The Webster's Universal Dictionary meaning of "Outsourcing" is: "A company or person that provides information; to find a supplier or service, to identify a source". It is very important to be clear about what is meant by outsourcing. Outsourcing essentially refers to how things are done rather than what is done. It describes how for example IT services are obtained; not what the services are.

E-learning (or electronic learning or eLearning) is a term that encompasses all forms of Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) or very specific types of TEL such as online or Web-based learning. Nevertheless, the term does not have a universally accepted definition[1] and there are divides in the e-learning industry about whether a technology-enhanced system can be called e-learning if there is no set pedagogy as some argue e-learning is: "pedagogy empowered by digital technology".[2]

Information technology consulting (IT consulting, Computer consultancy, Computing consultancy, technology consulting or business and technology services) is a field that focuses on advising businesses on how best to use information technology to meet their business objectives. In addition to providing advice, IT consultancies often implement, deploy, and administer IT systems on businesses' behalf.

Web content development is the process of researching, writing, gathering, organizing, and editing information for publication on web sites. Web site content may consist of prose, graphics, pictures, recordings, movies or other digital assets that could be distributed by a hypertext transfer protocol server, and viewed by a web browser.

Storage management can refer to one of the following: ADSTAR Distributed Storage Manager Automatic Storage Management Enterprise storage management Hierarchical storage management IBM Tivoli Storage Manager OpenView Storage Area Manager Storage Management Initiative - Specification Storage Resource Manager Storage Resource Management (SRM)

Security Management is a broad field of management related to asset management, physical security and human resource safety functions. It entails the identification of an organization's information assets and the development, documentation and implementation of policies, standards, procedures and guidelines.

Network management refers to the activities, methods, procedures, and tools that pertain to the operation, administration, maintenance, and provisioning of networked systems. [1]

Infrastructure Asset Management is the discipline of managing infrastructure assets that underpin an economy, such as roading, water supply, wastewater, stormwater, power supply, flood management, recreational and other assets. In the past these assets have typically been owned and managed by local or central government. Investment in these assets is made with the intention that dividends will accrue through increased productivity, improved living conditions and greater prosperity.[1]

Systems management refers to enterprise-wide administration of distributed systems including (and commonly in practice) computer systems[citation needed]. Systems management is strongly influenced by network management initiatives in telecommunications. System management may involve one or more of the following tasks: Hardware inventories. Server availability monitoring and metrics. Software inventory and installation. Anti-virus and anti-malware management. User's activities monitoring. Capacity monitoring. Security management. Storage management. Network capacity and utilization monitoring.

Disaster recovery is the process, policies and procedures related to preparing for recovery or continuation of technology infrastructure critical to an organization after a natural or human-induced disaster.

 data center or datacenter (or datacentre), also called a server farm,[1] is a facility used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems. It generally includes redundant or backup power supplies, redundant data communications connections, environmental controls (e.g., air conditioning, fire suppression) and security devices.

Procurement is the acquisition of goods and/or services at the best possible total cost of ownership, in the right quality and quantity, at the right time, in the right place and from the right source for the direct benefit or use of corporations, individuals, or even governments, generally via a contract, or it can be the same way selection for human resource.[citation needed] Simple procurement may involve nothing more than repeat purchasing. Complex procurement could involve finding long term partners – or even 'co-destiny' suppliers that might fundamentally commit one organization to another. Procurement can refer to buying, outsourcing, etc of any resources.

Productivity tools can be software that help employer increase their business productivity: a few examples might be project management software, tot do lists, cost management software, employee monitoring software, print manager software and so on.

Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC) refers to the methods of automatically identifying objects, collecting data about them, and entering that data directly into computer systems (i.e. without human involvement). Technologies typically considered as part of AIDC include bar codes, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), biometrics, magnetic stripes, Optical Character Recognition (OCR), smart cards, and voice recognition. AIDC is also commonly referred to as “Automatic Identification,” “Auto-ID,” and "Automatic Data Capture."

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a term usually used in conjunction with ERP software or an ERP system which is intended to manage all the information and functions of a business or company from shared data stores.[1] It is a commercial software package that promotes seamless integration of all the information flowing through a company.

A document management system (DMS) is a computer system (or set of computer programs) used to track and store electronic documents and/or images of paper documents. The term has some overlap with the concepts of content management systems. It is often viewed as a component of enterprise content management (ECM) systems and related to digital asset management, document imaging, workflow systems and records management systems.

A data warehouse is a repository of an organization's electronically stored data. Data warehouses are designed to facilitate reporting and analysis [1].

Customer relationship management is a broadly recognized, widely-implemented strategy for managing and nurturing a company’s interactions with customers and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes—principally sales related activities, but also those for marketing, customer service, and technical support. The overall goals are to find, attract, and win new customers, nurture and retain those the company already has, entice former customers back into the fold, and reduce the costs of marketing and customer service. [1]

Sourcing advisory is the use of third-party (external entity) advise during the sourcing process. As such, it may refer to advise sought during outsourcing, offshoring or global sourcing. Advisors can be independent consultants or management consulting firms. [1]

Market research is any organized effort to gather information about markets or customers. It is a very important component of business strategy.[1] The term is commonly interchanged with marketing research; however, expert practitioners may wish to draw a distinction, in that marketing research is concerned specifically about marketing processes, while market research is concerned specifically with markets.[2]

A virtual learning environment (VLE) is a software system designed to support teaching and learning in an educational setting, as distinct from a Managed Learning Environment, (MLE) where the focus is on management. A VLE will normally work over the Internet and provide a collection of tools such as those for assessment (particularly of types that can be marked automatically, such as multiple choice), communication, uploading of content, return of students' work, peer assessment, administration of student groups, collecting and organizing student grades, questionnaires, tracking tools, etc. New features in these systems include wikis, blogs, RSS and 3D virtual learning spaces.

