Outsourcing Law & Business Journal: Dec 2010/Jan 2011

January 20, 2011 by Bierce & Kenerson, P.C.

OUTSOURCING LAW & BUSINESS JOURNAL (™) : Strategies and rules for adding value and improving legal and regulation compliance through business process management techniques in strategic alliances, joint ventures, shared services and cost-effective, durable and flexible sourcing of services. www.outsourcing-law.com. Visit our blog at http://blog.outsourcing-law.com.

Insights by Bierce & Kenerson, P.C., Editors. www.biercekenerson.com

Vol. 10, No. 10 (Dec 2010/Jan 2011)
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Editor’s Note: Happy New Year to everyone. We look forward to 2011 and anticipate many changes in global sourcing as the economy continues on its road of recovery.

To open up the new year, we are participating in a webinar (full disclosure, the speaker is the Editor of this newsletter) on:

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Webinar Announcement
“Global Entrepreneurship and the Evolution of the New Global Enterprise”
February 17, 2011, 11am – 12:20pm, EST US

Speakers:
William B. Bierce, Esq., Bierce & Kenerson, P.C.
Ed Nair, Editor of Global Services Magazine

Description:

The struggles of the entrepreneur and owner-managed businesses are well known. The real struggle arises when they try to achieve scale and breadth through globalization. They face many challenges in developing and managing an overseas sales presence, brand management, technical presence, business organization, intellectual property and operations. However, the miracles of modern technology, educational diversification, social media and long-distance collaboration now enable some innovative uses of established legal, tax, organizational and operational structures. In short, it’s time to rethink and extend the classic business models for entrepreneurship.

This webinar delves into the idea of global entrepreneurship in the “new normal” economy. Global excellence is not a concept reserved for large companies like Accenture, Genpact and WNS, but can be implemented across the spectrum of both Fortune 500 companies and owner-managed businesses. For more information, click here.

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1. Failed Software Development: De Beers Debacle.

2. Indian Taxation of “Body Shops” and Onshore-Offshore Model: 100% Tax-Exempt No Longer?

3. Humor.

4. Conferences.

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1. Failed Software Development: De Beers Debacle. When can a software developer (such as Atos Origin) walk off a critical systems design project for business-process transformation when the customer (such as the De Beers Diamond Trading) fails to provide the necessary subject matter expertise? Atos Origin found out, in a London court decision in December 2010, that it might have been able to do so but failed to protect its legal rights properly. Consequently, it owes net damages of over £1.4 million (about US$2.25 million).

This article addresses best practices in “fixed fee” services agreements in business process management. Instead of transforming the diamond industry’s leader into an efficient integrated operation, the tale involves over a million Pounds Sterling due in damages, an adverse lawsuit outcome, adverse corporate publicity and intensified scrutiny of individual careers.

….The detailed opinion of Judge Edwards-Stuart of the specialized UK technology court offers actionable lessons learned at considerable cost and frustration for both the enterprise customer and the technology services provider – particularly including the necessity of very smart, project-customized contracting up front. De Beers UK Limited (Formerly: The Diamond Trading Company Limited) v. Atos Origin IT Services UK Limited (UK High Court Of Justice, Queen’s Bench Division, Technology and Construction Court, Dec.16, 2010).As with shared success, shared failure means both parties made mistakes. The key lessons for all enterprises from this costly project and its consequent large commercial litigation relate to the well-known but hard-to-tame beast of “scope creep.” The “scope creep” challenge has extra vigor in two particular contexts, which both existed in this transaction: (a) fixed-fee pricing models, particularly for business process transformation from silos management to integrated resources management across business segments and (b) blended vendor-customer control and staffing of extensive, expensive endeavors. This true fable raises many questions on “best practices” in initially designing and drafting agreements and then managing projects for sourcing and systems integration. Ready for some fun? Click here to follow along:

I.         Unique Business Process Methods – Diamond sorting is a unique and complex process, more than what both the customer and service provider envisioned.
II.        Chronology – Timeline of events.
III.      Project Plan – De Beers (DB) and Atos development plan failures.
IV.   Business Process Mapping and Pilot Project Management – What went wrong during this phase.
V.      Pricing for Fixed-Fee Projects – Why this type of pricing structure and its change control procedures failed.
VI.      Governance – Good governance procedures in place, but not enacted properly.
VII.     Failed Governance: Termination for Anticipatory Repudiation – Which side was ultimately responsible for the termination of this contract.
VIII.    Conclusions.

2. Indian Taxation of “Body Shops” and Onshore-Offshore Model: 1000% Tax-Exempt No Longer? In mid January 2011, Indian tax authorities reportedly directed Infosys to explain, in a tax audit, why the existing tax exemption on revenue from software exports should apply to revenue generated by employees providing services outside India, at customer locations in “onshore” countries like the U.S. and Europe. Indian Income Tax Law Sections 10A and 10AA exempt from Indian tax the export income of Indian companies in special economic zones. The question is whether the work performed outside of India qualifies for the Indian income tax exemption. It is a new perspective on the legal interpretation of the common practice loosely referred to as “body shopping,” which has many different meanings. For Infosys, the amount of income that could be taxable is reportedly 400 crore (400 times 10 million Rupees, or about $87.7 million). For more, click here.

