EQUATERRA AUGMENTS TEAM WITH RENOWNED BPO AND RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT EXPERTS
HOUSTON (October 14, 2003) — EquaTerra, the world’s first advisory firm to deliver complete Sourcing Lifecycle Management (SLM)™ services to outsourcing buyers, today announced the addition of four globally-recognized business process outsourcing (BPO) and relationship management experts to its team. The new EquaTerra executives are: Patrice Gilles, Teri Robinson, Dave Kirk and Jim Koenig.
Mark Toon, EquaTerra’s CEO, said, “We’re honored to have these four experts on our team. Their expertise in BPO, relationship management, procurement, F&A, HR and technology will bring significant value to our clients throughout the entire outsourcing lifecycle.”
Patrice Gilles

Patrice brings nearly 25 years of international and domestic experience in purchasing, source-to-settle, legal, finance, operations, HR, and BPO transactions and negotiation to her role as leader of EquaTerra’s Procurement practice. Prior to joining EquaTerra, Patrice managed the BP (British Petroleum) HR outsourcing relationship, and was Vice President of Global Sourcing and Third Party Management Operations (TPO), for Exult. She was responsible for developing and implementing Exult’s TPO methodology, structure and operations in support of managed processes, and set the strategic directions for each process. She also structured customer contractual relationships for TPO revenue and savings, led assessments and process reviews during the sales process, and led customer transitions while managing teams of professionals in the U.S. and U.K. Before Exult, she was Vice President of Purchasing Services for Sourcenet Solutions, an F&A and Procurement BPO company. Patrice spent the previous fifteen years working for EDS in the U.S., Belgium and France. During her last two and a half years there, she was EDS’ Supplier Relations Director (BPO Purchasing.)
Teri Robinson

Teri has more than twenty years of experience in strategic planning and business analysis, large-scale project implementations, BPO, financial impact analysis, franchise operations, organizational management, technology research, evaluation and deployment, and systems development. Before joining EquaTerra, Teri was senior vice president and CIO of Metromedia Restaurant Group (MRG), a $1.5 billion international owner and franchisor of casual and family dining restaurants including Bennigan’s, Steak & Ale and Ponderosa. At MRG, she was responsible for leading the company’s back-office BPO initiative, completing a $50 million BPO engagement that significantly improved service delivery levels in IT and F&A, while also reducing costs; and completely transforming the IT function and reducing spend by 20% while improving overall delivery. Teri was the executive responsible for all BPO relationship management functions between MRG and ACS. Prior to MRG, Teri was vice president of business information strategy for Darden Restaurants. There, she saved the corporation millions of dollars by replacing obsolete technology, and introduced superior new technological functionality to over 50,000 users; developed the first strategic planning group within the IT function; developed partnership agreements with key vendors; led the development and implementation of performance and cultural assessment tools across the organization; implemented programs designed to provide significant service level improvements within the organization; and held financial and budgetary responsibility for millions of dollars in projects. Earlier in her career, Teri was a management consultant at Price Waterhouse.
Dave Kirk, Ph.D.

Before joining EquaTerra as technology practice lead, Dave was the Chief Technology Officer for the Patient Safety Institute (PSI). Since receiving his Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, he has held leadership positions in the Internet, e-Commerce, and mobile technology spaces, working in industries including Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals and Consumer Products. His combined business and technical expertise have enabled him to assume roles including Chief Technical Architect of a $1.2 billion distributed computing project and Vice President and Director positions at MCI Systemhouse, EDS and Mobilocity, with responsibility for defining and building emerging technology consulting practices. Over the course of his consulting career, Dave has leveraged leading edge technology to deliver business solutions to clients including Procter & Gamble, Patient Safety Institute, Avon, EuroRSCG, Johnson & Johnson, McKesson/HBOC, and Harris Communications.
Jim Koenig

Jim has twenty eight years of experience in the technology and outsourcing industries. Prior to joining EquaTerra as a senior advisor, he managed the International Paper HR outsourcing relationship on behalf of Exult. While at Exult, he was a key member of the team developing the process for transferring HR services delivery, and supported the business development process. Before Exult, Jim was the Managing Director with nationwide responsibility for the sales support and transition functions for the Applications Systems Management (ASM) practice within MCI Systemhouse. In this role, Jim led the team that developed the application outsourcing solution for the customer. He also provided delivery oversight to the ASM transition and delivery process following successful award of the outsourcing contract, and played a key role in defining a work unit approach to managing and delivering the enhancement services component of ASM services. Following the acquisition of MCI Systemhouse by EDS, Jim was a lead member of a team responsible for developing delivery and resourcing constructs for the E.solutions Consulting business unit (a 5,000+ person consulting unit within EDS.) Before MCI Systemhouse, he was an independent consultant, and through a variety of assignments for both public and private sector customers, gained experience in project management, quality assurance, and requirements analysis.

About EquaTerra
Headquartered in Houston, Texas, EquaTerra, the first Sourcing Lifecycle Management™ company, helps its clients achieve maximum value from their outsourcing relationships.  The firm offers four distinct service lines that align with each client’s unique requirements: Knowledge & Education, Assessments & Planning, Outsource & Insource and Relationship Management. For more information, please contact Mark Hodges at 281-733-0263; mark.hodges@equaterra.com; www.equaterra.com.