WellPoint’s governator, Tony Filippone, joins HfS as Research Vice President

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Tony "The Governator" Filippone joins HfS' research leadership (click for bio)

Fed up leading BPO initiatives for a $60 billion healthcare insurance firm for the last nine years of your life?

Bored with developing new governance structures that cater for multiple back-office processes and managing an assortment of onshore/offshore providers?

Exasperated from pouring though reams of SLAs and pricing schedules?

Stultified by the incessant deluge of PowerPoint from providers and advisors regurgitating and repackaging that same old dog n’ pony show in the vein hope you’ll spare them a few dimes for their efforts?

Finally realized it’s high-time to climb those steps into your very own ivory tower and start telling everyone else how it’s done (or not done)?

Ladies, gentlemen and members of the outsourcing business… please welcome Mr Anthony M. Filippone to the hallowed ground of HfS analyst, industry thought-leader, and, most notably, the role of Governator-Extraordinaire.

I have got to know Tony well over the least four years where he has contributed to our thinking, added some real value to our buyers’ groups, and developed an industry-wide reputation for challenging the status quo of vendor management and governance.  Not only is he an out-of-the-box thinker, but he is a prolific writer with a slightly snarky sense of humor, and a great sense of irony. And from mail-and-print through to strategic sourcing and revenue cycle, you won’t meet many people with such a deep, working knowledge and understand of those operational processes that make business tick.

While you can read his bio here, and view the lovely press release here, I’ll hand you straight over to our brand-spanking-new, feisty, no-holds-barred, Research Vice President for Governance, Sourcing and Healthcare strategies himself to tell you why he’s joining the ranks of the crazy-horses…

Why Tony joined HfS Research and what he intends to do here (in his own words)

I am absolutely thrilled to join the experienced, no-nonsense, fun-loving HfS Research team.  I’ve formed and led outsourcing and strategic sourcing teams for the last nine years, but the time has come for me to help more organizations make great outsourcing decisions and optimize their outsourcing programs to achieve success.  Here is what my aggressive research agenda will bring you:

The “Other 90%” – No organization has truly focused on what happens after the deal is done and the work has transitioned.  The vast majority of the discussion in the outsourcing industry focuses on outsourcing solutions, service provider selection, and post-deal transition.  I offer two examples:

  1. The IAOP offers a certification program for outsourcing professionals and less than 40 pages of the 353 pages of their body of knowledge covers post-transition governance for buyers and service providers.
  2. Brown and Wilson’s “landmark” 366-page “The Black Book of Outsourcing” has four pages focused on governance and vendor management.

Putting this gap in research and industry focus into perspective, no organization has offered expert, research-based assistance on how to handle the last 54 months of your 60-month contract.  My primary role at HfS Research will be to help buyers and service providers learn how to succeed together in managing simple and complex outsourcing programs.

Deep Buy-side Experience – Advisors have extensive experience shaping deals and service providers have extensive process experience.  However, HfS Research’s objective, no-BS coverage of the industry, HfS’s relationship with the Sourcing Interests Group (SIG), and the oversubscribed HfS 25 give HfS a unique position to advance the experienced buyer’s perspectives within the outsourcing industry.  Since I have lived in the buy-side trenches for the last nine years in governance and procurement roles, my real-world experience will be invaluable to HfS’s community.

Broad BPO Experience – While ITO remains an important part of any organization’s strategy, BPO goes far beyond FAO and HRO and into the hardcore operations of a company.  I’ve led large outsourcing initiatives focused on inbound customer service and sales centers, complex back-office transaction processing, inbound mailroom/imaging/data entry, outbound mailroom, and HRO. I will play a critical role at HfS’s development of research in more horizontal BPO categories for buyers and service providers who seek to learn key industry trends.

Healthcare Industry Experience – No American industry is undergoing more change than the healthcare industry due to regulatory changes, the need to provide more cost effective healthcare, and the need to improved health in our communities.  Changes in the payor and provider industries will necessitate increased use of outsourcing to lower costs, obtain improve process efficiencies, and improve health outcomes.  I will lead HfF’s coverage of the healthcare outsourcing industry.

Tony Filippone (pictured above) has joined HfS Research’s leadership team as Research Vice President, Governance, Sourcing and Healthcare Strategies.  He can be emailed at tony dot filippone @ hfsresearch.com, or tweeted @360VendorMgmt

Posted in : Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), Captives and Shared Services Strategies, Finance and Accounting, Financial Services Sourcing Strategies, Healthcare and Outsourcing, HR Outsourcing, Outsourcing Heros, Procurement and Supply Chain, Social Networking, Sourcing Best Practises

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  1. I am absolutely thrilled to join HfS Research, but I can see the Governator jokes showing up any second. Knowing that the other gentleman who shares the Governator title has an interesting list of famous (and infamous) quotations, let me lead with a fitting Governator quote: “I welcome and seek your ideas, but do not bring me small ideas; bring me big ideas to match our future.”

  2. Welcome, Tony! You’re clearly joining the “voice” of the outsourcing industry. I look forward to reading about your experiences,

    Martin Buckley

  3. Tony,

    It’s so refreshing to have people with real client-side experience becoming analysts. It’s such a welcome change from those analysts who have clearly never practiced real outsourcing. Like the others commenting here, I’m excited to read your views and research,

    Welcome aboard!

    Maureen O’Donnell

  4. Tony,

    Am sure you will be telling us all about the “school of hard outsourcing knocks” 🙂

    Welcome to HfS!

    Gaurav

  5. @Martin and @Stephen – Thank you! HfS has a great position to help everyone drive the conversation forward.

    @Maureen – There are times when I feel the industry has completely forgotten what outsourcing is really about – delivering exemplary services every day. Despite our industry’s buzz about innovation, clouds, and transformation, every deal comes down to execution. When execution is regularly done right, buyers are ecstatic, providers get renewals, and both organizations advance their strategic objectives.

    @Gaurav – I hope you have an extra bottle of aspirin handy!

  6. Tony – welcome aboard! Will be refreshing to have a real “insiders” perspective on governance, based on your impressive background,

    Best,

    Lawrence Mills

  7. @Lawrence – Truth be told there’s a lot of good going on, but its too infrequently happening and not consistently applied. The anecdotes will be entertaining, but I really look forward to bring real research on what works to the buyers and providers.

    @Vasanth – Thanks for the good words, and I’m sure we’ll continue to see each other!

  8. Tony
    You will be a great asset to HfS and a good sounding board for all those BPO fans out there like me. Welcome to your new team and hope to hear from you soon!

  9. Tony,
    Congratulations! This is a fantastic research area that definitely deserves more thoughtful research and a provocative thinking on how to drive more value from existing portfolios and new relationships. I look forward to your contribution!

    – RW

  10. Welcome to HFS, Tony. You have joined the outsourcing industry’s finest group of thinkers, and your addition is testament to the growing reputation of the firm. Covering governance strategy is a poorly underserved area today, and you are in the driver’s seat to educate us all!

    Paul

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