No one knows this better than CargoSmart Ltd, a portal company thatspecialises on delivering round-the-clock Internet access to a widevariety of services for the shipping industry, including interactivesailing schedules and cargo tracking.

Although CargoSmart began its life under the wings of its parentcompany, Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) Ltd, the companyquickly realised that gaining confidence (and money) from competingshipping line operators was next to impossible. "We needed a moreneutral infrastructure, and we needed to ensure that our applicationwas secure," says Steven Siu, CEO of CargoSmart. So he decided tooutsource.

Siu chose HP's Internet Data Centre facility in Hong Kong to managehis entire core competence. "HP's flexibility in service andrelationship with existing technical vendors were some of the decidingfactors," adds Siu.

To make such a decision work, CargoSmart needed to "fully understandtheir own needs fast," says Kim Le, CargoSmart's Customer CareManager. "And you have to make sure that your vendor's objectives arein line with yours."

The outsourcing strategy was successful. And soon the other shippinglines joined CargoSmart, including China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co.,Malaysia International Shipping Corp. and Nippon Yusen Kaisha Line.