glossary of terms

account business unit manager

resource in charge of the overall management of the outsourcing or large projects management agreement in all of its aspects: management of relationship with the customer on a worldwide basis service delivery, planning, operations, quality management and P&L responsibility.

account business unit team

resources assigned and owning the responsibility of the execution of the contractual agreement between the service provider and customer

agreement

contractual agreement signed between the customer and service provider for the delivery of ICT services in the context of of a large project, including the case of a customer’s infrastructure outsourcing project.

assets

items of economic value owned by the client, including but not limited to: computer systems, networks, paper records, fax machines, routers, etc.

assets transfer

the transfer of the ownership of assets from the customer to a legal entity owned by the service provider

baseline

the baseline is an estimation of the total amount of services consumed by the customer prior to the large projects management agreement, plus the associated costs.  Both the volumes and costs are estimated over a one-year period for all ICT services that will be transferred to the service provider within the scope of a large projects management agreement.  The baseline is either declared by the customer or is the result of a joint data gathering process between the customer and the service provider.  Both the service provider and the customer sign-off on the baseline prior to the contract signature.

benchmark / benchmarking clause

process whereby a client compares the service provider’s prices and service levels with common market practices.

business process outsourcing

segment of the outsourcing activity which consists in delivering one or several end-to-end business processes through an external company. (eg: all call-centre based marketing activities, payrolls,..)

Call Detailed Record (CDR)

(telephony) this is the traffic details - call by call - provided by each operator for a given period

change management

change management is the activity which consists in implementing change on behalf of the client. Change management is taking into account human and psychological and not just technical aspects. Change management is a key success factor in latge projects management and outsourcing.

chargeback system/mechanism

mechanism whereby an outsourcer will enable a client to bill his/her internal clients easily and charge them on a pay per use basis.

commercial management (Orange Business Services)

Commercial Management at Orange Business Servicesis in charge of shaping the large projects management deal in financial and risk terms on behalf of the client. Commercial management experts are key players in the commercial negotiation with the client. Whenever a joint innovation fund is involved, commercial management is in charge of structuring and negotiating it too.

complex projects

complex projects are projects whereby a lot of interactions between organizational and technological elements are occurring. The word 'complex' (many interrelations) should never be confused with 'complicated' (difficult to grasp).

contract (outsourcing contract)

refers to the legally binding set of documents containing: a) the MSA (see Master Services Agreement) b) the appendixes or exhibits c) the local contracts, if any.

contract novation (Orange Business Services)   

modifying an existing contract between a customer and a third party vendor.   Possible modifications include changing the billing destination (i.e. services billed to the primary service provider and not any more directly to the customer) or changing the ownership of the contract.

data gathering process

process whereby data about costs, configurations and operational processes, as well as organizational details are collected at the client's premises.

data room

(usually within RFP process) dedicated space granted by the client to the competing candidate providers .All  information related to the scope of services is disclosed for a period of time, with regulated access and strict data protection rules.

due diligence

a duediligence is a process of limited duration which takes place during the pre-sales phase and which consists in auditing the information provided by the client concerning his service contract requirement : legal entities, number of sites, contracts, invoice details and financial elements, telecom equipment, lines and connections, volume and traffic, staff details and processes are amongst the elements which are audited in order to prepare the outsourcing contract. The due diligence phase is namely focused on service evaluation and costs.

end-state (phase)

the phase in the program life cycle during which the provider is fully responsible for the management of day-to-day service operations on behalf of the customer as per the master agreement (processes & procedures, infrastructure, resources, partners, etc.). This phase follows the transformation phase.

end-state solution

target solution designed by the provider in order to deliver the services with the agreed SLAs as agreed in the outsourcing contract.

esource+/ (Orange Business Services)

see Web Source
Orange Business ServicesOrange Business Services

fault management

process and procedure covering the notification, identification, troubleshooting, solving and closure of a fault which may cause an interruption to, or a reduction in the quality of the service rendered to the customer. According to the ITIL definition, fault management covers incident management and problem management.

final mode of operations

mode of operations for services provided to the customer when the service provider has fully implemented the end-state solution (vendors, technical infrastructures, …) and the supporting operations procedures and processes

full Time Equivalent (FTE)

way of measuring a resource's productivity and/or involvement in a project. A 1.0 FTE means that one or more resources' involvement in a project is equal or above that of a full-time employee. A 0.5 FTE indicates a resource allocation equal to a half-time employee.

global delivery model   

the supplier/outsourcer's ability to deliver the service globally, across different countries and regions, with defined sets of quality.
 

governance   

ownership and management of all aspects of a large projects management/outsourcing agreement. Areas of responsibility include: service management, finance control, organizational structure for both customer and service provider taking into account program management, business development and quality control.

