Outsourcing

Outsourcing remains a key business management tool, both globally and in Ireland.

The financial crisis has seen significant growth in the use of outsourcing and in managed services solutions in Ireland, particularly in the financial services sector, with banks and financial institutions increasingly using outsourcing as a tool to manage costs, headcount, systems legacy risk, and to access new skills and services, without the attendant capital costs.

Outsourcing and managed service solutions can be complex to design, negotiate and implement, and usually, represent a key strategic business decision for any service recipient. Industry, therefore, recognises the importance of obtaining expert advice, both technical and legal, when embarking on any outsourcing.

We advise on the contractual, regulatory, tax, IT, HR and IR issues which can arise on Outsourcings.

We also advise international and domestic corporates and financial institutions on a wide range of such arrangements including:

• Outsourcing in the financial services sector
• Business process outsourcing
• Back office outsourcing – including finance/accounting/payroll
• Managed service, and shared service arrangements
• Captive service outsourcing
• IT outsourcing
• Web hosting
• Facilities and property management

Members of our team have particular expertise advising on outsourcing arrangements in the financial services sector – our team working with the clients’ executives, to ensure that the relevant commercial, regulatory and governance issues are addressed in a timely and efficient manner and that the outsourcing is indeed fit for purpose.

We regularly advise clients on a full range of outsourcing arrangements; from the simpler greenfield arrangements where the customer is simply bolting on a new service to complement its operations; to the more complex big ticket outsourcings where the customer is looking to hand over responsibility for non core activities, including relevant people and assets to the service provider.

Members of our corporate team have advised:

• One of Ireland’s pillar domestic banks on several outsourcing projects effected by that bank
• An Irish financial institution on its establishment of a multi-million euro asset sale/outsourcing JV with a US JV partner
• A number of stockbroking firms on the outsourcing of their back office processing functions
• A regulated entity on its engagement of a third party IT company to design and install its trading/operating system
• An Irish life assurance company on the outsourcing of its back-office processing to a specialist captive provider
• An Irish telecoms company on the proposed outsourcing of its IT department to a specialist third party service provider
• An Irish financial institution on several bespoke IT outsourcing projects

Ogier Leman’ Outsourcing team has extensive experience advising both service recipients and service providers on cross border and domestic outsourcing and managed service arrangements.