HfS Research has partnered with ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) to conduct the largest-ever global study of finance professionals to understand adoption trends, experiences and dynamics of shared services and outsourcing for the finance function.
The BPO industry has been going though an incredible evolution since the first major deals was cast, barely more than a decade ago, that it’s high time we took stock and take a good look at the phases – or generations – through which our industry has progressed. And there are few people who have lived and breathed these generational shifts more closely that Accenture’s BPO leader, Mike Salvino.
In case you missed our joint webcast with Ed Caso of Wells Fargo Securities on Friday, fear no more, as here’s the replay
Emptoris’ well-regarded user interface and strong brand recognition among the procurement crowd make it an idea mate for IBM’s technology-driven focus and market leading procurement BPO capability. While the integration of Sterling, DemandTec, and Emptoris will take some time to become “smarter commerce”, there will be some immediate upsides.
Our core mantra at HfS has always been to tackle the issues and complexities of global sourcing through the eyes of the buyer. One analyst who has spent nine years of his life doing just that, leading BPO governance for the $62 Billion healthcare payor, WellPoint, is our Governator himself, Tony Filippone. No single person in 2011 has written to – or talked with – more buyers about their governance challenges, and we are delighted to reveal to the world today his elevation to Executive Vice President of HfS’ research team.
We’ve teamed with our esteemed industry colleague Ed Caso, Managing Director and Senior Analyst for the IT/BPO Services Equity Research Team at Wells Fargo Securities, to review the world of outsourcing in 2011… and take a peek at what’s in store for 2012
The ability to develop some best-in-class processes as “Business Platforms”, whether they focus on horizontal or vertical process clusters, is becoming a real differentiator in the market, as buyers seek more standardized solutions from their outsourcing engagements. The gauntlet being laid out to providers, with these Business Platforms, is their ability to support their clients’ transitions quickly and inexpensively. Simply selling “products” is not the concept of business platforms – it is the provider’s ability to work with their customers to facilitate and support the ultimate business outcomes of managing the processes associated with the Business Platform offering.
So how do you take shared services leaders and blend their expertise with the outsourcing governors? How do you go from fragmented service delivery with multiple points of contact, to a global governance model with a rationalized and centralized administration of third-party service providers?
CMOs have it tough today, whichever geography or market you look at. They’re stretching dollars for myriad activities in a function that’s undergoing major change. HfS Research’s Reetika Joshi discusses her new report “Marketing BPO Services: Solving the CMO’s Dilemma”
Governments are very capable of passing measures very quickly to restrict outsourcing if things get really bad – and they won’t have any choice if the 99% demand it. All outsourcing stakeholders – buyers, providers and advisors – need to focus, more than ever, on helping organizations approach outsourcing as one supporting component of a holistic solution.
What is motivating buyers to outsource in this current climate? While eliminating cost is still is a huge fundamental, buyers are even more focused on achieving greater flexibility to scale their global operations as a prime motivating factor. Clearly, many executives are getting more experienced and skilled at driving an sourcing initiative, and are confident they can use the endeavor as a change agent to promote and implement much-needed change in their businesses.
Our new study that covered the intentions and observations of 534 buyers, advisors and providers with their sourcing strategies in the event of a “Double-Dip” Recession reveals one major shift in the industry: most buyers now recognize what their businesses need to improve to drive productivity, they simply are struggling to figure out how to marshall their internal and external resources to help them get there.
The International Institute of Analyst Relations (IIAR) 2012 analyst awards: HfS Research wins the individual award for “Analyst of the Year” for a second year in succession in addition to Outsourcing Analyst Firm of the Year.
Today, we have launched The BPO Resource Center that’s geared to become THE one-stop shop for anyone seeking to learn more about Business Process Outsourcing – without having to pay thousands of dollars for the privilege.
We’re delighted to unveil a very special talent to the sourcing industry – a respected veteran of the infrastructure security world and now seeking to ply his knowledge and experience to supporting global sourcing environments: Jim Slaby.
Part II of our Charlie Aird interview, where we talk about the future of the sourcing industry, the Global Business Services framework he’s spearheading, and a little insight into how he views the changing environment for Big 4 consultants and boutique advisors.
We’re delighted to announce that Reetika Joshi has joined our full-time team to crank up our already cranky BPO and analytics coverage
Our latest study shows that many buyer executives are, in actuality, in violent disagreement with many provider and sourcing advisor executives that they their business leaders are too “short-term focused”
This report authored by HfS Research and Loeb&Loeb provides both Business-function and IT executives with a detailed assessment of Cloud adoption strategies, an analysis of business benefits, concerns, challenges and contractual issues that need to be addressed and discusses the key service providers provisioning Cloud Computing services in today’s market.
When we ask them buyers they’re foraging for help and information with outsourcing strategy-making in the coming months, the results are simple: they are turning to whatever sourcing are most easily-accessible and inexpensively-available to them
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