3. Humor.

BPMN, n. (1) BPM notation, a software development standard; (2) composer’s toolbox for making music, animating people and stimulating economic growth across supply chains and value chains; (3) musical score for the business world.

XBRL, n. (1) Extensible Business Reporting Language; (2) meta-language for computers to analyze business financial and regulatory compliance; (2) open-source taxonomy, or dictionary, for use in tagging, characterizing attributes and their interrelationships, and for computing and reporting specific corporate actions, accounting results (e.g., “net profit”) and business events (e.g., “unauthorized non-deductible expense”) to meet financial accounting standards and regulatory mandates; (4) man’s feeble and futile attempt to create a “global solution” to a cacophonous Tower of Babel in accounting standards; (5) a perennial work in progress, both for definition and for implementation (6) digital …expialidocious.

4. Conferences.

January 22, 2011, Legal Technologies India 2011, New Delhi, India. A very unique forum which creates a discussion platform for all stakeholders in the legal services value chain for generating new thoughts and for effectively understanding and deploying technology to increase work efficiencies. A conference on the need, relevance and the implications of technology in the legal systems. The objective of the conference emphasizes the growing and vast avenues prevalent for technology in the legal arena and how legal systems can evolve to a simpler, systematic and a cost effective modus operandi. The conference aims to bring together expertise, competence and technology in managing all the constituents of legal affairs including LPO. The legal fraternity can be brought in the gamut of technology through a smooth transition involving low and nominal cost with minimum hassle. The advantages of such a transition are manifold ranging from increasing the efficiency of the day to day work to maximizing output in a shorter time period. More tasks can be covered with exceptional levels of accuracy and reach with the right mix of technology and advanced systems. For details, please log on to: http://www.cerebralbusiness.com/legal/ To register for the conference, please write to: s.tak@cerebralbusiness.com.

January 27, 2011, Global Services Conference 2011, New York, New York, focuses on Enabling Business Transformation Through Global Sourcing.

Full day with over 15 key sessions: Transformation, Supply Risk Monitoring, Collaborative Sourcing, Program and Governance Management, Cloud-based Service Delivery, Nearshore, Outsourcing Destinations Competitiveness.
25+ Speakers from leading global enterprises: Novartis, Applied Materials, Baker & McKenzie, SAP, Kaye Scholer, Wells Fargo, Mass Mutual, Forrester Research, Bancolombia, Assenda, ABB, Credit Suisse, and Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi.
Track 1: Next Practices in Sourcing Leadership
Track 2: Best Practices in Sourcing Maturity
Networking opportunities with industry peers

For a special 50% discount for our subscribers, click here for more information. To register, visit their website.

February 8, 2011, Global Sourcing Council presents its 3s (Sustainable and Socially Responsible Sourcing) Awards, New York, New York. The Global Sourcing Council, a non-profit association of businesses, trade organizations, government agencies and academics is proud to announce the 2011 3S (Sustainable and Socially responsible Sourcing) Awards. The 3S Awards will recognize exceptional achievements in the global sourcing marketplace by individuals and organizations for their commitment towards Sustainability and Socially responsible Sourcing practices. To register and get more information, visit: http://www.gsc3sawards.com/

February 14-16, 2011, IQPC presents its 4th E-Discovery Finance Conference, New York, New York, focusing exclusively on the financial services industry. The Dodd-Frank bill is the most comprehensive legislative overhaul of the financial services industry since the Great Depression, and financial corporations must respond and adapt immediately. Changing technology creates quickly moving targets for corporations to reach. The burden falls on legal, information security, record retention, and IT departments to ensure the best review, retention, and destruction policies and procedures. A successful e-discovery team can mitigate the costs of e-discovery, reduce the volume of extraneous data, and avoid sanctions and other judicially imposed penalties. Highlights include strategies to:

Keep costs down while maximizing efficiency.
Comply with stricter, more expansive regulations.
Implement and adapt to new technologies in order to “future-proof.”
Stay out of the headlines for non-compliance or sanctions.

To obtain more information, click here.

February 14-16, 2011, Legal Process Outsourcing Conference, New York, New York. With advanced technology and tight budgets in a downturn economy, companies are exploring more cost-efficient alternatives for high quality legal work. CEOs and CFOs are putting tremendous pressure on their employees to cut spending and given the exorbitant cost of legal spend, in-house counsel are feeling the pressure more than most. Although legal outsourcing is not a fit for every law firm and in-house legal department, the legal community simply cannot ignore the expansion of the LPO market. This event will take an honest look at all sides of LPO and address the challenges, ethics, implications, and strategies of legal outsourcing. Attending this Summit will help decide where your company fits into this new outsourcing dynamic. For more information visit their website.

