LAC Group News & Events

Insourcing: The Better Alternative to Outsourcing

Tue, 15 May 2012 02:05:42 +0000

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 14, 2012

Contact: Crystal Rockwood, (562) 682-6482

crystal@rockwoodcc.com

Insourcing: The Better Alternative to Outsourcing

Partnering With an Outside Expert Saves Time, Money and US Jobs

New York, NY— With the US unemployment rate still problematic, outsourcing remains a dirty word. Apple’s problems with Foxconn in China and the offshore call centers do nothing to lessen this image.

There is a better answer that accomplishes the same task as outsourcing, but that is faster, better and cheaper and doesn’t put Americans out of work. It is insourcing. This is the reverse of outsourcing. Insourcing delegates operations or jobs from within the business to an internal (but standalone) enterprise. Often insourcing programs use existing staff or insert temporary staff just for the project duration. For example, LAC Group, an information management company, provides 24/7 research support for a broadcasting company’s journalists, producers and bookers. LAC also provides a staff of 50 that leads and manages video, tape and film assets, inclusive of media management, preservation, ingest and digitization. Indeed, LAC has relationships with thousands of qualified info management specialists whom it can parachute into a client company at any time, then remove when the project is complete.

According to a 2011 survey by Outsell, Inc., over 17 percent of C-suite executives saw the results of their outsource programs fail. They turned instead to an insource alternative. Where outsourcing costs American jobs, insourcing keeps them here, costs less and provides margin-pinched businesses with greater control over the result.

Deborah Schwarz is CEO of LAC Group, a made in the USA company, that leads the insourcing trend. An information management company, LAC’s trained specialists do the insourced work onshore. The digital archives are stored in the US, ready for access at the touch of a computer button.

“Information is an extraordinarily effective strategic weapon in the competitive business world,” says LAC Group, CEO, Deborah Schwarz. “The problem is not a lack of data. Decision makers are drowning in an ocean of the stuff. Rather, it is converting that raw data to useful information and then accessing just what you need at precisely the right time. Those enterprises that rise to the competitive top will have instant access to market information, customer buying habits, financial trends and everything else required for strategic decision making.”

Right now, there are 20,000 people working as digital archivists here in the US. Industry experts expect this work--that can be insourced, rather than sent offshore--to triple in size over the next decade (NY Times, February 8, 2009, Digital Archivists, Now in Demand). Companies that require access to high volumes of customer transaction data and that need to convert it to trends and forecasts for marketing and buying decisions are prime candidates for insourcing their information management needs. Government entities are an example. So are financial services companies like Merrill Lynch and Bank of America as well as large retail organizations like Amazon.com. Then there are the companies that feed information on social habits to these enterprises--the Googles and Facebooks. “Unless the archiving and conversion of the data into easily accessible information is done right, it remains useless. Such precise archival management is something that is best done onshore, by trained experts,” says LAC’s Deborah Schwarz.

About The LAC Group

As a global advisor to Fortune 500 companies, governmental agencies and top law firms, LAC Group’s services include project management, outsourcing, competitive intelligence and expense reduction, as well as recruiting and staffing augmentation to support information management, research, digital assets, archives and records, e-resources audits and strategic planning. Formed in 1986, LAC Group is a certified woman-owned business with offices in Los Angeles, Washington DC Metro Area, Maryland, Denver, Boston, Chicago, New York City and London, UK Metro Area. Chase Cost Management (CCM) is a division of LAC Group. For more information about LAC Group or CCM visit www.lac-group.com or www.ccmchase.com.

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LAC Group & Chase Cost Management - Merger Announcement

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:17:51 +0000

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

February 07, 2012

Contact:

Crystal Rockwood 562-682-6482

crystal@rockwoodcc.com

Global Provider of Information Management Services to Fortune 500 Companies, Law Firms, Government and Academia

Merges with Expense Reduction Boutique to Nation’s Top Law Firms;

LAC Group Announces Merger with New York’s Chase Cost Management

LOS ANGELES, CALIF.— LAC Group, specializing in global information management and recruiting of professional services is pleased to announce a merger with Chase Cost Management (CCM), an expense reduction services firm located in New York. Combined, both firms revenue in 2011 totaled $25 million.

The merger will create a platform of services focused on cost efficient solutions for clients. Both firms will retain their names, and CCM will become a division of LAC. LAC has 300 employees in seven offices with operations at over 60 locations in the United States, Europe and Canada.

