Check out our upcoming public appearances and featured articles, or browse our full publication list.

Public Appearances

Check back for newly scheduled events in 2011!

In the News

Recently published interviews and news items discussing Clarity Consulting or quoting Ian S. Hayes.

SourceIQ Partners With Clarity Consulting to Deliver Application Development Outsourcing Assessment Service: OutSourceIQ
- PR Newswire March 2, 2009.
"Finding a way to objectively measure and compare the performance of development outsourcers has long been a holy grail for IT executives" said Ian Hayes, President of Clarity Consulting. "We launched OutSourceIQ to arm executives with understandable and actionable metrics that enable them to ensure development budgets are spent wisely, and with the most effective partners."

"How Good Are Your Service-Level Agreements?" Ericka Chickowski, Baseline Magazine, Issue 080, January 2008, page 22.  Most companies treat SLAs as an afterthought, says one IT management consultant.  These Five best practices could make your performance metrics more effective.

"ABC: An Introduction to Service-Level Agreements (SLAs)," Lauren Gibbons Paul, CIO Magazine, August 8, 2007.  SLAs are a critical component of any vendor contract.  Beyond listing expectations of service type and quality, an SLA provides remedies when requirements aren't met.

Featured Articles and Presentations

We are happy to provide these featured articles and papers. For a complete list of our publications, click here.

"Performance Coefficients - A Method for Objectively Measuring Outsourcing Vendor Performance," Ian S. Hayes.  This paper proposes an alternate approach for measuring and comparing the relative performance of outsourcing vendors.  Unlike scorecards, performance coefficients evaluate a vendor’s financial effectiveness for delivering business accepted work products.  This approach simplifies the assessment of the many factors, such as quality and vendor management overhead, that are part of vendor performance and provides a tool for estimation and what if” planning scenarios.

"Marketing Business Software in China," Dextrys, Inc and Clarity Consulting. This paper contains the full analysis of a recent survey performed by Clarity Consulting and Dextrys, which interviewed 781 Chinese companies about their business software buying habits and interest in US software products.   The result is a treasure trove of information for software product company executives, marketers, and developers who wish to capitalize on this enormous and mostly untapped market for US software products.  The paper addresses buyer perceptions of US software, provides market opportunity statistics, examines which marketing methods work (and don’t work) in China, and explores the product and contract characteristics that facilitate making sales to Chinese buyers.

"Creating Better Service Level Metrics," Ian S. Hayes. Solid service level metrics are the foundation for Service Level Agreements (SLAs) that actually work.  Unfortunately, poorly chosen and implemented metrics often do more harm than good when managing a sourcing relationship.  This white paper explores while metrics fail and how organizations can implement a successful service level metrics program.

"Designing Metrics for Service Level Agreements," Ian S. Hayes.  This presentation contains the slides that accompanied the webcast performed for International Association for Contract and Commercial Management (IACCM) in October 2007.  It serves as a companion for the Creating Better Service Level Metrics white paper.

"Five Principles for Creating Believable ROIs," Ian S. Hayes.  To justify a new project or purchase new functionality, project managers must perform due diligence and create a compelling business case complete with ROI and other financial analyses.  This presentation presents five straightforward principles to keep in mind when creating a believable ROI analysis.

"Lessons Learned from Being an Expert Witness," Ian S. Hayes.  A failed software project brings with it more than just disappointment.  The prospect of litigation is real, especially when multiple parties are involved and finger-pointing begins.  This presentation summarizes observations and lessons learned by Ian Hayes from his experiences as an expert witness on software project failure cases, and advises project managers on the three P's of software project litigation -- Prevention, Protection and Prosecution.

"Metrics for IT Outsourcing Service Level Agreements," Ian S. Hayes.  This article discusses principles to follow in selecting metrics for the service level agreements governing successful IT outsourcing projects.

"Creating a Selection Framework to Align Sourcing Options with Business Goals - Part I"  and  "Creating a Selection Framework to Align Sourcing Options with Business Goals - Part II" Ian S. Hayes.  In this two-part article, learn how to better align sourcing options with corporate objectives by creating a selection framework.

"Moving Beyond Ad-Hoc Outsourcing," Ian S. Hayes.  Companies are seeking to take their outsourcing arrangements to the next level by investing in SLAs, sourcing management tools and PMOs.

"Evaluating and Managing Outsourcing Vendor Performance," Ian S. Hayes, SmartAdvice column published in InformationWeek.com through The Advisory Council (TAC).

"Outsourcing Metrics: Guidelines for Selection," Ian S. Hayes.  Proper selection of metrics is key to motivating the right behaviors and obtaining success.

"Using a PMO to Expand Your Outsourcing Program," Ian S. Hayes.  As companies' outsourcing engagements begin to mature, they desire greater management control and oversight over vendor performance, ideally centralized in a PMO.

"Customer Happiness: The True Measure of Outsourcing Success," Ian S. Hayes.  Of all the metrics used to measure outsourcing vendor performance, customer satisfaction is the final arbiter of success.

"Quantifying Business Productivity Improvements When Analyzing IT ROI," Ian S. Hayes, SmartAdvice column published in InformationWeek.com through The Advisory Council (TAC).

"Tying IT Expenditures to Business Value Delivered," Ian S. Hayes.  Effective approaches for measuring the business value delivered from IT investments.

"Using IT to Generate Improvements in Business Performance," Ian S. Hayes.  Ways that an IT organization can proactively generate business performance improvements.

"Determining TCO, ROI and Other Key Financial Metrics," Ian S. Hayes.  Key financial metrics companies should use to evaluate IT investments.

"Five Pragmatic Rules for Creating Believable ROIs," Ian S. Hayes, Cutter IT Journal, August, 2004.  Recommended rules to create solid, believable ROIs for IT investments.

 

We also offer the following reports, which are available for purchase from the Cutter Consortium (www.cutter.com):

• "Using Tools to Manage Sourcing," Ian S. Hayes, Cutter Consortium Executive Report, Sourcing Advisory Service, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2003.  Read the summary.

• "Getting the Most Out of Your IT Application and Project Investments," Ian S. Hayes, Cutter Consortium, Executive Report, Vol. 5, No. 12, 2002.   Read the summary.

• "Improving Customer Relationships Using Wireless Technology," Ian S. Hayes, Cutter Consortium, Executive Report, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2002.   Read the summary.

• "Maintaining Alignment When Outsourcing," Ian S. Hayes, Cutter Consortium, Executive Report, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2002.   Read the summary.

• "Alignment Through Learning," Ian S. Hayes, Cutter Consortium, Executive Report, Vol. 4, No. 7, 2001.   Read the summary.

• "Outsourcing Development," Ian S. Hayes, Cutter Consortium, Executive Report, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2001.  Read the summary .

• "Developing and Implementing a Core Competence-Based Strategy," Ian S. Hayes, Cutter Consortium, Executive Report, Vol. 3, No. 11, 2000.  Read the summary.

• "Planning and Managing Service Levels," Ian S. Hayes, Cutter Consortium, Executive Report, Vol. 1, No. 8, 2000.  Read the summary.

• "Creating Outsourcing Service Agreements," Ian S. Hayes, Cutter Consortium, Executive Report, Vol. 1, No. 5, 2000.  Read the summary.

• "Ensuring IT is e-Business Ready," Ian S. Hayes, Cutter Consortium, Executive Report, Vol. 3, No. 4, 2000.  Read the summary.

• "Making the Decision to Outsource," Ian S. Hayes, Cutter Consortium, Executive Report, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2000.  Read the summary.

 

Publications

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