Sourcing has come a long way since the days of large-scale, single-supplier deals. Back in the ‘90s, it was the norm for companies to hand over the management of IT or other business processes to a single service provider, often for 10 or more years. Fast forward almost three decades, and the world has changed dramatically. During that time, we have seen the length of outsourced contracts pared down, often to less than three years. Suppliers and service providers are now referred to as “partners” with the implication that they have a stake in the success of their customers’ business. And enterprises engage with a vast number of third parties, each of whom is selected for a specific ability to address a particular need.
This has resulted in a complex ecosystem of technologies and partners co-existing within an enterprise’s environment. Businesses are striving to maintain healthy ecosystems and avoid messy partner “divorces”, which are expensive and time-consuming. The challenge now is to adequately govern the many moving parts to drive continued business value and, at the same time, ensure operational agility, compliance and minimal risk. Of course, the key is to attentively manage performance, deliverables, obligations and compliance, and to communicate effectively. But the growing complexity within partner ecosystems makes effective governance increasingly difficult without the assistance of a comprehensive governance platform.
Lois Coatney, Partner and President at ISG, joins Barry in the latest edition of the ISG Smartalks™ podcast to discuss the challenges surrounding the new sourcing paradigm of ecosystems, partners and platforms. Tune in to hear their conversation.
Meet the host
Lois Coatney
Lois Coatney has been the ideal guiding advocate for her Fortune 500 clients, whom she has consistently helped get the most value out of their service providers and supply bases. That’s because, for more than two decades, Lois was the service provider. Today, as ISG’s President of Americas Sales, she is central to driving the firm’s revenue and growth.
Past achievements for clients
Throughout her career, Lois has consulted clients on their operating models and organizational designs so that they can work most effectively internally. She’s pivoted that experience to her approach to her current role, which goes much further than looking at the numbers and bottom line. She examines what ISG’s strengths are and considers how the firm can put its best foot forward to sell its services. Pairing that with a deep understanding of clients’ needs and of ISG’s function in the market, Lois makes decisions on how the firm can enhance those same offerings. She also views her work as a worthwhile means to strengthen ISG’s client relationships, which she contributes to by mentoring ISG account executives.
Lois’s expertise in contracting, experience in supplier management and willingness to travel across the globe to create something new and modern have enabled her to:
- Lead and roll out ISG GovernX®, a tool that directly helps clients and their businesses manage third-party risk, solve governance and service integration challenges, and drive optimal performance of their sources.
- Help a large governmental client migrate their $2.2 Billion annual IT spend to a consumption-based procurement model.