LAC’s clients include NASA, BP, the Library of Congress, National Library of Medicine, Tulane University, major law firms and a host of Fortune 500 medical, broadcast, entertainment and pharmaceutical companies. Formed in 1986, LAC is a certified woman-owned business. It has information management capacity in 25 languages in addition to having the resources to organize physical and digital asset management exceeding 200 million items.

“This merger yields the advanced quality of managed services our clients need. CCM’s impressive track record in fiscal savings has delivered more than $200 million in savings to their clients,” says Deborah Schwarz, president and CEO of LAC Group. “This is welcome news to LAC clients as we can now tap CCM’s benchmark studies and contract negotiation skills in further reducing client costs,” adds Schwarz.

LAC will now have a stronger presence in NY as a result. CCM provides more than 80 of the top 200 law firms (as ranked by American Lawyer) with customized expense reduction services. The firm is known for its creative strategies in streamlining costs of multi-layered and highly complex vendor contracts. CCM will maintain all staff and operations under its existing name and brand, as a division of LAC Group.

In turn, CCM clients will benefit from LAC’s vast capacity in information management and its ability to put professional services staff in place for short/long-term, permanent or virtual positions covering any project specifications. “Our professionals can parachute in at any stage of a project from its genesis to full execution so clients don’t lose momentum in their business cycle,” Schwarz explains. LAC’s recruiting resources are powered by the firms’ database of 35,000 pre-screened and pre-qualified candidates.

Len Levy, president of CCM, states,“This merger establishes a west coast presence for CCM and immediately benefits our clients in the areas of library consulting, facilities and records operations management and staffing resources.” Levy founded CCM in 1998 and the firm acquired its 50^th law firm client in 2005.

Merging companies is not unfamiliar territory to Schwarz, as she has merged LAC with two other companies in the firm’s 25 years. “We are seasoned in this process so we are better prepared on how to approach the blending and leveraging of resources,” explains Schwarz. Merger discussions between the firms began in the spring of 2011 and were finalized in November. “There are so many ripe opportunities as a result of the merger that 2012 is off to a great start for us,” Schwarz says.

About LAC Group

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LAC Group Named in Top 100 Fastest Growing and Top 100 Largest Women-Owned Companies in Los Angeles

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 11:00:00 +0000

LAC Group has been named by the Los Angeles Business Journal as one of the city’s top 100 fastest growing private companies in L.A. County and one of the top 100 largest women-owned L.A. County-based businesses. As owner, founder & CEO, Deborah Schwarz and her rapidly growing company of nearly 400 employees came in 90th and 34th respectively. LAC Group marks these milestones in their 25th year of operation, after a quarter century of providing quality and innovation in the global information and asset management industry. Schwarz credits the success to strong client relationships, a dedicated team and an unwavering focus on client success.

Download the press release.

LAC Group Adds New Business Development Lead

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 11:00:00 +0000

Deb Schwarz, CEO of LAC Group, announced today that Michele Lucero has joined the firm’s executive team as Director of Business Development and Recruiting. She will be based in the Los Angeles area and will drive expansion efforts for the nationally recognized firm by developing and maintaining trusted partnerships, sharing information to strengthen and empower relationships, and expanding LAC Group's reach into exciting new avenues in digitization, knowledge management, and competitive intelligence. Lucero comes to LAC Group with more than 17 years of experience including work with the LA Law Library; with West—a Thomson Reuters business in Los Angeles; in the private sector with Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP in Houston; Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP in Houston; Lionel Sawyer & Collins in Las Vegas; and in the public sector with the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District in Las Vegas.

Download the press release.

Goddard Library Digital Projects Team wins Robert H. Goddard Award

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:00:00 +0000

LAC Group congratulates the Goddard Library Digital Projects Team for winning the prestigious 2011 Robert H. Goddard Award for Quality and Process Improvement. The recipients are:

Mitzi Cole
Bria Parker
Jeremy Gottwig
Huacheng Tu

The Goddard Library Digital Projects Team developed and implemented the Goddard Library Repository, establishing a strong foundation for the digital preservation of Goddard’s intellectual output. There will be a Center Award Ceremony on November 29, 2011.

Congratulations to a truly excellent team for their hard work and outstanding contributions!

Revitalising Outsourcing

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Outsourcing can be an emotive issue but it can mean very different things to different people.

