EquaTerra announced that its Governance WorkPlace tool, which automates the management of multiple service providers and enables informed decision-making in support of back-office processes in both shared services and outsourced environments, is now available as a hosted, Software as a Service (SaaS) solution.

By utilizing Governance WorkPlace in a hosted environment, private and public sector organizations gain significant advantages including:

• Increased affordability; as there is no upfront capital expenditure, the monthly fees can be paid out of operating budgets
• No need for extensive internal IT support, or architectural approval
• Built on a scalable, Microsoft business intelligence platform

Said Mike Beals, EquaTerra’s Managing Director for Governance Technologies, “Via an enterprise-wide dashboard-type interface, Governance WorkPlace helps organizations ‘cross the finish line’ in most transformation initiatives by delivering what EquaTerra has identified as the 29 governance best practice processes across six critical areas: service quality and program management, issue management, consumption management, commercial management, compliance management and communication management. The additional operational efficiency will typically reduce costs by two to five percent of the annual outsourcing contract value.”

According to Kent Burkhardsmeier, U.S. Outsourcing and Governance Specialist at Microsoft, “EquaTerra’s Governance WorkPlace is a wonderful example of how customers can obtain greater business value through a software plus services approach that blends Microsoft’s familiar software and hosted governance toolset. Delivering Governance WorkPlace as a pay-as-you-go subscription offering enables EquaTerra to offer a highly scalable and flexible model for shared services and outsourcing governance.”

Beyond the over-arching benefits noted above, Fortune 500 Governance WorkPlace users have commented that features they particularly value include its automated workflow capabilities and integration with Microsoft Office Outlook.