Investing in training and development results in new business opportunities, increased customer satisfaction and greater employee loyalty – giving your contact centres a competitive edge.

The continued phenomenal growth in call centres has created a whole host of challenges to the call centre professional. Meeting these challenges will require a new breed of managers, who: -

Business Intelligence (BI) refers to skills, processes, technologies, applications and practices used to support decision making.

Application software is computer software designed to help the user to perform a singular or multiple related specific tasks. Such programs are also called software applications, applications or apps. Typical examples are word processors, spreadsheets, media players and database applications.

Clients are provided with market tax reports, summarising local taxes for each market and providing timely updates. The scope of this information includes specifying the standard rates of withholding and other taxes, distinguishing the alternate treatment of certain instrument classes, setting out any exemptions and reductions available under local law and specifying the reduced rates available by virtue of double taxation treaties. For the avoidance of doubt, such services shall not include tax advice.

A payment system is a system for the transfer of money. What makes it a "system" is that it employs cash-substitutes; traditional payment systems are negotiable instruments such as drafts (e.g., checks), credit cards and other charge cards, documentary credit (such as L/C) and electronic funds transfers. Some payment systems include credit mechanisms, but that is essentially a different aspect of payment. Payment systems are used in lieu of tendering cash in domestic and international transactions and consist of a major service provided by banks and other financial institutions. In the US, they are regulated by different state statutes (UCC) and Federal regulations.

Fixed asset, also known as a non-current asset or as property, plant, and equipment (PP&E), is a term used in accounting for assets and property which cannot easily be converted into cash. This can be compared with current assets such as cash or bank accounts, which are described as liquid assets. In most cases, only tangible assets are referred to as fixed.

Inside the walls of your warehouse, your utilization of every component—space, people, inventory and equipment—will impact your bottom line in profound ways over time. Warehouse Management enables you to analyze these components continually, so you can conserve effort, fill orders faster and more accurately, save space and reduce inventory. Use Warehouse Management to optimize:

The term Logistics Management is that part of Supply Chain Management that plans, implements, and controls the efficient, effective, forward, and reverse flow and storage of goods, services, and related information between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet customers’ requirements.

E-fulfillment can be defined as the integration of people, processes and technology to ensure customer satisfaction before, during and after the online buying experience.   

Recruitment Process Outsourcing is a form of business process outsourcing (BPO) where an employer outsources or transfers all or part of its recruitment activities to an external service provider.

What is payroll processing? Payroll processing is when QuickBooks Assisted Payroll downloads your payroll data to its computer system and then runs the programs that actually processes your payroll. Payroll processing begins at 5:00 P.M. Pacific Time, two banking days before the paycheck date.1

A contingent workforce is a provisional group of workers who work for an organization on a non-permanent basis, also known as freelancers, independent professionals, temporary contract workers, independent contractors or consultants.[1] [2] Contingent Workforce Management (CWM) is the strategic approach to managing an organization's contingent workforce in a way that it reduces the company's cost in the management of contingent employees and mitigates the company's risk in employing them. [3]

Facility management is an interdisciplinary field primarily devoted to the maintenance and care of commercial or institutional buildings, such as hotels, resorts, schools, office complexes, sports arenas or convention centers. Duties may include the care of air conditioning, electric power, plumbing and lighting systems; cleaning; decoration; groundskeeping and security. Some or all of these duties can be assisted by computer programs. These duties can be thought of as non-core or support services, because they are not the primary business (taken in the broadest sense of the word) of the owner organization.

The Society of American Archivists state that archives management is “The general oversight of a program to appraise, acquire, arrange and describe, preserve, authenticate, and provide access to permanently valuable records.” It’s not about day to day business activities, it is to appraise, acquire and preserve records. Records are evidence of actions, decisions and inaction; they are complete and must also be accessible, reliable, authentic, accurate and inviolate.

Relationship marketing is a form of marketing developed from direct response marketing campaigns conducted in the 1970s and 1980s which emphasizes customer retention and satisfaction, rather than a dominant focus on point-of-sale transactions. Relationship marketing differs from other forms of marketing in that it recognizes the long term value to the firm of keeping customers, as opposed to direct or "Intrusion" marketing, which focuses upon acquisition of new clients by targeting majority demographics based upon prospective client lists.

Along with server resources, customer service is a basic element of a web hosting service. The specific virtual nature of hosting services and online distribution makes the provision of fast customer support really necessary for customers. General web hosting practice has shown that the use of an integrated ticketing system is the most efficient support channel for providing quick and helpful customer service. A ticketing system refers to a web-based email communication system allowing for users to quickly contact the sales or technical support team of the host at any time and receive relevant responses to any inquiries or issues that may arise. Its main advantage over the other web hosting customer support methods, such as email, live chat, phone, is the possibility for an issue to be explained in details and discussed for a long time within a single ticket. Source from www.ntchosting.com

Customer relationship management is a broadly recognized, widely-implemented strategy for managing and nurturing a company’s interactions with customers and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes—principally sales related activities, but also those for marketing, customer service, and technical support. The overall goals are to find, attract, and win new customers, nurture and retain those the company already has, entice former customers back into the fold, and reduce the costs of marketing and customer service. [1]

This is the process of contracting out tasks by the contact center that are more efficiently performed by a third party. Source from www.contactcenterworld.com

Managed services is the practice of transferring day-to-day related management responsibility as a strategic method for improved effective and efficient operations. The person or organization who owns or has direct oversight of the organization or system being managed is referred to as the offerer, client, or customer. The person or organization that accepts and provides the managed service is regarded as the service provider.