Event Summary
In April, professional service provider Ernst & Young LLP and Corio, an enterprise applications service provider (ASP), entered into a strategic alliance where Ernst & Young will implement and market hosted solutions from Corio, and will offer value-added business process outsourcing services. The companies will offer total enterprise management solutions for a wide range of core business functions such as e-commerce, procurement, manufacturing, customer support, finance, accounting, and human resources.
In combining Corio's technology and delivery model with Ernst &Young's global breadth and expertise in implementation and business process outsourcing, the two companies are transforming how businesses utilize enterprise applications. The alliance creates a Business Service Provider (BSP) offering in the global marketplace by integrating the ASP and business process outsourcing models.
Market Impact
Targeting a broad spectrum of companies, including the Fortune 1000 and dot-coms, the two companies have jointly created a powerful business solution that features strategic and operational expertise enabled by a suite of hosted services. This solution leverages Corio's hosting technology platform, Orion, to provide Ernst & Young customers access to a suite of integrated, hosted business applications. The joint BSP offering gives customers application functionality with business process services support in the areas of finance, accounting, human resources, and procurement.
Corio and Ernst & Young already have several joint customer opportunities. As brand leaders in both the ASP and creative sourcing marketplace the two bring together a unique and very broad client base. What is most interesting about this announcement is the market reach Corio will enjoy. Leveraging their new symbiotic relationship, Corio can deliver applications to a much larger audience with minimal investment. As the market evolves and Application Service Providers refine their offerings we anticipate similar partnership announcements from the professional services companies.
User Recommendations
Corio's integrated suite includes BroadVision, Cognos, Commerce One, ePiphany, Microsoft, PeopleSoft, SAP and Siebel Systems applications. The partnership is attractive as Ernst & Young clients can tap their existing relationship to learn about Corio's offerings. Before selecting an outsourced solution, we recommend users evaluate the application and support capabilities offered by application service providers. If you are considering the ASP model, Corio's broad range of solutions coupled with Ernst and Young's professional services resources are worth considering.