The Drive to Automation and Your IT Outsourcing Contract
Barbara Melby and Glen Rectenwald of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius address the question of what robotics and automation really mean in the context of an IT outsourcing contract.
“At least for now, they are not about robots rolling around the data center floor or application development center,” they write in the article. “Robotics and automation are about software and tools that allow for automated processing, monitoring, and reporting, which provides real-time data and data analysis and a reduced need for manual (read—’human’) intervention. Many vendors are touting proprietary tools and solutions that enable more automation, resulting in more accurate and timely information and services and lower costs.”
They address five key contract considerations for outsourcing customers considering automation, including costs of automation, documented benefits (upfront and ongoing), sharing of reduced costs, ownership of the output, and back-end considerations.