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New IDC MarketScapes Assess Worldwide Life Science Manufacturing & Supply Chain BPO and ITO Vendors
[November 17, 2015]

New IDC MarketScapes Assess Worldwide Life Science Manufacturing & Supply Chain BPO and ITO Vendors


While all three faces of IT-related outsourcing - IT outsourcing (ITO), business process outsourcing (BPO), and strategic consulting services - continue to grow, determining which vendors are best suited to deliver these services to life science companies can vary greatly depending on a company's situation-specific needs and each vendor's respective strengths and weaknesses. To help aid life science companies in selecting an IT outsourcing vendor, IDC (News - Alert) Health Insights today unveiled two new IDC MarketScape reports to provide an assessment of where the life science manufacturing and supply chain BPO and ITO markets are going, how the major vendors compare with each other, and what criteria are most important to consider when selecting an IT outsourcing vendor. The new reports include:

ClicktoTweet: New @IDC MarketScapes Assess Worldwide #LifeScience #Manufacturing & #SupplyChain #BPO & #ITO Vendors. #consulting #health #mfg #global



Manufacturers are under increasing market pressure to improve enterprise agility, develop drugs faster, and eliminate waste from all manufacturing and supply chain-related processes. As such, there is strong demand for business process as well as IT outsourcing partners that have strong life science-specific industry expertise and can help achieve these goals in a cheaper, more flexible fashion. IDC recommends, when evaluating vendors, the key criteria companies should consider include:

  • Breadth of life science manufacturing and supply chain services offered, depth of related project experience, and number of customers the vendor has served.
  • Geographical footprint and global delivery capabilities, level of priority and focus by the vendor on the life science manufacturing and supply chain sector, and the vendor's pace of investment in related life science capabilities.
  • Life sciences' industry expertise, corporate financial stability, and willingness to contract with clients under a risk/profit-sharing contract model.
  • Diligent vetting of customer references to examine vendor capabilities surrounding project management, IT technical skills, account management, and overall value delivery to clients.

Eric Newmark, Program Director of IDC Health Insights' Commercial Life Sciences research, noted, "While manufacturers are facing increasing market pressures, companies are also faced with increased regulatory pressure and strengthening generic competition, which are driving industry consolidation as companies look to capitalize on cross-company synergies and overlapping overhead structures. Within the life sciences, there continues to be strong demand for external partners that have strong life science-specific industry expertise and can help achieve these goals in a cheaper, more flexible fashion. For life science companies evaluating third-party service providers for manufacturing or supply chain BPO or ITO, our new IDC MarketScape reports are valuable resources to aid in the selection process."


According to IDC, while outsourcing in the life sciences continues to expand, the number of vendors that life science companies are contracting with is slowly decreasing. Companies are increasingly looking to consolidate vendors down from traditional levels in a given area that have deeper industry expertise and greater potential for a closer-knit longer-term partnership status.

IDC recommends life science companies chose vendors with specific proven attributes, including:

  • Deep, proven industry-specific expertise, with a strong book of references.
  • Willingness to provide dedicated resources on an ongoing basis across sequential projects to maintain acquired best practices.
  • Capability to provide onshore/onsite resources.
  • Proven understanding of industry regulations and compliance initiatives.

In addition, when engaging with an outsourcing partner, IDC recommends life science companies:

  • Clearly understand and document what problems you are trying to solve.
  • Make sure all functional requirements are signed off on by all stakeholders in your company that may be impacted by a BPO or ITO initiative.
  • Observe whether vendors are vertically organized internally.
  • Consider each vendor's breadth of services offered, depth of experience within the manufacturing and supply chain space in particular, pricing model flexibility, and whether the vendor's culture will be a good match for your company's societal order.

IDC MarketScape criteria selection, weightings, and vendor scores represent well-researched IDC judgment about the market and specific vendors. IDC analysts tailor the range of standard characteristics by which vendors are measured through structured discussions, surveys, and interviews with market leaders, participants and end users. Market weightings are based on user interviews, buyer surveys and the input of a review board of IDC experts in each market. IDC analysts base individual vendor scores, and ultimately vendor positions within the IDC MarketScape, on detailed surveys and interviews with the vendors, publicly available information and end-user experiences in an effort to provide an accurate and consistent assessment of each vendor's characteristics, behavior and capability.

For additional information about this report or to arrange a one-on-one briefing with Eric Newmark, please contact Sarah Murray at 781-378-2674 or [email protected]. Reports are available to qualified members of the media. For information on purchasing reports, contact [email protected]; reporters should email [email protected].

About IDC MarketScape
IDC MarketScape reports are the IT industry's premier vendor assessment tool, providing in-depth quantitative and qualitative technology market assessments of IT suppliers. IDC MarketScapes mitigate supplier risk by providing an accurate and consistent assessment of suppliers' characteristics, behavior and capabilities.

About IDC Health Insights
IDC Health Insights assists health businesses and IT leaders, as well as the suppliers who serve them, in making more effective technology decisions by providing accurate, timely, and insightful fact-based research and consulting services. Staffed by senior analysts with decades of industry experience, our global research analyzes and advises on business and technology issues facing the payer, provider and life sciences industries. International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology market. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology, media, research, and events company. For more information, please visit www.idc-hi.com, email [email protected], or call 508-935-4445. Visit the IDC Health Insights Community at http://idc-community.com/health.


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