February 21-23, 2011, International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) presents its 14th edition of The Outsourcing World Summit, Indian Wells (Palm Springs), California. This conference, through case studies, educational sessions and presentations, provides participants with news of the latest developments affecting the outsourcing industry and their profession. Its theme is Embracing Change – How Outsourcing Professionals Can Lead Their Companies to Success in This New Outsourcing Landscape. For more information, visit: http://www.iaop.org/Content/23/154/1099/Default.aspx

March 1-3, 2011, SSON presents the 15^th Annual North American Shared Services & Outsourcing Week, Orlando Florida. As SSON celebrates 15 years of serving the needs of the shared services and outsourcing community, this conference will bring added value to our participants through inspired structured networking, innovation and meaningful, leading edge content. Featured presenters will include numerous buy-side executives from a wide range of industries. You will meet and network with the very best thought leaders, practitioners, providers and advisors in the shared services and outsourcing space, connecting with over 1,000 senior level attendees from various sectors all over the region.

If you want to seek fresh initiatives and reach new thresholds of productivity or revenue growth, are looking for game changing, innovative content and ideas to leverage technologies, and desperate to leave behind old legacies and shape the future of the sourcing world, then this event is for you. For more information, click here.

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FEEDBACK: This newsletter addresses legal issues in sourcing of IT, HR, finance and accounting, procurement, logistics, manufacturing, customer relationship management including outsourcing, shared services, BOT and strategic acquisitions for sourcing. Send us your suggestions for article topics, or report a broken link at: wbierce@biercekenerson.com. The information provided herein does not necessarily constitute the opinion of Bierce & Kenerson, P.C. or any author or its clients. This newsletter is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Reproductions must include our copyright notice. For reprint permission, please contact: wbierce@biercekenerson.com . Edited by Bierce & Kenerson, P.C. Copyright (c) 2010, Outsourcing Law Global LLC. All rights reserved. Editor in Chief: William Bierce of Bierce & Kenerson, P.C. located at 420 Lexington Avenue, Suite 2920, New York, NY 10170, 212-840-0080.

Filed under: Newsletter
Tagged: Aton, conferences, De Beers, e-discovery financial services, global entrepreneurship, global sourcing, Indian Tax Law 10A, legal process outsourcing, Newsletter, outsourcing world summit, shared services week, tax exempt Infosys, UK High Court, Webinar

Outsourcing Law & Business Journal™: October 2010

October 29, 2010 by Bierce & Kenerson, P.C.

Insights by Bierce & Kenerson, P.C., Editors. www.biercekenerson.com

Vol. 10, No. 10 (October 2010)
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Editor’s Note: Happy Halloween, Happy Election Day (USA)! This month’s article spooks us by helping us wonder whether we are getting all the data protection and integrity we thought we were entitled to. This should make us feel somewhat better about life, since the “robo-signers” and “robo-justice” mills for real estate foreclosures make ITO and BPO look like the solution to the evils brought about by sloppy (if not fraudulent) business practices. We are also pleased to announce a special webinar (full disclosure, the speaker is the Editor of this newsletter).

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Webinar Announcement
“LLC Toolkit for Designing Collaborative Business Models: Sweat-Equity, JVs and Global Services Businesses”
December 9, 2010, 11am – 12:20pm, EST US

Speaker: William B. Bierce, Esq., – Bierce & Kenerson, P.C.

This is an advanced seminar for experienced corporate and commercial lawyers as well as entrepreneurs, CEOs and COOs, investors, bankers, and venture capitalists looking for a different perspective on how LLC’s can be structured and governed. This webinar will address the fundamentals of structuring LLCs for use in special purpose environments, such as service-oriented and Web-based businesses in the US and globally. It will help lawyers understand key legal and tax issues in such environments for tax-efficient operations. This webinar is free and application for Accredited Provider status for CLE credit in New York is currently pending. To obtain more information, please contact Laura Sanfiorenzo and to register, click here.

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1. Belt and Suspenders, and From SOX to SOC’s: Changes in Service Audit Standards on the Service Organization’s Risk Management, Security and Process Controls.

2. Humor.

3. Conferences.

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1. Belt and Suspenders, and From SOX to SOC’s: Changes in Service Audit Standards on the Service Organization’s Risk Management, Security and Process Controls. How do you know your service provider is providing a secure environment for processing your transactions? Do you trust your service provider? Can you certify your outsourcing relationship can withstand a shareholder lawsuit claiming you lack the necessary audit and control functions? Do you want a report on the description, design and operational effectiveness of controls at a service organization, and what do you get under current and future auditing, attestation and accounting “standards.”

SAS 70 Type II audits have become the de facto standard for publicly traded companies to meet their SOX 404(b) “audit and control” disclosure requirements. SAS 70 audits are big business for audit firms. Now, as the U.S. “generally accepted accounting principles” face convergence into new international accounting standards (IAS), enterprise customers risk losing familiar comfort letters. The emerging accounting standards suggest it’s time to think about “belt and suspenders” for security and process controls. This article considers the new approach to mitigating and managing risks through “control objectives” as “attested” in “service organization control” (SOC) reports for service organizations and subservice organizations in the services supply chain. This new approach comes into effect for fiscal years ending after June 2011. Important procedural details for the U.S. will be promulgated soon.