In some circumstances outsourcing has become so much part of accepted practice that it's no longer queried - book stock arriving shelf-ready for example, or using agencies to manage subscriptions. Here the benefits seem cut and dried and such examples of outsourcing are used in almost every library from public sector to special, legal and government. Where opinion tends to become polarised is where entire library and information management departments are outsourced to a different organisation or country, sometimes resulting in no trace of the physical function remaining on-site.

However, outsourcing on a larger scale doesn't need to be an all or nothing approach but can be used selectively to provide enhanced services for library users and increased opportunities for staff.

Drivers

Organisations considering outsourcing are usually approaching it as part of a long-term strategy or as a result of a sudden crisis.

Need for cost savings
Outside expertise required
Massive cultural/organisational change required eg move from traditional to a digital library service
Financial or other crisis
Seeking more services for less money
Improve storage efficiencies
Make better use of/monetise archives
Address environmental concerns
Implement new technology eg SharePoint
Physical to digital migration

Benefits

The benefits can loosely be grouped into time/cost efficiencies; service levels; and other.

Time/cost efficiencies

More efficient and streamlined processes
Reduced staff numbers and/or cost of staffing
Improved buying power on aspects from subscriptions to IT
Relevant information to fee earners in a more timely and cost efficient manner

Read this article online.

Outsourcing Arouses Passionate Debate

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Outsourcing – like Marmite, people seem to love it or hate it. Although outsourcing is gaining ground in law firms, information professionals’ opinions and experiences of it vary greatly. Many firms have successfully outsourced specific business tasks and have seen the benefits but, where library management and research tasks are concerned, there is healthy debate.

As a new entrant to the UK market (from an US company with over 25 years of experience in the area), LAC Group aims to make outsourcing a beneficial experience for staff whilst improving services and saving firms money.

LAC Group New Employee Announcement

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 11:00:00 +0000

LAC Group is pleased to announce the addition of Ms. Garland Fuller as a Recruiter who will be based in our Los Angeles office. Ms. Fuller brings more than ten years of professional recruiting experience to LAC Group. She served as Staff Recruiter for five years in a large law firm in San Francisco, and as the Regional Staffing Manager in a publicly-traded real estate brokerage. She has her master’s in Human Resources Development and bachelor’s in American Studies. She looks forward to learning the nuances of the information industry and working with many of the professionals leading the innovations in our field.

Download the press release.

LAC Group Awarded the Environmental Protection Agency Information Management Center Services 3 (IMCS 3)

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Global information and asset management leader LAC Group, in partnership with prime contractor Emergint Technologies Inc., has been awarded EPA’s prestigious Information Management Center Services 3 (IMCS 3) contract. Under this new EPA contract, the integrated team of partners, which LAC Group has joined, will provide a broad array of information and records management technology and library science support services for the EPA across the nation.

Download the press release.

LAC Group UK Office

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Global information and asset management leader, LA-based LAC Group, today announced the opening of its new UK office, located in Oxford (London area). The new operation is headed up by Iain Dunbar, a seasoned expert in strategic information and asset management.

Download the press release.

LAC Group 25th Anniversary

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Times are tough and with increased downsizing there now are more and more women scrambling to create viable career options for themselves. Maybe they should look to groundbreakers like LAC Group CEO Deb Schwarz—not long ago a librarian wracking her brain to develop greater career potential than the path she found stretching before her.

Download the press release.

LAC Group WBENC

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Deb Schwarz, CEO of Los Angeles-based LAC Group, announced today that the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council—through its regional certifying partner, WBEC West—has again certified the global information management provider as a Women’s Business Enterprise committed to excellence and the expansion of diversity best practices.

Download the press release.

LAC Group Welcomes Kelley Noone

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Kelley Noone, an information technology and financial management specialist, has joined global information and asset management leader LAC Group, according to the company’s COO, Rob Corrao.

Download the press release.

LAC Group merges with Expense Reduction Specialists, Chase Cost Management (CCM)

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 11:00:00 +0000

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

February 07, 2012

Contact:

Crystal Rockwood 562-682-6482

crystal@rockwoodcc.com

Global Provider of Information Management Services to Fortune 500 Companies, Law Firms, Government and Academia

Merges with Expense Reduction Boutique to Nation’s Top Law Firms;

LAC Group Announces Merger with New York’s Chase Cost Management

LOS ANGELES, CALIF.— LAC Group, specializing in global information management and recruiting of professional services is pleased to announce a merger with Chase Cost Management (CCM), an expense reduction services firm located in New York. Combined, both firms revenue in 2011 totaled $25 million.

