OEM (original equipment manufacturer)
Phrase used in the automobile, aeronautical, computer and electrical industries. Originally, an OEM was a company that supplied equipment to other companies to resell or incorporate into another product using the reseller's brand name. For example, a maker of refrigerators like Frigidaire might sell its refrigerators to a retailer like Sears to resell under a brand name owned by Sears. A number of companies, both equipment suppliers and equipment resellers, still use this meaning. OEM is now frequently used to refer to the company that acquires a product or component and reuses or incorporates it into a new product with its own brand name.

Offering
An offering is what Accenture produces, markets and sells to clients to enable high performance. An offering can be highly focused on a specific business outcome or can be a higher-order collection of several offerings designed to deliver broad transformation. Market-facing names for offerings will include the terms “solution” or “services” depending and may include some of our assets.

One Global Network
An Accenture core value that is based on the following:

• Share knowledge and experience with other groups.
• Actively develop your own internal and external network.
• Contribute to building knowledge capital and differentiated thought leadership.
• Share your resources with others who need help.

Operating Groups
Accenture is structured around five operating groups. The operating groups are Communications & High Tech, Financial Services, Public Service, Products and Resources. Operating groups contain industry groups.

Operational Efficiency
Accenture's initiative to improve its client delivery capabilities and cost structure continuously. We will continue to digitize our own business processes in areas such as human resources, training, recruiting, performance management and finance and operations management. This initiative is intended to enhance Accenture's performance and reinforce its status as a high-performance business.

Operational Excellence
See strategic imperatives.

Outsourcing
Outsourcing is a long-term relationship, usually involving the transfer of people and assets, in which Accenture assumes responsibility for parts of a client’s business. The motive behind outsourcing has typically been cost reduction but, as business has become more complex and competitive, our High Performance Business research has shown that outsourcing has become a strategy to achieve high performance. Find out more.

Accenture offers a full range of outsourcing options:

• IT Outsourcing. This involves the outsourcing of IT infrastructure to Accenture. Our approach focuses on transforming IT infrastructure through rationalization and optimization, creating an IT environment that is flexible and responsive; one in which applications and business processes can generate high performance and enable enterprisewide business value. See also industrialization or find out more. It forms part of the Technology growth platform.
• Application Outsourcing. Accenture assumes the responsibility for development and support of a client’s applications, often hosting them from one of our data centers. It forms part of the Technology growth platform. Find out more.
• Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). Accenture Business Process Outsourcing units and solution units develop and deliver business process outsourcing services, helping clients achieve higher performance at lower costs. We provide clients with immediate access to best-in-class processes and proven, scalable services delivered through our global network of delivery centers. Business Process Outsourcing units are responsible for creating, acquiring and managing scalable solutions that can be offered to multiple clients, often incorporating the capabilities of our service lines, affiliates and alliance partners. Accenture’s BPO units include Accenture Procurement BPO Services, Accenture Learning BPO Services, Accenture HR BPO Services, Accenture Customer Contact BPO Services, Accenture Finance and Accounting BPO Services. For more information, see Business Process Outsourcing growth platform, or find out more.
• Bundled Outsourcing. Increasingly, Accenture provides several services to a single client on an outsourced basis, for example application support as well as infrastructure support and, increasingly, a business process such as procurement. Find out more.

See also Netsourcing and Transformational Outsourcing.