Integration and Services

More than half of companies that implement ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems end up garnering no more than 30 percent of the business benefits they expected, according to a new study released by systems integrator Panorama Consulting Group.

The tougher economic climate and the need for better costs management is just one of many factors driving managed services take-up. ARN recently pulled together a group of managed services providers and their vendors to talk about why this proactive sales approach is so successful.

When the global trade association SEMI experienced a big revenue decline last year and had to cut staff, CIO Gil McInnes turned to outsourcing.

Despite the economic recession that started in 2008, many IT service providers didn't see the expected boon to business in 2009. Some outsourcers struggled to a degree alongside the rest of the high-tech industry, but IT services experts say they started to see a return to growth toward the end of 2009. That means 2010 could find many outsourcing providers taking advantage of hot technology trends such as cloud computing to sell their services into smaller IT shops. Mike Slavin, partner and practice leader for Global IT Advisory Services at outsourcing industry advisory and consulting firm TPI, shares his take on the coming year and the outsourcing industry with Network World Senior Editor Denise Dubie.

As the economy worsens, the prospects for outsourcing and offshoring improve. Throughout 2008, the key word for the economy was “uncertainty”. While facing uncertainty, CIOs avoided signifi cant changes to internal organisations or operations including evaluating or implementing outsourcing. Most outsourcing initiatives are driven by a strong need for change and “economic uncertainty” hindered that need.

Moving tends to be stressful and migrating apps and files from a Windows XP PC to a Windows Vista system is no exception. Belkin's Easy Transfer Cable for Windows Vista ($79.95) and Laplink's PCmover for Windows Vista ($89) can do some (though not all) of the heavy lifting involved in transferring programs and data to a new PC, but their help varies in quality and quantity.