The merger will create a platform of services focused on cost efficient solutions for clients. Both firms will retain their names, and CCM will become a division of LAC. LAC has 300 employees in seven offices with operations at over 60 locations in the United States, Europe and Canada.

LAC’s clients include NASA, BP, the Library of Congress, National Library of Medicine, Tulane University, major law firms and a host of Fortune 500 medical, broadcast, entertainment and pharmaceutical companies. Formed in 1986, LAC is a certified woman-owned business. It hasinformation management capacity in 25 languages in addition to having the resources to organize physical and digital asset managementexceeding 200 million items.

“This merger yields the advanced quality of managed services our clients need. CCM’s impressive track record in fiscal savings has delivered more than $200 million in savings to their clients,” says Deborah Schwarz, president and CEO of LAC Group. “This is welcome news to LAC clients as we can now tap CCM’s benchmark studies and contract negotiation skills in further reducing client costs,” adds Schwarz.

LAC will now have a stronger presence in NY as a result. CCM provides more than 80 of the top 200 law firms (as ranked by American Lawyer) with customized expense reduction services. The firm is known for its creative strategies in streamlining costs of multi-layered and highly complex vendor contracts. CCM will maintain all staff and operations under its existing name and brand, as a division of LAC Group.

In turn, CCM clients will benefit from LAC’s vast capacity in information management and its ability to put professional services staff in place for short/long-term, permanent or virtual positions covering any project specifications. “Our professionals can parachute in at any stage of a project from its genesis to full execution so clients don’t lose momentum in their business cycle,” Schwarz explains. LAC’s recruiting resources are powered by the firms’ database of 35,000 pre-screened and pre-qualified candidates.

Len Levy, president of CCM, states,“This merger establishes a west coast presence for CCM and immediately benefits our clients in the areas of library consulting, facilities and records operations management and staffing resources.” Levy founded CCM in 1998 and the firm acquired its 50^th law firm client in 2005.

Merging companies is not unfamiliar territory to Schwarz, as she has merged LAC with two other companies in the firm’s 25 years. “We are seasoned in this process so we are better prepared on how to approach the blending and leveraging of resources,” explains Schwarz. Merger discussions between the firms began in the spring of 2011 and were finalized in November. “There are so many ripe opportunities as a result of the merger that 2012 is off to a great start for us,” Schwarz says.

About LAC Group

As a global advisor to Fortune 500 companies, governmental agencies and top law firms, LAC Group’s services include project management, outsourcing, competitive intelligence and expense reduction, as well asrecruiting and staffing augmentation to support information management, research, digital assets, archives and records, e-resources audits and strategic planning. Formed in 1986, LAC Group is a certified woman-owned business with offices in Los Angeles, Washington DC Metro Area, Maryland, Denver, Boston, Chicago, New York City and London, UK Metro Area. Chase Cost Management (CCM) is a division of LAC Group. For more information about LAC Group or CCM visit www.lac-group.com orwww.ccmchase.com.

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Case Study: Natural History Museum – RIBA Stage A Feasibility

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 11:00:00 +0000

Case Study: Natural History Museum – RIBA Stage A Feasibility

The LAC Group was recently invited by the Natural History Museum to take part in a library consultancy exercise, looking at current accommodation for library collections, library staff and visiting readers and researchers/academics.

The NHM had been working for some time on a library strategy and needed both to test this and to explore additional operational and collection storage options. The exercise took the form of a Stage A Feasibility, following the standard RIBA guidelines, and we were accompanied by 3 other organisations – Logistics Simulation, Capita Symonds and Schmidt, Hammer Lassen. As well as involvement in the exercise as a whole, LAC Group took particular responsibility for assessing library operational requirements.

The NHM is a world-class scientific institution possessing an unparalleled collection of specimens, artworks, manuscripts, drawings, printed materials and a growing quantity of digital resources. These materials must be stored securely and preserved for posterity but also be made accessible, in a controlled fashion, both to the scientific community and the ‘science-aware’ public. The preservation and management of this body of resource has become progressively more difficult as the materials have outgrown the designated space available. This has necessitated the requisitioning of even more spaces, further afield, many of which are unsuitable or insufficiently large or relatively inaccessible or all three.

