Global delivery model
The term Global Delivery Model is typically associated with companies engaged in IT consulting and services delivery business and using a model of executing a technology project using a team that is distributed globally. While the commonly understood meaning of the term implies globally distributed resources, the term itself has acquired a broader definition. Gartner, for example, defines global delivery model to encompass a "focus on the technical skills, process rigor, tools, methodologies, overall structure and strategies for seamlessly delivering IT-enabled services from global locations"
Most IT services and consulting firms worldwide make a reference to this model of delivery to signify one or more of the following value propositions they bring to their customers:
- A global presence would enable companies to respond fast for changing customer requirements.
- A global presence implies that the organization has access to resources of varying costs that allows it to deliver services to its customers at an optimal cost, typically a mix of costlier 'on-site' resources combined with cheaper 'offshore' resources.
- A global delivery model implies that potentially, a firm can work round the clock for its customer, handing off work from one location to another at the end of the 'day shift' ('follow the sun' model) - thus providing twice or even three times the capacity they would have if they worked in a single location/ time-zone only.
- Global delivery model would bring down cultural differences.