ICT services   

Information and Communication Technology services

ICT services outsourcing   

outsourcing of the ICT services as per the master agreement between the service provider and customer including different aspects telecommunication outsourcing and IT outsourcing

IMAC (Install, Move, Add, Change)   

types of orders that the customer may submit in order to add, update, upgrade, amend, remove, move any supported service or feature of a service (with potential impact on software configuration, subscription, software and/or hardware, ...)
- hard IMAC stands for changes effected by the physical movement or installation of hardware (dispatch required).
- soft IMAC stands for changes that do not require physical movement or installation of hardware(no dispatch required).

initial order form   

order document which translates the existing customer inventory into service units of the service catalogue

ITIL   

the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL®) is an integrated, non-proprietary, process-based framework of best practices recognized as the de facto standard for guidance on optimizing IT service delivery and support, covering more specifically:
. planning to implement
. service management
. the business perspective
. service delivery
. service support
. security management
. application management
. ICT infrastructure management
. software asset management
For further information on ITIL, we suggest that you refer to ITIL’s official website

IVR (Interactive Voice Response)   

an IVR is an automated system which allows the collection of calls, the routing of requests and even the capture of data from a call centre. IVRs are either used on top of existing call centre operations or to avoid overloading the call centre with requests.

JIA (Joint Innovation Assessment)   

a Joint Innovation Assessment or JIA is an engagement whereby a full audit of a client’s and a supplier's innovation capabilities can be assessed in order to prepare future joint innovation work or a joint innovation program.

JOA (Joint Opportunity Assessment)   

a Joint Opportunity Assessment or JOA is an engagement whereby a service provider helps his client elicit the requirement and the potential impact of a large project or an outsourcing project. JOA's typically include but are not limited to: strategic guidelines to improve work efficiency, business processes, total cost of ownership (TCO) etc.

joint innovation fund   

a joint innovation fund is a financial mechanism making the development of joint innovations between a client and a service provider possible.

KPI (Key Performance Indicator)

a key performance indicator or KPI is a metric whereby success can be measured. KPI's are essential to measuring the effectiveness of a large projects or outsourcing projects.

knowledge transfer   

knowledge transfer is performed when service providers train their clients  to operate the services they provide. Sometimes referred to as BOT (build, operate and transfer)

Large Projects (Orange Business Services)   

Large Projects is the entity that Orange Business Services has created to serve its large customers in terms of implementing and managing large and complex projects, as well as outsourcing projects. 

large projects management (Orange Business Services)   

the Orange Business Services offer to manage large and complex ICT projects, leveraging standard Orange capabilities and third-parties

legacy mode of operations   

legacy customer mode of operations of the services supported by legacy vendor contracts, assets, people, internal processes and procedures

letter of intent   

commercial act, by which a customer initiates the process of retaining a service provider's proposal.

Life Cycle Management (LCM)   

LCM or life cycle management means the management of the entire life of a program including the three typical phases: transition, transformation & end-state

like for like   

take over of the existing services, without any changes.

Master Services Agreement (MSA)   

core or main body of a contract, where all the general terms, conditions and references to other contractual documents or other parts of the agreement are listed

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)   

contractual agreement signed between two parties to define the scope of work of a partnership in terms of :
- key commercial principles-process and ways of working
- terms and conditions associated, like exclusivity, publicity, termination,
- expected deliverables due by each parties if any.

migration phase   

concerns a billable service block. It begins after the transfer of responsibility milestone for a service block and ends at the beginning of the end state phase. The contractual migration phase ends with migration of the last billable service block.

mutual value discovery   

phase within the pre-sales phase of the outsourcing deal whereby the client and service provider get  to know each other and present their respective philosophy, objectives etc.

near-shoring   

near-shoring is similar to off-shoring but done either in neighboring countries or in cheaper, more rural areas within a given country (as opposed to the capital city).  Also see off-shoring.

net book value   

the net value of an asset. Equal to its original cost (its book value) minus depreciation and amortization.

Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)   

commitment taken by the service provider to keep confidential all customer information and contracts terms he would have access to during the contract negotiation phase
 

off-shoring   

off-shoring consists in sub contracting part of one's activity to a service provider (or a department within a service provider) who has operations in a remote country (hence the word 'off-shore') where the cost of labor is less expensive or better qualified.

order-to-cash process   

end-to-end processing cycle starting with the initiation of a customer order and finishing with the associated billing and implementation

outsourcing   

an operational business model based on a contract with a service provider which is committed to provide, deliver and manage services, processes or activities previously produced, delivered and managed internally by the client himself.

Project Management Organization (PMO)   

the Project Management Organization defines the service provider's methodology for managing projects on behalf of its clients.

program   

a group of projects, sub-projects, and activities managed in a coordinated and on-going effort in order to execute the contractual agreement obtaining benefits and results not possible when managing them individually

project   

a project is a temporary effort undertaken to create a unique result as part of the overall program

provisioning   

activities associated with the processing and tracking of an order until the service is delivered to the end user

Purchase Order (PO)   

Written authorization for a supplier to ship products at a specified price, which becomes a legally binding contract once the service provider accepts it. 

