Supplier Configurations and Capabilities

As we have illustrated, the global sourcing market is large and the services offered range from relatively simple processes such as data entry to very complex projects such as the digital transformation of the enterprise. The supplier base is equally diverse, ranging from locally based firms specialising in particular services or industries to offshore or global suppliers offering high-quality services at a low cost. Tables 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3 identify the dominant players in the sourcing market as follows: the top ten outsourcing companies (Table 5.1), the top outsourcing advisers (Table 5.2), and the top ten BPO companies in India (Table 5.3). These rankings provide important information regarding the expertise of a number of suppliers and thus help clients identify potential partners. Of course, these rankings may change over time as existing, developing, and new players increasingly compete across global geographies. For example, cloud services have been growing dramatically during the 2020s, with the dominant Amazon Web Services (AWS) offering on-demand cloud computing platforms and APIs to individuals, companies, and governments, on a metered pay-as-you-go basis. In 2021 AWS represented around 32% of the $US40 billion plus cloud market, but there are many other players and many niches. For example, in the early 2020s the open talent cloud-based market was just starting up, while Salesforce is a major player in the cloud SaaS market. This chapter provides an overview of suppliers, supplier configurations, and the role played by intermediaries. The supplier landscape will be discussed in terms of firm size, areas of specialisation and location, with a focus on supplier core capabilities and supplier strategies for sustainability and growth. In this chapter, we focus on: The role of suppliers and intermediaries in sourcing arrangements A supplier’s core capabilities for sustainability and growth Suppliers’ strategies for growth.