Centre News A first time event at the UIMC 'The Trusted Outsourcing Customer Forum' 14 - 16 April 2008; a great success

Saint-Paul-de-Vence, 3 June 2008

 

With a total number of 36 participants, the first 2-day ‘Trusted Outsourcing Customer Forum’ held on 14-16 April at UIMC attracted 16 senior executives of Unisys prime Outsourcing customers from UK, Belgium, France, Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. The objective of this event was to create an open discussion platform between Outsourcing customers on the trends in outsourcing, innovation and IT governance in the presence of expert speakers in this domain and together with the Unisys Account Managers responsible for these customers. Unisys customers kindly accepted to share their own experience with the audience.  

 

In his introduction, the chairman of the event, Paul Hoyland, Unisys Vice President Global Outsourcing & Infrastructures Services, demonstrated how IT Governance is vital in an Outsourcing contract. As Bart De Maertelaere, Unisys Vice President and Partner of ITO strategy and portfolio Management also said in his presentation on Unisys portfolio, ‘Outsourcing is a question of a win-win situation; an outsourcing engagement has to be a partnership engagement to understand each other’s issues’

 

Speakers presentations

 



From left to right: Jan van Puffelen, Wim van Grembergen, Erik Guldentops, Wim Hamers, Erwin Becher, Paul Hoyland, Hans Muskens, Bart de Maertelaere, Marc Boghe

 

 

 

 

High level speakers were invited to present to the audience topics on the subject of Trends in Outsourcing and IT Governance

  • Alan Mac Neela, Research VP, IT Services Technology and Service Provider Research, Gartner, presented the key practices for getting the best out of an outsourcing engagement and the future direction of outsourcing.
  • Prof. Dr Wim Van Grembergen, from University of Antwerp, and IT Alignment and Governance Research Institute, underlined in his presentation the importance of the relationship between IT Governance and Business Alignment.
  • Prof. Erik Guldentops, Advisor to the Board IT Governance Institute and Executive Professor at the Management School of University of Antwerp, concentrated his presentation on IT Governance. As he said, ‘IT Governance which involves CIO level organisation needs leadership but it is not a substitute to leadership.’ 

Customers presentations and sharing of experience

Participants could benefit from the excellent and extremely valuable presentations from two customers, respectively CIBA and ING.

  • Mr Erwin Becher, Head of Group IT Services, CIBA, presented their one year experience with Unisys from definition to implementation of their Outsourcing project at CIBA with pitfalls and opportunities.
  • Mr Marc Boghe, Operations & IT Banking Head of Belgium Country Platform ING Belgium, described the case of ING bank and their project with Unisys on the extension of Oursourcing activities.

Interactive Sessions

 

 

Before the event start, participants were requested to fill in a questionnaire on best practices and metrics in their own organization. Answers to this questionnaire will be the subject of a customized report based on the Unisys survey on Best Practices which was presented to the audience during the event by Hans Muskens, Marketing Director, Unisys Outsourcing Continental Europe.


The whole programme deliberately allowed some time for discussion and workshops were moderated by Wim Hamers.  Jan Puffelen, Principal Architect Unisys Worldwide Services Operation supported these interactive sessions with a presentation on Outsourcing and IT Governance.


During the panel discussion, participants had the opportunity to raise questions and exchange their views, in an open way. They also expressed their wish to deepen some of the subjects discussed at a second forum.

 

More Networking

Networking was also made possible through social activities. On the first day, participants were invited to play the traditional provencal Petanque game.
On Tuesday afternoon, after the sessions in the auditorium, participants could enjoy the guided tour in the village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence and had the privilege of a personalized welcome by Mr René Buron, Mayor of Saint-Paul who opened the door of the Chapel which has recently been decorated by the artist Folon.
On the final evening, Philippe the Magician, kept everyone captivated with his tricks during the gala dinner.

 

Testimonials

The numerous and positive testimonials from participants clearly demonstrate their satisfaction and request for a second interactive event to deepen some of the subjects discussed. 


‘Well organised, great content, good accommodation, fantastic food and interesting people. When is the next one and how do I get an invite? A great facility and a very useful business experience’
David Tye, CNH UK Ltd.


‘Thanks for the very pleasant and interesting forum discussions we had. In combination with the very good service and a pleasant location, it was a very good investment in time and value. My special thanks for the Unisys staff who made this possible’

Henk Hartogsveld, Ashland NV.

 

Next Year Forum

The date is booked for 2009 in the UIMC calendar.
The second Trusted Outsourcing Customer Forum will take place on 11-13 May 2009 at the Unisys International Management Centre of Saint-Paul-de-Vence.

 

Information and contacts

Event organisers:


Hans Muskens, Marketing Director Outsourcing, Unisys Continental Europe - Hans.muskens@nl.unisys.com


Chantal Paillard, Marketing Support Outsourcing Continental Europe -Chantal.paillard@fr.unisys.com


Veronique Leroy, UIMC Seminar Manager – veronique.leroy@fr.unisys.com


To know more about the programme of event for 2008, visit Upcoming Events

 

A word from the organiser of the event

‘This event turned out to be very successful and I would like to thank you for your participation in this outsourcing customer event. Special thanks to all speakers and clients for participating in the discussions and taking the time to come. I hope we can continue this good dialogue in all kinds of forms including an event like this next year. This international management centre gives an excellent facility and I would like to thank Chantal and Véronique for their help in organizing the event’

Hans Muskens, Marketing Director Outsourcing, Unisys Continental Europe


Back to top