For the complete article, click here.

2. Humor.

Robo-Justice, n. (1) fast-track system in Florida courts for adjudication of foreclosures at the rate of 20 per hour, 7 hours a day, 5 days a week, per judge, unless service levels degrade for non-essential activities such as extra time for hearing evidence; (2) the swift and decisive hand of justice, meted out to fight the swift and decisive hand of the Robo-Signer.

Robo-Signer, n. (1) a person appointed by a bank or mortgage origination service company to sign thousands of loan documents per week; (2) phantom performing fiduciary duty in a totally automated, human-free mechanism, with computer-generated rubber-stamped documents and corresponding human signatures; (3) human automaton approving computer outputs. See “Robo-Justice.

3. Conferences.

December 7-8, 2010, IQPC presents 10th E-Discovery Conference, New York, New York. The 10th eDiscovery Summit is the key meeting of the year for eDiscovery experts. The universe of ESI is continually expanding as the costs associated with eDiscovery are on the rise. This unique eDiscovery event brings together in-house counsel, IT experts, document management, outside counsel, solution providers, Judges and regulatory experts. You will learn how to improve your eDiscovery processes and save time and money despite the onslaught of litigation. Some highlighted topics include:

Incorporating advanced search technology and protocol into your eDiscovery processes
Tackling the complexity of legal holds in light of the Pension Committee case
Gaining insight from our Judges panel analyzing important 2010 eDiscovery case law
Effectively managing the ever-increasing universe of social media content
Implementing a proactive approach where litigation preparedness enables you to significantly cut costs and time in eDiscovery

Outsourcing Law contacts can receive 20% off the standard all access price when they register with the code OSL20. Register by calling 1-800-882-8684. View the program brochure for more details.

February 14-26, 2011, IQPC follows up with the 4th E-Discovery Finance Conference, New York, New York, focusing exclusively on the financial services industry. The Dodd-Frank bill is the most comprehensive legislative overhaul of the financial services industry since the Great Depression, and financial corporations must respond and adapt immediately. Changing technology creates quickly moving targets for corporations to reach. The burden falls on legal, information security, record retention, and IT departments to ensure the best review, retention, and destruction policies and procedures. A successful e-discovery team can mitigate the costs of e-discovery, reduce the volume of extraneous data, and avoid sanctions and other judicially imposed penalties. Highlights include strategies to:

Keep costs down while maximizing efficiency.
Comply with stricter, more expansive regulations.
Implement and adapt to new technologies in order to “future-proof.”
Stay out of the headlines for non-compliance or sanctions.

To obtain more information, click here.

February 14-26, 2011, Legal Process Outsourcing Conference, New York, New York. With advanced technology and tight budgets in a downturn economy, companies are exploring more cost-efficient alternatives for high quality legal work. CEOs and CFOs are putting tremendous pressure on their employees to cut spending and given the exorbitant cost of legal spend, in-house counsel are feeling the pressure more than most. Although legal outsourcing is not a fit for every law firm and in-house legal department, the legal community simply cannot ignore the expansion of the LPO market. This event will take an honest look at all sides of LPO and address the challenges, ethics, implications, and strategies of legal outsourcing. Attending this Summit will help decide where your company fits into this new outsourcing dynamic. For more information visit their website.

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Filed under: Newsletter
Tagged: AICPA, conferences, ediscovery conference, ISAE3402, legal process outsourcing conference, Newsletter, outsourcing law, SAS70, Security Audits, service provider, SOC, SOX, SSAE16, subservice providers, Type 1 assessment, Type 2 assessment

Outsourcing Law & Business Journal™: August/September 2010

September 14, 2010 by Bierce & Kenerson, P.C.

Insights by Bierce & Kenerson, P.C., Editors. www.biercekenerson.com

Vol. 10, No. 8-9 (August/September 2010)
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1. Government Procurement: Civil Fraud and Debarment for Non-Disclosure of [Offshore] “Outsourcing.

2. U.S. Increases Visa Fees by $2,000 for H1-B’s and $2,250 for certain L’s: Sen. Schumer Leaps from “Chop Shops” to “Body Shops.”

3. Humor.

4. Conferences.

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1. Government Procurement: Civil Fraud and Debarment for Non-Disclosure of [Offshore] “Outsourcing”. Many companies provide services to the U.S. government. Directly and indirectly, government contractors must disclose extensive information in their bid documents. Under a draft U.S. law, such bids would need to disclose whether the bidder has a history of “laying off of a United States worker from a job, and the hiring or contracting for the same job to be performed in a foreign country.” For more, click here.

