Tech & Sourcing @ Morgan Lewis

The leveraging of outsourcing engagements to implement and support digital transformation solutions is emerging as the foundation for the next generation of outsourcing. Digital transformation is a critical part of many companies’ strategic roadmap, seen as creating key opportunities for cost savings, efficiency, productivity and quality improvements, enhanced customer experience, and competitive advantages, including through state-of-the-art automation and data analytics. Many companies do not have the internal resources or skill sets to implement digital transformation at the required pace. This is leading to companies “leaning in” on their outsourcing providers to identify, design, and enable digital transformation solutions in a secure and compliant manner.

Digital transformation continues to be a buzzword for 2025, with companies considering or implementing new user-facing and back-office artificial intelligence (AI) solutions and other digital tools to enhance end-user experience (UX), business operations, IT infrastructure and resilience, and data flow and connectivity between devices and environments. These digital transformation projects often require project-based resources with specific skill sets that may not be readily available within a company to meet the desired implementation timelines. As a result, many companies engage third-party providers to design, build, test, and/or implement their digital transformation strategies.

As noted in our recent blog, business process outsourcing (BPO) providers are promising big savings and improved outputs tied to the design and implementation of digital solutions that will monitor, quality check, facilitate, and sometimes perform the applicable business processes.

Gone are the days when a company could outsource the “people” that perform a business process without considering, and likely including in the outsourcing arrangement, the digital enablement of the underlying workflows and activities.

The business process outsourcing (BPO) market is growing at an unprecedented rate as technological advancements transform traditional BPO models to keep up with evolving business needs. As BPO service providers implement and leverage technologies, such as cloud computing, robotics, data analytics, automation, and traditional and generative AI, to streamline processes and improve productivity and quality, digital transformation is becoming a common component—and selling point—for many BPO engagements.

Data issues—collection, usage, optimization, commercialization, and protection—are at the forefront of more and more transactions in the sports industry.

Please join us in our Philadelphia office on Wednesday, April 23, for the 2025 Tech & Sourcing Philadelphia Summit. We are broadening the agenda this year to provide more time for exploring issues that are front of mind for technology and sourcing lawyers, starting with an AI and ethics session, followed by three hours of interactive presentations and workshops by market leaders in the technology, sourcing, and privacy fields.

Each outsourcing transaction has its own unique characteristics and business drivers and, therefore, will include its own deal-specific terms. A key initial consideration to think about when beginning an outsourcing initiative is how the personnel of both parties will be managed. This includes how the transaction will impact the customer’s existing employees and contractors, as well as oversight and management of the service provider’s personnel. These issues will likely have operational and financial impact, and will require input and coordination with internal human resources (HR) teams.

Partners Ksenia Andreeva and Kristin Hadgis and associate Oliver Bell recently authored an Insight titled The Evolving Framework of Data Governance: A Global Perspective. The article explores and summarizes hot topics in data governance, data privacy laws, and the evolving global landscape, including in the United Kingdom, European Union, United States, and Middle East. As the focus on transparency and cybersecurity increases, and as markets become more globalized, keeping up to date on privacy regulations and rules can be a demanding undertaking.

Please join us on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm ET, as Morgan Lewis partners Barbara Melby and Mike Pierides discuss the systems, processes, and workflows necessary to data center operations as well as the issues that may arise for data center operators when contracting with third parties.