Purchase Requisition (PR)   

see Purchase Order.

quality assurance plan   

a plan that guarantees a quality approach and conformance to all customer requirements for all activities in a project

Quality of Service (QOS)   

an agreed or contracted level of service (SLA / SLO) between a service customer and a service provider

re-rating   

specific and recurrent activity dedicated to evaluate the price of useage-based services provided by a third-party. The traffic is invoiced monthly or quarterly or yearly based on the re-rating rules agreed between the service provider and the client.

reversibility phase   

this phase is related to the end of contract condition in case the customer wants to stop the outsourcing contract at the agreed end date or before. In this case, a reversibility phase was negotiated to determine the actions required to transfer the full management of the services back to the customer.

risk management   

risk management aims at the identification, selection and adoption of countermeasures justified by the identified risks. It assesses risks in terms of their potential impact upon services if a failure occurs, and the reduction of these risks to an acceptable level.

service block   

a service block is the logical subset of the customer’s legacy communication services, used to change the mode of operations in a controllable and scheduled manner.  The subset usually includes a geographical aspect by country.

service catalogue (Orange Business Services)   

the target services provided by the service provider/outsourcer within the scope of the contract.  They are defined in a customized service catalogue composed of: set of services (i.e. data, voice) service subsets (i.e. outbound voice, inbound voice, data wan) service units (i.e. IPVPN plug) service elements (i.e. local loop, router) service options. The service catalogue presents services definition and related pricing.

service class (Orange Business Services)   

is a logical subset of the target telecommunication services, defined in a catalogue of services (ex: fixed voice, mobile voice). Customer invoices are usually structured by service class.

service group (Orange Business Services)   

is a logical subset of the target telecommunication services, defined in a catalogue of services (data group, voice group...) and composed of service classes (fixed voice, mobile voice)

service inventory   

accurate view or 'picture' of the telecommunication service items (commercial and technical) based on the service catalogue agreed with the customer

Service Level Agreement (SLA)   

contractually defined performance indicators with associated committed values defining the minimum level of service required from the service provider or from third party vendors/partners. Failure to meet these values may be subject to penalties.

Service Level Objective (SLO)   

performance indicators with associated target values defining the level of service expected from the service provider or from third party vendors/partners. Failure to meet these values is not subject to penalties (as opposed to SLAs).

service management    

all recurring activities handled by the provider in order to manage and control the provisioning of the services for the customer including: fault management, SLA management, operation management, change management, etc., to meet the customer's requirements.

Service Management (ITIL)   

the ITIL® service management model covers:
service delivery process
. service levels management
. availability management
. service continuity management
. capacity management
service support process
. incident management
. problem management
. configuration management
. change management
. release management

signature date   

signature date of the large projects management or outsourcing agreement

site survey   

task performed by the service provider at the beginning of the transition to gather detailed information (technical, financial, volumes, ...) concerning the environment, procedures, processes, organizational structures, assets, resources, services and contracts for each customer site.

standing purchase order  

open purchase order for a period up to one year, amount is split by month

supplier invoice management   

processes and procedures to be defined, implemented and operated in order to consolidate and control invoice elements from external suppliers (supplier vendors) and to report the associated costs to a specific large projects management or outsourcing program

TCO (Total Cost of Ownership)   

the total cost of ownership describes the financial measure whereby one defines how much one or more services actually cost from end-to-end by summing up direct and  indirect labor and investment costs.

Total Contract Value (TCV)

defines the overall value of a large project or an outsourcing project. TCV = yearly spend * number of years

technical migration / transformation   

the activities and path to transition technical infrastructure from an original state to the desired end state

Third Party Vendor (TPV)   

supplier that provides services to the primary service provider that has signed the large projects management or outsourcing agreement with the client.

transfer of responsibility   

formal milestone of the transition where the customer will handover the responsibilities of a service / subset of a service to the provider.

transfer report   

contractual deliverable containing the description of all the elements of a specific service block that have been completely transferred. This report should be signed by the customer for validating the transfer of responsibility of the service block.

transformation phase (Orange Business Services)   

the phase of the program where existing customer services are  transformed to the end state solution (technical and operational migration).  The end-state solution mainly includes the service provider’s "standard" services plus some third party vendor/partner services. It is the sum of transition phase and migration phases.
(note: the migration phase is a subset of the transformation phase, following the transition phase).

transformation plan   

deliverable describing all the activities and projects to be executed to fully complete the transformation phase

transformation project planning   

project planning - typically a GANTT chart - of all the activities and projects to be executed in order to complete the transformation

transition project team   

the team in charge of managing the specific tasks to be performed in the transition plan

TUPE (UK) or l 122-12 (France)   

HR rules and regulations for staff transfers in relation to outsourcing

vendor management process   

process defining the selection and the relationship between Orange Business Services and an external  provider (Third Party Vendor) – providing part of the services contracted by the customer.

war room (bid room)

specific way of working for project efficiency which consists in gathering all the resources identified as mandatory to succeed in project delivery. A war room could be physical location, i.e. all resources in the same location, for a period of time. Or a war room could be virtual: the team is composed of people working different physical locations, but in full coordination;

web source (Orange Business Services)   

a service developed by Orange Business Services which makes ordering, billing, reporting and inventory available for all customer services.