The Cloud Business Services study we just conducted, in conjunction with the Outsourcing Unit at the London School of Economics, has served up some contrasting concerns that business executives are having versus their IT counterparts: its impact on work culture and it's impact on the value of the current IT department.

Cloud Business Services are no longer hype - both business and IT executives are buying-into the value Cloud can bring to their jobs and their organizations. The ability to access business applications quicker, faster, cheaper and in a virtual business environment are the major drivers - and it's the business side of the house which is even more engaged by the potential value that the IT-side.

This new HfS report dives into the experiences and expectations of a selection of today’s most experienced enterprise Finance and Accounting (F&A) BPO buyers, when it comes to achieving innovation. We spoke to a collection of major F&A BPO customers which have achieved some form of innovation as they went through the F&A BPO experience with a major service provider.

In Part II, Ritesh explains the changes in the BPO industry from his perspective - especially the inherent need for providers to align their BPO service offerings with an industry-verticalized approach.

Mike Salvino - or simply "Sal" to his friends and colleagues, has brought a real air or pragmatism to Accenture, where he now leads the firm's global BPO business. Read Part I of his interview with Horses for Sources.

Horses for Sources and the London School of Economics Launch Groundbreaking Study into Cloud Business Services

In order to understand the business potential of Cloud-esque environments to drive innovation, you could do a lot worse than have a look at the scientists who've been using their own version of Cloud for years: Grid Computing. When you get into areas such as particle physics, these folks need all the computing grunt and pooled brain-power they can muster to succeed.

HfS has teamed with its networking partner, SSON, to present a superior discussion across the world of finance and sourcing, with Jay Desai, one of the buy-side's most respected voices for sourcing governance, Capgemini's own sourcing sherif David Poole, the pontiff of procurement Jason Busch... all moderated by HfS.

Analysts Phil Fersht and Ray Wang air some recent discussions on the world of social media and the convergence of software delivery and outsourcing… here’s part II

Analysts Phil Fersht and Ray Wang air some recent discussions on the world of social media and the convergence of software delivery and outsourcing... here's part I