TPI Launches Program to Help Organizations Maximize Benefits From Outsourcing Relationships.

Governance Excellence Program Provides Buyers of Outsourcing Services With Innovative Benchmarks to Analyze and Improve Operations

HOUSTON -- TPI, the world's leading advisor to global organizations on all facets of service strategies for business support operations, today announced the

Organizations across the globe spend billions of dollars on outsourcing services, and 95 percent of the cost associated with outsourcing occurs after contract signing. Yet, little information on best practices or comparative metrics is available to help these organizations understand the best ways to manage their agreements and enhance relationships with service providers and internal stakeholders. As a result, buyers of outsourcing services historically have been on their own to experiment via trial and error on the best approaches and techniques to drive return on investment.

Designed after extensive dialogue with some of the world's most ambitious adopters of outsourcing, the Governance Excellence Program is the first and only offering of its kind in the global sourcing marketplace. It is differentiated through the use of a ground-breaking outsourcing governance benchmark process, member dialogue, educational services, and TPI's market leading position regarding outsourcing data, trends and knowledge.

"Companies want more facts and data around outsourcing governance best practices," says Shawn McCray, partner and practice leader for Service Management and Governance at TPI. "They are looking beyond service levels or generic guidelines and want details on the best ways to achieve and demonstrate value to their business."

The governance benchmark process developed by TPI covers 13 critical areas of an outsourcing relationship, including the cost of governance, management skills and training, enterprise satisfaction and value from service provider(s), and the effectiveness of 30 key governance processes. The benchmark includes over 300 points of peer comparison. Members receive both detailed and executive-summary reports explaining their benchmark performance, as well as specific advice on how to improve their relationships and governance activities.

The Governance Excellence Program's benefits include participation in quarterly, member-only "Webinars" that are managed discussions on best practices for outsourcing governance. Conferences on outsourcing industry trends and member-only workshops are also part of the program. Attendance at TPI's Sourcing Leadership Exchange conferences are included, which are held four times per year across the globe and average over 300 attendees from 200 "buy-side" organizations.

"If client organizations get outsourcing governance 'right,' they exponentially increase the value they realize through outsourcing," says McCray. "If organizations get it 'wrong,' the risks are high and there is a downward spiral of poor results. Ultimately, the costs of poor performance in governance are significantly higher. We believe the Governance Excellence Program will contribute greatly to organizations getting it 'right,' and will be beneficial for the outsourcing industry as a whole."

Details on becoming a member of the Governance Excellence Program may be found at http://www.tpi.net/newsevents/pressreleases/releases/070131-US.html.

About TPI

TPI is the founder and innovator for the sourcing advisory industry, and the largest sourcing advisory firm in the world. We are expert at a broad range of business support functions and related research methodologies. Utilizing deep functional domain expertise of accomplished industry experts who possess extensive practical experience, TPI collaboratively works with organizations to help them optimize their business operations through the best combination of insourcing, offshoring, shared services and outsourcing. For additional information, visit www.tpi.net.