The SIG Webinar will begin shortly.

Once the webinar begins, the sound will come from your computer

speakers.

In the meantime, please take a look at the upcoming SIG networking events listed on the right side of your screen

and plan to join us if you are in one of these cities this fall.

NETWORKING EVENTS

GLOBAL SUMMITSMar 10-12 2015 – Amelia Island

SYMPOSIUMS

Nov 12 – San Francisco Bay Area

REGIONAL ROUNDTABLES

Feb 4 – Seattle, WA

For more information and to register for all SIG events:

www.sig.org

Become a SIG Champion and earn points in the process by…

•Attending an event

•Dialing into a webinar•Speaking at a Summit

•Submitting content to our blog or SRC

•Referring a new member•And more

For more information and to register for all SIG events:

www.sig.org

RECENT POSTINGS

The SIG Career Network is

bursting with opportunities.

New jobs are posted daily by some of the best known global

companies in the world for those seeking careers in sourcing,

outsourcing, procurement and related functions.

For more information go to: www.sig/career-center.org

NEW to the Career Network!

• Air Canada – posted November 5:

• Strategic Procurement Analyst

• Country Financial – posted October 31:

• Supervisor, Vendor Management

• Mylan Inc. – posted October 28:

• Sr. Mgr Strategic Sourcing

• Holcim Canada – posted October 28:

• Category Manager - Procurement

• Assurant – posted October 24:

• Procurement Analyst

• Beckman-Coulter – posted October 23:

• Strategic Sourcing Leader

• Wellmark – posted October 13:

• Asset Licensing Analyst

• AXIS Insurance – posted October 8:

• Category Manager – Indirect Services

• Sun Life Financial – posted October 7:

• Sourcing Specialist

New Topic Each Week2:00 pm Eastern

(11:00 am Pacific)

Upcoming Free SIG Webinars:

November 18, 2014Drive Staffing Supplier ROI with Proven Communication StrategiesPresented by PeopleFluent

November 20, 2014Take the Guesswork Out of Your Portfolio StrategyPresented by DTZ

December 4, 2014Solution Deep Dive: Managing Non-Contracted Spend with Business Networks – Tips on Addressing Spot Buys to Increase Efficiency, Visibility and ControlPresented by SAP/Ariba

Register at www.sig.org

For more information and to register for all SIG events:

www.sig.org

Upcoming Town Hall Teleconference:

November 12th

Best Practices for Risk Assessment

Presented by:

Cathy Luoma

Director, Sourcing & Procurement

American Family Insurance

SIG Town Hall Teleconferences

bring a small group of buy-side ONLY attendees together for a facilitated

discussion on top-of-mind issues in an open-mic, private conversation. Town Hall Teleconferences are NOT recorded.

Calendar of Town Hall

Teleconferences

Taking place at 1:00 pm Eastern on

the following dates:

February 12 July 9

March 12 August 13

April 9 September 10

May 14 October 8

June 11 November 12

For more information and to register for all SIG events:

www.sig.org

SIG Symposiums and Regional Roundtables provide education and local networking for members and invited non-member corporate users

Symposiums:

Minneapolis – Feb 6

Toronto, Canada – Jun 9Columbus – Sep 24

New York– Oct 29

San Francisco Bay Area – Nov 12

Regional Roundtables:

Hartford – Mar 12

Seattle – Apr 30Chicago – Jun 9

Seattle – Feb 4 2015

For more information and to register for all SIG events:

www.sig.org

A SIG Global Summit is…

• Non-commercialized

• Almost 70% buy-side

• Global brands

• 3 days of networking

• Executive Roundtables

• Multiple keynote sessions

• Nearly 50 breakout sessions

69% at director level or above, of which 43% are VP/C-level

www.sig.org/summits.php

Use a Broker to Source IT Services – Better Terms, Better Prices, and

Lower Risk

Today’s Presenter

Jay Schwartz – COO and General Counsel StrataCore

Special Guests

Paul Farrall – VP of Operations

Big Fish Games

Wayson Vannatta – VP of Technology Infospace

About StrataCore

• Premiere, global Data Center, IT Infrastructure, Connectivity, and Cloud Services Agency

