Comments on: Service providers siloed by vertical industry are stifling innovation with clients http://www.horsesforsources.com/vertical-silos-070810 Insight, Advice and Benchmarking for the Global Business Services Industry Fri, 03 Feb 2012 04:58:45 +0000 hourly 1 By: Up in the air with Ritesh Idnani… Part II http://www.horsesforsources.com/vertical-silos-070810/comment-page-1#comment-10951 Up in the air with Ritesh Idnani… Part II Sun, 17 Oct 2010 16:58:22 +0000 http://www.horsesforsources.com/?p=4148#comment-10951 [...] in vertical silos – there are a lot of differing voices in the industry on this issue. We wrote a report on this, recently, to show that a lot of clients are much more willing to innovate and collaborate [...] [...] in vertical silos – there are a lot of differing voices in the industry on this issue. We wrote a report on this, recently, to show that a lot of clients are much more willing to innovate and collaborate [...]

]]> By: Judy Dobles http://www.horsesforsources.com/vertical-silos-070810/comment-page-1#comment-10247 Judy Dobles Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:48:35 +0000 http://www.horsesforsources.com/?p=4148#comment-10247 Another thought: Innovation requires two things in my mind: a culture of putting the customer 1st and a deep understanding of end to end process. Innovation to me is all about delighting the customer, surpassing expectations and meeting a need that they did not even know they had yet. Without a full understanding of the end to end process it is hard to imagine or think about what is possible. I have recently been doing business process consulting and executive coaching. In addition my summer reading has included: Exceptional Service Exceptional Profit, Delivering Happiness, Unleashing Excellence and Customers for Life. What was reinforced for me was that the "people at the coal face" [folks actually doing the work] usually can see the things that are not working well. However, the issues the people see are not things that they personally can solve. The issues tend to be cross-boundary issues. The role of the executives and people managing the services should be to gather the innovation ideas from everyone in the organization and then assign project teams to implement them. Usually the best innovations come from working across boundaries and when groups are in silos their view will be much to narrow. Another thought:
Innovation requires two things in my mind: a culture of putting the customer 1st and a deep understanding of end to end process. Innovation to me is all about delighting the customer, surpassing expectations and meeting a need that they did not even know they had yet. Without a full understanding of the end to end process it is hard to imagine or think about what is possible. I have recently been doing business process consulting and executive coaching. In addition my summer reading has included: Exceptional Service Exceptional Profit, Delivering Happiness, Unleashing Excellence and Customers for Life. What was reinforced for me was that the “people at the coal face” [folks actually doing the work] usually can see the things that are not working well. However, the issues the people see are not things that they personally can solve. The issues tend to be cross-boundary issues. The role of the executives and people managing the services should be to gather the innovation ideas from everyone in the organization and then assign project teams to implement them. Usually the best innovations come from working across boundaries and when groups are in silos their view will be much to narrow.

]]> By: Anurag Mehrotra http://www.horsesforsources.com/vertical-silos-070810/comment-page-1#comment-8987 Anurag Mehrotra Fri, 23 Jul 2010 08:41:17 +0000 http://www.horsesforsources.com/?p=4148#comment-8987 Interesting dichotomy isn’t it. Clients prefer providers who work with one of their competitors but at the same time want separate delivery structures. I haven’t heard of a single client review where they haven’t asked “so what are the best practices we can adopt from your other clients”. Ironic but true. At the same time, to ensure innovation/continuous improvement, service providers do make it a point to share best practices across their clients within a vertical and also across verticals, without getting into specifics of the client. Engagement forums are created and encouraged in progressive providers. Interesting dichotomy isn’t it. Clients prefer providers who work with one of their competitors but at the same time want separate delivery structures. I haven’t heard of a single client review where they haven’t asked “so what are the best practices we can adopt from your other clients”. Ironic but true. At the same time, to ensure innovation/continuous improvement, service providers do make it a point to share best practices across their clients within a vertical and also across verticals, without getting into specifics of the client. Engagement forums are created and encouraged in progressive providers.

]]> By: 724Care Outsources Telemarketing Software with CCAP – TMC Net | Go4outsourcing.com http://www.horsesforsources.com/vertical-silos-070810/comment-page-1#comment-8763 724Care Outsources Telemarketing Software with CCAP – TMC Net | Go4outsourcing.com Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:04:58 +0000 http://www.horsesforsources.com/?p=4148#comment-8763 [...] Horses for Sources (blog) [...] [...] Horses for Sources (blog) [...]

]]> By: Shammik http://www.horsesforsources.com/vertical-silos-070810/comment-page-1#comment-8761 Shammik Fri, 09 Jul 2010 17:42:48 +0000 http://www.horsesforsources.com/?p=4148#comment-8761 Two comments really: a) The governance on innovation is the interesting change management issue. At the daily interaction the provider deals with buyer stakeholders that are paranoid about change - any change. In the absence of benchmarks for the "new, improved, process" the concern is that any change in the outsourced fragment leads to irreparable damage downstream that the supervisor does not want to take ownership for. The "innovation" discussion takes place at best in the quarterly review. Its hard to plan for the quarterly review when putting out daily operational fires, and no one now seems to own the balance between daily performance and the new world. Not having seen a single instance of this change having taking place, would be very interested in hearing of cases where this has been resolved. b) The capital markets world, in our part of the universe, has been replete with discussion on "utilities" and shared services. Its a good space for that discussion since securities trading really happens in an ecosystem that's been trying to gear itself up for STP. We've been part of buyer led discussions offering to get other ecosystem players involved if the providers can come up with a solution that addresses data security and confidentiality, but only for processes that have a high cost (or pain) element AND low differentiation. Am curious, does this not hold true anymore for this industry? .. Incidentally, we know of at least one instance where a firm we've worked with has actually created a supply chain ecosystem for technology manufacturers, distributors and retailers albeit in a single instance.. Two comments really:

a) The governance on innovation is the interesting change management issue. At the daily interaction the provider deals with buyer stakeholders that are paranoid about change – any change. In the absence of benchmarks for the “new, improved, process” the concern is that any change in the outsourced fragment leads to irreparable damage downstream that the supervisor does not want to take ownership for. The “innovation” discussion takes place at best in the quarterly review. Its hard to plan for the quarterly review when putting out daily operational fires, and no one now seems to own the balance between daily performance and the new world. Not having seen a single instance of this change having taking place, would be very interested in hearing of cases where this has been resolved.

b) The capital markets world, in our part of the universe, has been replete with discussion on “utilities” and shared services. Its a good space for that discussion since securities trading really happens in an ecosystem that’s been trying to gear itself up for STP. We’ve been part of buyer led discussions offering to get other ecosystem players involved if the providers can come up with a solution that addresses data security and confidentiality, but only for processes that have a high cost (or pain) element AND low differentiation. Am curious, does this not hold true anymore for this industry? .. Incidentally, we know of at least one instance where a firm we’ve worked with has actually created a supply chain ecosystem for technology manufacturers, distributors and retailers albeit in a single instance..

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