Application Service Provider (ASP)

An ASP is a company that provides applications and related services over the Internet. Examples include email, payroll processing and ERP applications.

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)

BPO is the outsourcing of Back Office and Front Office functions, typically performed by white collar and clerical workers. Examples include accounting, human resources and medical coding and transcription.

Competitive Insourcing

Competitive Insourcing is a process whereby internal employees are competing in bidding against competitive, third-party bidders for a defined scope of work. See also Insourcing.

Contract Manufacturing

Contract Manufacturing is the outsourcing of a manufacturing job to an onshore or offshore third-party. With the necessary nfrastructure and know-how to perform the job.

Co-Sourcing or Cosourcing

Cosourcing is where a business function is performed by both internal staff and external resources, such as consultants or outsourcing vendors, with specialized knowledge of the business function.

Facilities Management

An outsourcing solution in which the customer entrusts to an external services provider the responsibility for operations and maintenance of one or more facilities.

Insourcing

Insourcing is the transfer of an outsourced function to an internal department of a company, to be managed entirely by employees. The term has also been used to describe foreign companies that start facilities in the United States and employ U.S. workers.

Nearshoring

Nearshoring is outsourcing within nearby territory, accessible by short travel or telephone in the same or neighboring time zone.

Offshoring

Offshoring is outsourcing overseas or in a separate country. Outsourcing to a contiguous country may be considered as Nearshoring (see above).

Service Level Agreement (or SLA)

An SLA is a contract or addendum to a contract that defines the type, value and conditions of the outsourcing services to be provided. Typically, SLAs deal with the quality of service conditions, such as response time, availability, speed, et cetera.

Shared Services

Shared Services is the outsourcing of a business function within an enterprise to a highly skilled internal department or group. For example, the purchasing department at one plant, may provide purchasing services to all other plants, within a given manufacturing company. Shared services may also be provided to third parties.