2. U.S. Increases Visa Fees by $2,000 for H1-B’s and $2,250 for certain L’s: Sen. Schumer Leaps from “Chop Shops” to “Body Shops.” On Aug. 13, 2010, President Obama signed an emergency supplemental appropriations for border security, P.L., 111-230. Effective immediately, this law requires the submission of an additional fee of $2,000 for certain H-1B petitions and $2,250 for certain L-1A and L-1B petitions postmarked on or after Aug. 14, 2010, and will remain in effect through Sept. 30, 2014. To see the complete article, click here.

3. Humor.

NDA, n. (1) not directly applicable; (2) nitwit doing assignment; (3) non-disclosure agreement.

H1-B, n. (1) U.S. work visa category for temporary worker with specialized knowledge working at the U.S. prevailing wage; (2) trade barrier opportunity, to be loaded with high application fees, short maximum duration of six years and long vesting period for enjoyment of reciprocal Social Security regime under equalization treaties; (3) derogatory term, coined by Sen. Chuck Schumer, for any alien employee of a body shop, chop shop or chop suey.

4. Conferences.

September 13-15, 2010. 5th eDiscovery for Pharma, Biotech and Medical Device Industries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Presented by IQPC, this event will bring together industry leaders from in-house eDiscovery teams, expert judges and outside counsel as they discuss:

How the new Pension Committee decision will effect eDiscovery professionals in the life science industries
The unique challenges biopharmaceutical and medical device companies face with respect to social media content
Preparing and responding to FDA inquiries, patent issues, and other types of pharmaceutical litigation
A progress report on the 7th circuit eDiscovery pilot program and its implications for Pharma and Biotech
Reducing patient privacy risks and unnecessary disclosures due to indiscriminate document retention
Discovering new technologies to reach your goal of gaining proactive control over all your data

To register and view the whole program, click here.

September 26-28, 2010. IQPC Shared Services Exchange™ Event, 2nd Annual, to be held in The Hague, Netherlands. Shared Service Centres have long been seen as the cost saving centre of HR, Finance & Accounting and IT processes, but with changing employment trends and global challenges facing organisations, how can SSC’s continually offer service value?

Unlike typical conferences, the Shared Services Exchange™, which will be co-located with the Corporate Finance Exchange™, focuses on networking, strategic conference sessions and one-on-one meetings with solution providers. The Exchange invites strategic decision makers to take a step back from their current operations, see what strategies and solutions others are adopting, develop new partnerships and make investment choices that deliver innovative solutions and benefits to their businesses.

To request your complimentary delegate invitation or for information on solution provider packages, please contact: exchangeinfo@iqpc.com, call +44 (0) 207 368 9709, or visit their website at http://www.sharedservicesexchange.co.uk/Event.aspx?id=263014

September 27-28, 2010, CxO Dialogue Business Process Outsourcing Conference to be held in Berlin, Germany. The CxO Dialogue Business Process Outsourcing offers a neutral platform for about 50 decision makers from HR, finance, CRM and IT that allows to discuss individual projects regarding the outsourcing of business processes. Case studies, workshops and one-to-one meetings provide the opportunity to network on a level playing field and talk with speakers, colleagues from other companies and expert consultants from leading solution providers about topics that really matter.

Our extensive business matching process guarantees tailor-made agendas and really meaningful contacts. To learn more about econique’s business matching, click here. Participation is free of charge but an executive position is requisite. To reserve your spot, please contact catherine.harrison@econique.com. To become an exclusive solution partner and meet executives from your target group, please contact juergen.haller@econique.com.

September 28-30, 2010, SSON presents Finance Transformation 2010, Chicago, Illinois. If you are facing challenges to meet your finance end-to-end and top quartile requirements, consider Finance Transformation 2010 – the most comprehensive event for anyone managing finance back office operations looking for end-to-end capability.

The main themes explore the strategic views of true transformation across the entire finance supply chain and highlight the roadmaps which will help you to achieve top quartile business outcomes you aspire to. Sessions will cover the key tenets that all of you in the industry – large and small, beginner and established, vendor and buyer, private and public – are required to confront. For more information and to register, visit Finance Transformation.

October 12-14, 2010, Global Sourcing Forum, New York, New York. Engage with Peers, Thought-Leaders & Top Global Providers at this event, which brings together an impressive list of academics, thought leaders, sourcing executives and over 80 global suppliers from more than 25 countries to the Marriott Marquis Times Square to discuss, debate and learn about current sourcing challenges and opportunities posed by the “new normal” and solutions that will put you ahead in your career.
Gain value from High-caliber Keynote & Plenary Sessions and Three Conference Tracks:

Sourcing Strategy: Achieving New Business Value Through Innovation
Mastering Sourcing: Driving Outcomes Through Smart Partnerships & Delivery Models
Best Sourcing Practices: Exceeding ROI Goals While Minimizing Risk

To register, and for the most up-to-date event information, please visit http://www.globalsourcingforum.com

October 21-22, 2010, American Conference Institute’s 5th National Forum on Reducing Legal Costs, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The essential cross-industry forum for corporate and outside counsel who are truly motivated to create value and reduce legal costs through innovative fee arrangements, enhanced relationships, and streamlined operations

Come join senior corporate counsel responsible for cost-reduction success stories, as well as leaders from law firms that have pioneered the use of alternative fee arrangements and other innovative cost-reduction initiatives, as they provide a roadmap for navigating the complexities of keeping legal department costs in check. Now in its fifth installment, this event offers unique networking opportunities with senior practitioners from around the nation, including in-house counsel from a wide range of companies and industries.

