FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jolie Newman
1-407-677-8404         
jolie.newman@equaterra.com

EQUATERRA WINS SOURCING RELATIONSHIP OF THE YEAR AND PERSON OF THE YEAR
AWARDS AT 2008 HRO WORLD CONFERENCE

HOUSTON (April 18, 2008) — EquaTerra today announced it won awards in two categories during the fourth annual HROA Awards™ Gala at the 2008 HRO World conference held earlier this week in New York City.  The first was with E.W. Scripps for 2008 Sourcing Relationship of the Year, and the other went to Lowell Williams, EquaTerra’s Executive Director of HR Advisory Services, as HROA Person of the Year.
                       
2008 Sourcing Relationship of the Year – E.W. Scripps and EquaTerra
Richard Crespin, the HROA’s Global Executive Director said when delivering the award to E.W. Scripps and EquaTerra, “As one of the largest and most comprehensive mid-market outsourcing relationships ever undertaken, your teams found themselves in relatively unchartered waters.  The EquaTerra-Scripps team undertook a process to define a comprehensive scope and explain that scope to the provider community.  One of the most ingenious outcomes from this relationship was that it forged new ground in the middle market.  The relationship and the initiative helped define some of the ’templates’ service providers will now use to create repeatable solutions for the middle market.  As a result, middle market providers and buyers can now gain economies of scope and scale…But I have to say, Lisa [Knutson, Vice President, HR Operations, E.W. Scripps], you put it best when you said, ‘Scripps decided a piecemeal HRO approach was less desirable than a comprehensive solution, and we consequently embarked on a journey that will challenge a 130 year old culture.  It can be daunting to blaze new trails for your own organization, while nudging the market out of its normal boundaries.  Partnering with EquaTerra, Scripps…push[ed] the envelope and the result speaks for itself…the insightful processes and innovative design that EquaTerra brought…will serve as the model for mid-market engagements for years to come.’”

2008 Person of the Year – Lowell Williams, Executive Director of HR Advisory Services, EquaTerra           

When presenting the Person of the Year award to Lowell Williams, Crespin said, “Lowell, this is a singular distinction.  You have earned an honor bestowed on a very select few…It is often said, to understand someone else’s perspective, walk a mile in his shoes.  You have walked many a mile in all of our shoes.  You have served as an HR practitioner and buyer, as a provider of service, and now as a sourcing advisor.  You bring to your job and our industry a unique understanding of what it means to play each of these roles.  As a result, every day you help advance our industry through your collaborative and thoughtful approach to resolving issues and advocating for the improvement of the practice of HR transformation.  You helped to bring the OpenDoorHRO initiative to set standards and practices into being and led the contribution of this valuable intellectual property to the HROA as a further evolution of its own standard-setting work.  In your ‘day job’ you help advance the understanding of buyers of all sizes and in your ‘free time’ you help improve the basis upon which all HRO is built.  Lowell, for all these reasons and many more, you are the HROA’s Man of the Year.”

About EquaTerra

EquaTerra sourcing advisors help clients achieve sustainable value in their IT and business processes. Our advisors average more than 20 years of industry experience and have supported over 2000 transformation and outsourcing projects across more than 60 countries. Supporting clients throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, we have deep functional knowledge in Finance and Accounting, HR, IT, Procurement and other critical business processes. EquaTerra helps clients achieve significant cost savings and process improvement with internal transformation, shared services and outsourcing solutions.  For more information, please contact Lee Ann Moore at +1 713.669.9292; leeann.moore@equaterra.com; www.equaterra.com.

About the HROA

The HROA is the definitive independent organization for all those who purchase, provide, or participate in HR transformation and outsourcing. Its membership encompasses over 7,500 HR executives, including the largest 50 buyers, the top 30 providers, the leading sourcing advisors and attorneys, and the best thought leaders in HR Transformation. The HROA brings its diverse membership together to set standards and practices, provide peer networking, and maintain a robust curriculum. For more information, visit http://www.hroa.org/