Development of the eSCM-SP

Version 1.0 of the eSCM for Service Providers was released in November 2001 [Hyder 2001a, Hyder 2001b]. Version 1.0 used the name eServices Capability Model. It contained 100 Practices, organized into five organizational elements (Organizational Management, People, Business Operations, Technology, and Knowledge Management), four components of the sourcing life-cycle (Precontract, Contract Execution, Postcontract, and Overall) and five Capability Levels.

Version 1.1 was released in October 2002 [Hyder 2002], with 93 Practices. The name was changed to the eSourcing Capability Model for IT-enabled Service Providers. The first certification against the eSCM-SP was awarded in October 2003 to LG CNS LG*Net, Network Service Center, in Seoul, Korea.

Version 2 was released in April 2004 [Hyder 2004a, Hyder 2004b], with 84 Practices. The name had evolved to its current form: the eSourcing Capability Model for Service Providers. The names of the sourcing life-cycle components were changed to Initiation, Delivery, Completion, and Ongoing. Since different service providers may follow different business models, and contracts may be signed at varying points in the life-cycle, describing various Practices as pre- or post-contract could be inaccurate, therefore this change was made to support different ways of designing and marketing services. The organizational elements were replaced by the ten Capability Areas. The Capability Areas were observed to be a more natural organization of the Practices that supported understanding, training, and adoption better than the organizational elements. The Capability Levels remained essentially unchanged.

Version 2.01 was released in December 2006 [Hyder 2006a, Hyder 2006b]. It made some minor corrections to the Model (e.g., typographical errors). The updates mainly reflected changes to the methods for using the eSCM-SP and to graphics used in describing the Model and related material.

Version 2.02 is the official version number for the eSCM-SP as contained in the 2009 book. Unlike earlier versions of the Model, the Required Activities in Major Activities “a” and “c” are not explicitly stated for every Practice since they add little information to the templates described earlier in the book. In those cases where supplemental information was provided for specific Required Activities, it is retained in version 2.02; otherwise the redundant information was left out, although the “a” and “c” Required Activities are used in Capability Determinations. For all practical purposes, versions 2.0, 2.01, and 2.02 can be considered identical as far as the Practices in the Model are concerned, although the information surrounding the Practices, such as the descriptions of the Capability Determination methods and the comparisons to other improvement frameworks have been updated.