Reference discount code “outlaw” for the discounted rate of $1695! To get more information, visit www.americanconference.com/legalcosts

October 25-27, 2010, The 8th Annual HR Shared Services and Outsourcing Summit, Orlando, Florida. This will be a gathering for corporate HR & shared services executives from companies across North America to exchange ideas, develop new partnerships and discuss the latest tools, technologies and strategies being employed in the profession to enhance departmental efficiencies and propel corporate growth. The event will focus on the most current topics in the HR shared services industry including metrics, automation, outsourcing, globalization, compensation & rewards, benefits and an overall focus on the new strategic role of HR shared services. We will review how to tackle change management, analyze current and future projects and further develop the instrumental key areas within HR shared services. Outsourcing Law contacts can receive 20% off the standard all access price when they register with the code HRSS5. Register by calling 212-885-2738. View the program brochure for more details by clicking here.

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Filed under: Newsletter
Tagged: Bill of attainder, Business Process Outsourcing, conferences, Create American Jobs Act of 2010, Government Procurement, Newsletter, non-disclosure of offshore outsourcing, Stop outsourcing

Outsourcing Law & Business Journal™: June 2010

June 30, 2010 by Bierce & Kenerson, P.C.

Insights by Bierce & Kenerson, P.C., Editors. www.biercekenerson.com

Vol. 10, No. 6 (June 2010)
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1. U.S. Discrimination against Foreign Call Centers: Sen. Schumer’s Personal Trade War.

3. Humor.

4. Conferences.

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1. U.S. Discrimination against Foreign Call Centers: Sen. Schumer’s Personal Trade War. Call center operations can be conducted anywhere in the world without U.S. regulation, unless the activities involve regulated business services such as mortgage banking, consumer credit and lending, broker-dealer securities brokerage, life insurance sales and the regulated professions such as public accounting, the practice of law, engineering and architecture. The Democrats and the Obama Administration appear to want to control call center operations more than the mere directive in the TARP program, which forbids the use of any federal funds by TARP stimulus recipients for foreign call centers. Now comes Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) with a proposal to tax all foreign call center calls at $0.25 per call, but exempt all U.S. call center calls from this tax. For the complete article, click here: http://www.outsourcing-law.com/2010/06/u-s-discrimination-against-foreign-call-centers/

2. Business Method Patents for Business Process Sourcing : Strategies for Hedging Your Bets when Strategies for Hedging Weather Futures are Unpatentable under U.S. Supreme Court’s Bilski Decision. Business process outsourcing (BPO) has led many entrepreneurs and their investor cousins (sometimes called “patent trolls”) to seek patent protection for their business methods. The long-awaited decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Bilski v. Kappas, 561 U.S. ___ (June 28, 2010) was anticipated to lay down the groundwork for defining the parameters of patentable business methods. Its decision disappoints the more than 60 parties that filed briefs on both sides of the debate over what is patentable. Read more by clicking here: http://www.outsourcing-law.com/2010/06/business-method-patents-for-business-process-sourcing/

3. Humor.

Patent, n. (1) a legal monopoly until it is declared illegal, invalid, obvious or not useful; (2) bargaining chip for a standard agreement; (3) public declaration of what you do in private.

Patent troll, n. (1) non-operating owner of a business method that everyone uses; (2) sheriff deputized for highway robber.

4. Conferences.

July 14-16, 2010. IQPC Presents Shared Services for Finance and Accounting, Chicago, Illinois. The SSFA 2010 Summit brings together leading financial shared services experts to network, benchmark and learn through keynote presentations, interactive roundtables, case studies and discussion panels. This program will help you improve internal accounting processes, maximize your efficiency with less resources, make smarter sourcing decisions, and drive continuous value through your financial services. For more information, visit http://www.sharedservicesfa.com/Event.aspx?id=314126

How the new Pension Committee decision will effect eDiscovery professionals in the life science industries
The unique challenges biopharmaceutical and medical device companies face with respect to social media content
Preparing and responding to FDA inquiries, patent issues, and other types of pharmaceutical litigation
A progress report on the 7th circuit eDiscovery pilot program and its implications for Pharma and Biotech
Reducing patient privacy risks and unnecessary disclosures due to indiscriminate document retention
Discovering new technologies to reach your goal of gaining proactive control over all your data

To register and view the whole program, click here.

