Stan Gibson

Staples Inc. is the worlds largest retailer of office supplies, having grown to $13 billion in sales since its founding in 1985. With the advent of Web sales through Staples.com and StaplesLink.com in the 1990s, the company developed a multichannel approach to retailing that encompasses online, catalog and retail-store sales. Now the company is seeking […]

The large outsourcing deal is back. So claims outsourcing consultancy TPI in a study that finds large deals being signed at a pace ahead of a year ago. “Megadeals appear to be making a comeback,” said Peter Allen, partner and managing director of TPI. In apparently supporting evidence that emerged the same week the study […]

In its race with archrival Office Depot Inc., Staples Inc. is tackling a problem that retailers in many markets are facing: coordination of a variety of sales channels. “The big buzzword today is to have a customer-focused organization because you have all these channels,” said Patti Freeman Davis, an analyst at JupiterResearch, in New York. […]

So you want to hire an outsourcer? First, hire a lawyer. The field of outsourcing law, although far from new, is changing as legal, commercial and technology environments evolve. Some best practices have remained the same for years, while others have emerged only recently. The current trend toward multisourcing—using multiple outsourcers—requires unique contractual provisions, according […]

As we pass the middle of 2004, the wave of offshore outsourcing shows no serious signs of subsiding—nor should it, if you listen to certain experts. One of them is author, consultant and former MIT Sloan Professor Michael Treacy, who sees in offshoring just one in a recurring series of onshore/offshore waves. Time and again, […]

Lets see now, an outstanding company would get more value from IT and pay less for it, wouldnt it? Thats the not-so-surprising finding of The Hackett Group, which will soon publish its annual Book of Numbers analysis of its IT benchmark results, which are designed to reveal just what makes what it calls “world-class” organizations […]

Leading off Gartners recent Outsourcing Summit in Las Vegas, analyst Linda Cohen repeatedly sounded the theme of multisourcing and its corollary: the art and skill of managing multiple outsourcers to the competitive advantage of your company. “The CIO becomes the business solution aggregator,” said Cohen. “Multisourcing management and governance must become a core competency.” Sounds […]

NEW ORLEANS—Information Builders Inc. held its Summit User Conference here last week, making several announcements, including a disclosure that its iWay Software subsidiary is forging a deal with Sun Microsystems Inc. under which Sun will distribute a package of some 25 iWay adapters, optimized for the Sun ONE environment, to integrate Sun systems with other […]

CEO Gerald Cohen, established Information Builders Inc. in 1975. The privately held maker of business intelligence software earned about $300 million in revenue last year. In an interview with eWEEK Executive Editor Stan Gibson at the companys Summit User Conference in New Orleans last week, Cohen discussed enhancements to the companys WebFocus product line. He […]

NEW ORLEANS—Information Builders Inc.s iWay Software subsidiary is hammering out a deal with Sun Microsystems Inc. under which Sun will distribute iWay adapters to integrate Sun systems with other environments. “They decided to OEM iWay adapter technology as part of the Sun integration solution,” said iWay president John Senor, explaining that iWay optimized a package […]

Does information technology matter? Well, does it? “Does IT Matter? Information Technology and the Corrosion of Competitive Advantage” is the title of Nicholas G. Carrs new book, published a year after his bombshell article in the Harvard Business Review, “IT Doesnt Matter.” Does the switch in the title from a statement to a question indicate […]

LAS VEGAS—A year after embarking on a $3 billion, 10-year outsourcing deal with Hewlett-Packard, Procter & Gamble is reporting steady progress, although much work has yet to be done. “The honeymoon is over, and now we have to make the marriage work,” Linda Clement-Holmes, director of infrastructure services at Procter & Gamble Co., said during […]