The work that LAC Group and partners undertook involved a review of buildings and spaces throughout the entire institution, observation of library operations and interviews with staff in various capacities. We then made detailed recommendations as to how all the library collections, staff and related services could be better accommodated. We also began to address systems and workflows and to suggested improvements commensurate with the accommodation options.

The NHM library and archive staff serves a worldwide constituency and, on a daily basis, accommodates both the visiting public and academics, along with resident scientists, seeking to connect them with the resources that are appropriate to their area of study. In addition, there are a growing number of remote ‘connections’ to the NHM library and archive resources, with the NHM having already begun to pioneer the transfer of priceless historic literature to digital formats, thus facilitating the development of service capability internationally.

A good deal of thinking and planning had already been done by the NHM in preparation for this consultancy exercise, especially in terms of collections analysis and mapping of existing storage spaces. The team at NHM is extremely professional and consistently delivers high quality services in less than ideal conditions. Without the facts and figures they were able to provide and without the openness and enthusiasm of the library staff we would not have been able to achieve a satisfactory outcome in the timescale allotted.

As it was, we were able to propose and to cost out five alternative accommodation packages, each significantly reducing the number of locations at which the collections are stored and each providing new office, meeting and reading room facilities. The study was also able to look at future service delivery, involving increasing amounts of digital material, and to suggest how library and research services need to evolve if the NHM is to meet and possibly exceed its strategic targets for engagement with a worldwide constituency.

Testimonial from Jane Smith, the NHM’s Head of Library Collections & Services:

Within a very tight deadline of six weeks, LAC Group and their partners thoroughly investigated all aspects of the Library’s operation and our role within the NHM. They questioned and tested all our assumptions, expanded our ideas and crucially helped us to present proposals for future development of the Library and its spaces to the Museum’s Directors. All those involved in this project and senior colleagues were impressed by the professionalism and expertise throughout the project and with the excellence of the final report. The time given by all the partners to understanding not just the Library but the whole Museum was impressive and ensured the success of the project.

Iain R Dunbar

General Manager, UK Operations

LAC Group

LAC Group Welcomes Jim Dieterle

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 11:00:00 +0000

Deb Schwarz, CEO of Los Angeles-based LAC Group, announced today that Jim Dieterle has joined the firm’s executive team as Director of Business Development. He will be based in the metro DC area and will lead efforts to expand Federal agency work programs for the nationally recognized, results-driven firm.

Download the press release.

LAC Group Tabulaw Advisor

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 11:00:00 +0000

Deborah Schwarz, Founder and CEO of LAC Group, was named an advisor to Tabulaw, a legal information tech company bringing modern information technology to the practice of law. As a member of the Tabulaw Advisory Board, Deborah brings great insight into managing information resources in the legal profession. Deborah has built LAC Group into a leading professional information services company that works with AmLaw 100 law firms and other large organizations to streamline and manage library and other information resources. This collaboration will directly support the aim to make legal research more effective for the practitioner and more accessible for everyone else.

Download the press release.

LAC Group Sponsorship Announcement

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 11:00:00 +0000

LAC Group will present the Illinois Library Association (ILA) Librarian of the Year Award at the ILA Annual Conference awards ceremony, 11:00 A.M., Wednesday, September 29, at Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois. Anne Hughes, Director of the Glen Carbon Centennial Library, has been selected as the 2010 recipient of the Librarian of the Year Award. This award, sponsored by LAC Group, recognizes a librarian's distinguished service and leadership in Illinois libraries.

Download the press release.

LAC Group New Employee Announcement

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 11:00:00 +0000

Gayle Pellizzer comes to LAC Group with both corporate and library experience. While working as a banking manager in Silicon Valley, she was responsible for ensuring operational compliance, training new supervisory employees, and maximizing clients' expectations. Gayle also developed and managed relationships with various hi-tech companies, including Intel, Yahoo, and Google.

Download the press release.

LAC Group New Employee Announcement

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Philip is a media archive and asset manager with nearly 20 years of stock library, postproduction and archive operations experience. He has managed large commercial film and video archives in their efforts to digitize, catalog, preserve and monetize content. He has successfully transitioned from a physical to digital archives in order to create transparency and access. Philip is fluent in the technical, operational and sales realms.

Download the press release.