October 21-22, 2010, American Conference Institute’s 5th National Forum on Reducing Legal Costs, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Reference discount code “outlaw” for the discounted rate of $1695! To get more information, visit www.americanconference.com/legalcosts

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Filed under: Newsletter
Tagged: Bilski, BPO, business method patents, business process protections, conferences, Fair Trade, foreign call centers, free trade, GATS, humor, intellectual property, machine or transformation, Newsletter, Protectionist, Rule of Law, Schumer, Smoot Hawley, TARP, WTO

Outsourcing Law & Business Journal™: Feb/March 2010

March 20, 2010 by Bierce & Kenerson, P.C.

Insights by Bierce & Kenerson, P.C., Editors. www.biercekenerson.com

Editor’s Note: Back by popular demand, we are repeating our Webinar on Sourcing of Global Talent on Tuesday, March 23, 2010. If you missed this event last November, you can register for it now by clicking here. This webinar will discuss the human capital management for the contingent workforce in our current economic climate. The speakers will address issues in designing a contingent workforce strategy, managing this contingent workforce, effective governance and the managing risks and legal issues that arise with the implementation of such a workforce using internal and external resources.

Managing Knowledge, Compliance and Legal Risks in Sourcing of Global Talent
A webinar, Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 11 AM Eastern Daylight Time U.S. (45 minutes)
Speakers:
· William B. Bierce, Esq., Bierce & Kenerson, P.C. – outsourcing lawyer
· Chris Nuttall, PA Consulting, Member of PA’s Management Group
· Larry Scinto, PA Consulting, Managing Consultant

Vol. 10, No. 2 (Feb/March 2010)
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1. How to Achieve Innovation Through Outsourcing: Shifting the Paradigm.

2. U.S.-India Bilateral Cooperation on Trade and Investment: Impact of Joint “Framework” upon Global Services Industries.

3. Humor.

4. Conferences
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1. How to Achieve Innovation Through Outsourcing: Shifting the Paradigm. Can an enterprise customer get real innovation through outsourcing? It depends. After looking at a case study in contract manufacturing and finance and accounting outsourcing, we can draw some lessons on the squeaky wheel that will need lubrication beyond effective governance.

New Product Development. Recently, Bierce & Kenerson, P.C. was engaged by a global enterprise to assist in a two-phase deal with a supplier. In phase one, the parties entered into an agreement for the joint development of a new type of product to retrofit an old product using new energy-efficient technology. In phase two, the enterprise customer agreed to either buy the new product from the supplier or to pay a royalty for the value of the supplier’s intellectual property and development efforts. The risk of failure was essentially nil, since the enterprise customer could have developed the product alone. Yet it chose to work in tandem with the supplier to achieve a speedier path to market for a hot product with a big potential demand in order to avoid loss of market share to well-financed agile competitors.

The contract development process took much longer than the product development process….For the complete article, please click here.

2. U.S.-India Bilateral Cooperation on Trade and Investment: Impact of Joint “Framework” upon Global Services Industries. On March 17, 2010, the U.S. and India signed a “Framework for Cooperation on Trade and Investment” to strengthen bilateral economic cooperation. The three-page agreement is short on details and relies upon inter-ministerial meetings and “Focus Groups” to identify and overcome impediments to bilateral l trade and investment. Five Focus Groups cover agriculture, innovation and creativity, investment, service industries and tariff and non-tariff barriers to bilateral trade in goods. The Framework agreement responds to a number of complaints by American businesses about the Indian legal framework governing intellectual property protections. For the complete article, click here.

3. Humor.

Innovation, n. (1) an improvement that is clearly better than mere continuous improvement; (2) any cost saving that merits a special reward; (3) a joint venture in “process management” clothing.

Framework agreement, n. (1) a house with wall-size windows and no roof; (2) statement of work for unspecified deliverables; (3) a milestone with no end in sight.

Investor, n. (1) someone willing to give up a sure thing in the hope for a better sure thing; (2) hostage to hope; (3) optimist.

Investor protection, n. (1) shield for avoiding an instant capital loss; (2) a one-handed wind-shifter.

Publicity, n. (1) good news, even if it’s bad news; (2) bad news when it’s not good news; (3) what a public figure craves but a private individual avoids.

4. Conferences.

March 22-26, 2010, SSON presents the 14th Annual North American Shared Services & Outsourcing Week, Orlando, FL. This event goes above and beyond the typical conference, with 8 tracks, 13 workshops/site tour, 1 Master Class, the Shared Services Excellence Awards and 7+ hours of networking! This year, the platform has been completely revitalized and revamped, featuring raw and honest onstage interviews to the “no personal agendas” G8 Panel discussions. The expert speaker faculty comes from leading companies including Coca-Cola, NASA, General Motors, Unilever, AstraZeneca, Schering-Plough, CA, Microsoft, Orbitz Worldwide and more! View the complete agenda on http://www.sharedservicesweek.com/brochure.php.

Receive an exclusive 20% discount with special code SSW-MP10. Contact Kim Vigilia at kim.vigilia@iqpc.com.

