Global delivery model
Encyclopedia
The term Global Delivery Model is typically associated with companies engaged in IT consulting
and services delivery business and using a model of executing a technology project using a team that is distributed globally. While the commonly understood meaning of the term implies globally distributed resources, the term itself has acquired a broader definition. Gartner, for example, defines global delivery model to encompass a "focus on the technical skills, process rigor, tools, methodologies, overall structure and strategies for seamlessly delivering IT-enabled services from global locations"
Most IT services and consulting firms worldwide make a reference to this model of delivery to signify one or more of the following value propositions they bring to their customers:
Information technology consulting
Information technology consulting is a field that focuses on advising businesses on how best to use information technology to meet their business objectives...
and services delivery business and using a model of executing a technology project using a team that is distributed globally. While the commonly understood meaning of the term implies globally distributed resources, the term itself has acquired a broader definition. Gartner, for example, defines global delivery model to encompass a "focus on the technical skills, process rigor, tools, methodologies, overall structure and strategies for seamlessly delivering IT-enabled services from global locations"
Most IT services and consulting firms worldwide make a reference to this model of delivery to signify one or more of the following value propositions they bring to their customers:
- A global presence ensures an understanding of the local language and culture wherever they may be present, which is seen to be an advantage when trying to understand customer requirements.
- A global presence implies that the organization has access to resources of varying costs that allows it to deliver services to its customers at an optimal cost, typically a mix of costlier 'on-site' resources combined with cheaper 'offshore' resources.
- A global delivery model implies that potentially, a firm can work round the clock for its customer, handing off work from one location to another at the end of the 'day shift' ('follow the sun' model) - thus providing twice or even three times the capacity they would have if they worked in a single location/ time-zoneTime zoneA time zone is a region on Earth that has a uniform standard time for legal, commercial, and social purposes. In order for the same clock time to always correspond to the same portion of the day as the Earth rotates , different places on the Earth need to have different clock times...
only. - Global locations also provide some degree of 'risk-proofing' a customer from natural or man-made disastersMan-made disastersMan-made disasters are disasters resulting from man-made hazards , as opposed to natural disasters resulting from natural hazards...
such as flooding, earthquake or political unrest - causing disruption in one place. In case of such events, a global company could presumably transfer work to another location where the situation is normal, thus ensuring that work did not get delayed for the client.