practices to drive innovation from strategic suppliers and recommend a checklist to conduct innovation health checks. Note: Everest Group publishes Executive Briefs for senior enterprise executives. These briefs address hot industry topics and particularly challenging issues of the day in an easy-to-digest format.

This report is available only to Outsourcing Excellence members. For information on membership, please contact us Managing supplier performance is becoming increasingly critical as customer/user experience and service quality become priority performance areas for organizations. Typically, the Vendor Management Office (VMO) monitors large outsourcing providers by reviewing their performance in quarterly business reviews – where key metrics in the balanced scorecard are discussed, alert triggers are raised, and remediation plans in case of performance failures are constructed – with leadership buy-in. In this Executive Brief, Everest Group analysts share the key metrics tracked in the performance measurement process and provide best practices for supplier performance score-carding, technology enablement, and remediation planning. Note: Everest Group publishes executive briefs for senior executives from enterprises. These briefs address hot industry topics and particularly challenging issues of the day in an easy-to-digest format.

This report is available only to Outsourcing Excellence members. For information on membership, please contact us E-auctions are a powerful tool leveraged by the procurement function to drive cost pressures in competitive negotiations. Traditionally, e-auctions were used to source simple services or goods; today, they are becoming increasingly popular in the services outsourcing space. In this executive brief, Everest Group analysts share the benefits of using e-auctions for outsourced services, deep-diving into the process and best practices for running an e-auction effectively, and the pros and cons in conducting such events. Everest Group publishes executive briefs for senior executives from enterprises. These briefs address hot industry topics and particularly challenging issues of the day in an easy-to-digest format.

This report is available only to Outsourcing Excellence members. For information on membership, please contact us The pandemic forced enterprises that rely on outsourcing to increase their focus on risk management and accelerate their digital transformation. This push translates into the need for newer capabilities from providers at a time when companies are looking to address their needs cost-effectively by restructuring their portfolios. In fact, in the first half of 2021, 76% of the organizations we surveyed stated that they planned to change their service provider portfolios to consolidate the supply base, while focusing on relevant niche skills. In this Accelerator, Everest Group analyzes portfolio strategies in outsourcing, including which mix can yield the best outcome and, more specifically, types of service providers, main drivers for making portfolio changes, and strategies for 2021. Scope All industries and geographies Contents The report studies key outsourcing topics and trends for 2021, including: The ideal service-provider mix and how it should vary across categories Changes organizations are making to their supplier portfolios and what change is yielding the best results How enterprises are using service providers and at what scale Organizational strategies when selecting tier-1 vs. tier-2 providers Strategies for specialist providers