March 25-26, 2010, American Conference Institute’s 4th National Forum on Reducing Legal Costs, Dallas, Texas. This essential cross-industry benchmarking forum gathers together more than 30 senior corporate counsel and legal sourcing managers responsible for cost-reduction success stories, as well as leaders from law firms who are pioneers in the alternative fee world, to guide those in attendance on the complexities of keeping legal department costs in check. Now in its fourth installment, this event also offers unique networking opportunities with senior practitioners in the field, includingin-house counsel across a wide spectrum of companies and industries. For more information, visit their website.

April 26-28, 2010, Legal IQ and IQPC present its 9th Annual eDiscovery Conference, San Francisco, California, bringing industry leaders together to explore eDiscovery project management, best practices for preserving and producing ESI, defending keyword searches, and protecting privileged ESI. Topics include:

Cloud Computing and eDiscovery – What’s in it for you?
Emerging Technologies and Social Networking: Ethics and New Challenges
New Models and Structures for Managing eDiscovery
Statistical Validation and Data Analytics in eDiscovery
Protecting Privileged Communications and Rule 502
Vendor Partnership and What Happens After the End of Litigation
ESI Preservation and Collections

Outsourcing-law.com subscribers receive a 20% discount off All-Access conference pricing using code IUS_OSL_#5. Click here to get more information.

May 10-12, IQPC’s 7th Annual HR Shared Services and Outsourcing Summit, Chicago, Illinois. This event will be a gathering for corporate HR & shared services executives from companies across North America to exchange ideas, develop new partnerships and discuss the latest tools, technologies and strategies being employed in the profession to enhance departmental efficiencies and propel corporate growth. The event will focus on the most current topics in the HR shared services industry including metrics, automation, outsourcing, globalization, compensation & rewards, benefits and an overall focus on the new strategic role of HR shared services.how to tackle change management, analyze current and future projects and further develop the instrumental key areas within HR shared services. Visit their website to register and get more information.

May 17-19, IQPC presents its Information Retention & E-Disclosure Management Summit, London, UK. This is Europe’s premier event in this field, designed to help you steer your organisation successfully through lawsuits and regulatory inquiries. Topics include:

Fast track your understanding of the Civil Litigation Costs Review: Hear directly from Lord Justice Jackson and engage in debate with our acclaimed international Judge’s panel
Develop a legally defensible and technically sound Information Retention policy with a multidisciplinary approach with insights from Debra Logan of Gartner plus Pfizer, and Kleinwort Benson
Reduce risk, cost, time and complexity of eDisclosure with critical updates on advances in technology
Ensure compliance by sanity checking your strategy with the FSA and ICO

For more information, visit their website.

June 6-8, 4th Annual IQPC Shared Services Exchange™, Austin, Texas, United States, an elite event for shared services executives who are looking to develop new strategy, solve challenges and source partners that will allow them to create efficiency and drive more value out of their shared services centers.

This event will continue IQPC Exchange’s ongoing tradition of offering cutting-edge, strategic networking and learning opportunities for senior level shared services executives, combining conference sessions, one-on-one business meetings and numerous networking functions to allow executives to speak with their peers. With pre-scheduled one-on-one advisory meetings and personalized itineraries, the Share Services Exchange™ provides the opportunity to create an agenda that directly reflect the goals and initiatives of participating executives.

To request a complimentary delegate invitation or for information on solution provider packages, please contact: exchange@iqpc.com, call 1-866-296-4580 or visit their website.

September 26-28, 2010. Another IQPC Shared Services Exchange™ Event, 2nd Annual, to be held in The Hague, Netherlands. Shared Service Centres have long been seen as the cost saving centre of HR, Finance & Accounting and IT processes, but with changing employment trends and global challenges facing organisations, how can SSC’s continually offer service value?

Unlike typical conferences, the Shared Services Exchange™ , which will be co-located with the Corporate Finance Exchange™, focuses on networking, strategic conference sessions and one-on-one meetings with solution providers. The Exchange invites strategic decision makers to take a step back from their current operations, see what strategies and solutions others are adopting, develop new partnerships and make investment choices that deliver innovative solutions and benefits to their businesses.

To request your complimentary delegate invitation or for information on solution provider packages, please contact: exchangeinfo@iqpc.com, call +44 (0) 207 368 9709, or visit their website.

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FEEDBACK: This newsletter addresses legal issues in sourcing of IT, HR, finance and accounting, procurement, logistics, manufacturing, customer relationship management including outsourcing, shared services, BOT and strategic acquisitions for sourcing. Send us your suggestions for article topics, or report a broken link at: webmaster@outsourcing-law.comThe information provided herein does not necessarily constitute the opinion of Bierce & Kenerson, P.C. or any author or its clients. This newsletter is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Reproductions must include our copyright notice. For reprint permission, please contact: publisher@outsourcing-law.com. Edited by Bierce & Kenerson, P.C. Copyright (c) 2010, Outsourcing Law Global LLC. All rights reserved. Editor in Chief: William Bierce of Bierce & Kenerson, P.C. located at 420 Lexington Avenue, Suite 2920, New York, NY 10170, 212-840-0080.

Filed under: Newsletter
Tagged: bilateral trade investment, framework agreement, humor, India, innovation, Newsletter, US

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