• Access to top IT service providers

• Insight to make the right decisions

• Fast, unbiased solutions, competitive landscape, optimized terms

• Save clients time and money - reduce risk

For more information, please visit www.stratacore.com or call us at 206-686-3211

Benefits of Using a Broker

Save time and money

• Thoroughly investigate all viable options for complex IT services

• Help develop relationships with decision makers and special pricing teams at top providers

• Keep current on industry trends, service levels, and low-pricing benchmarks

• You don’t pay, ever! – brokers earn a small residual commission from the provider that would otherwise go to a direct sales representative

Polling Question #1

When sourcing IT services, how do you incorporate benchmarking into your provider engagements?

A. Understand low-pricing benchmarks, prior to contracting, for all services/geographical areas to safeguard competitive rate structures

B. Include a benchmark provision to ensure your contract remains price competitive throughout the service lifecycle

C. Thoroughly understand the IT service cost drivers to enable an effective SLA performance credit structure or cost reductions

D. All of the above

Benefits of Using a Broker

Client advocacy - industry contacts

• Greater leverage than sourcing directly through a provider

• Expedited issue resolution through provider executives and decision makers

• Awareness of new providers offering improved services

• Constantly building relationships with industry leading providers

• Aligned interests - no gain for recommending solutions that don’t satisfy your needs

Polling Question #2

What are your tactics for effectively mitigating risk?

A. Understand the service process flow and analyze where there may be operational risk

B. Monitor financial strength of provider

C. Ensure each provider candidate has a business continuity plan and effective SLA structure

D. All of the above

Benefits of Using a Broker

Scalable solutions and long-term relationships

• Introductions to providers with fast, scalable systems - allows your business to stay nimble at the right price and under optimized terms

• Ensures each provider has a viable solution – only gets paid once you contract for services

• Works with you on an on-going basis, quickly recommends appropriate solutions, does not tout a single solution from a single provider – transparently communicates pros and cons

Polling Question #3

What metrics do you consider when negotiating a SLA?

A. Measurements that reflect the service cost drivers

B. Metrics that reflect factors within the provider’s control

C. Measurements that are easily collected and baselined

D. All of the above

Use Case - Big Fish Games

The challenge

Big Fish Games works with 500+ third party developers to distribute free play and other types of games. The company was looking to build out a hybrid cloud infrastructure to host these games. They needed to be able to quickly spin up the infrastructure for games when they came on-line, and grew in popularity, as well as quickly scale down as player demand decreased.

The solution

We worked closely with Big Fish Games to negotiate the best price and terms for their chosen solution. Big Fish implemented a customized hybrid cloud service that enabled utilization of their existing bare metal infrastructure. The solution also enabled Big Fish to add a new private virtual infrastructure where they quickly scaled up and down with player demand.

The result

The final provider was selected from a field of five candidates. The general criteria were based on the provider’s ability to deliver a customized hybrid solution that met Big Fish Games’ business needs and greatly increased their speed to market.

Use Case - Infospace

The challenge

Infospace’s evolving cloud strategy eliminated the need for bi-coastal data centers. As a result, they decided to shut down their east coast facility in favor of a single, west coast site. Their existing west coast data canter contract was nearing the end of its term—a ‘renew or relocate’ decision was pending. Infospace engaged with Stratacore to conduct a market analysis for a possible replacement provider.

The solution

Infospace needed a strong business case to justify a move into a new facility. We worked with Infospace to understand their requirements, concerns, and goals before qualifying a list of provider options. After data center tours in California, Oregon & Washington, Infospace’s “move justification” came in the form of a much less expensive contract with more favorable terms from a top tier data center operator in Seattle. They also received credits for multiple months of service in addition to free 10 Gig connectivity to be used for the data migration from the old site to the new one.

The result

In a few short weeks, Infospace entered into a new provider contract and transitioned to a new location under favorable terms with lower costs and reduced risk.

Thank You!

Jay Schwartz

COO & General CounselStrataCore

jay@stratacore.comPhone: 206-456-5810

2320 2nd Ave Suite, 2100

Seattle, WA 98121

206.686.3211

info@stratacore.com

www.stratacore.com