Robotics-led BPO<\/a>, however, this also means service buyers must\u00a0entrust their providers with more intimate data access.<\/p>\n2- Embracing As-a-Service. <\/strong>Ambitious service providers going after greenfield F&A opportunities with automation and analytics front and center. Many of the new deals being negotiated are where the As-a-Service action is much more prominent. Service providers are much more willing to invest in new opportunities, than make sacrifices in existing engagements. \u00a0We are now witnessing\u00a0the emergence of automation-led human augmentation<\/em> solutions, where some deals are partially funded by the expected headcount reduction and productivity improvements over the course of a multi-year engagement. We believe this will be especially relevant in F&A contracts, which form the baseline of the BPO market today. However, buyers need to be much more willing to enter into deep collaborative relationships with their service providers, where they stop forcing their providers to only access their systems using Citrix, which limits the effectiveness of RPA overall and encourages an \u201cus versus them\u201d mindset between buyer and provider. Both parties cannot enjoy the full benefits of RPA and Intelligent Automation, without genuine collaborative engagements and a holistic security model that aligns the capabilities more effectively. \u00a0In addition, greedy buyers need to stop treating RPA like legacy offshore BPO and demanding all the productivity savings up-front, before the RPA benefits have been formalized – and without realizing that RPA often drives up service provider costs in the short term for increased testing and QA.<\/p>\nWho are the standout performers for F&A As-a-Service?<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nThe outstanding two service providers are Accenture and Genpact. \u00a0Accenture<\/strong> leads the market in terms of sheer size and scale (we estimate its annual F&A BPO revenues now exceed $1 billion), and has made considerable investments in its analytics and RPA capabilities. \u00a0Most impressive are its on-demand FP&A apps that really create an As-a-Service mindset for its delivery staff and clients. \u00a0We would like to see a mid-market approach to emerge from Accenture in this space, considering its As-a-Service approach and ability to plug new clients into its massive global delivery model.<\/p>\nGenpact<\/strong> has really re-emerged in the market over the past 18 months, winning a host of new deals which have deep commitments for future productivity improvements through RPA built in. \u00a0The firm has also made good progress\u00a0evolving\u00a0relationships with existing clients which were originally signed up in the legacy lift-and-shift model. Its focus on LeanDigital and CFO consulting has helped the firm move up the value chain with a proven reputation for consultative process capabilities. We do hope, however, that Genpact can stay more consistent with its offerings in the future, as it does have a habit of confusing the market with too many product launches, using too much jargon.<\/p>\nIBM<\/strong>‘s Global Business Services team has convinced the industry it is still very committed to F&A, and is aggressively looking to embed Design Thinking and Intelligent Automation into its engagements. \u00a0It’s commitment to RPA and cognitive could be huge differentiators for the firm as it embeds these into its engagements – and Watson’s “Buying Assistant” tool signals the potential of further expansive cognitive capabilities for F&A. \u00a0We would, however, like IBM to embed its technology portfolio better with its F&A offerings – too often they come across as standalone tools.<\/p>\nEXL<\/strong> makes winners circle in F&A for the first time with a genuine top-down determination from its CEO to embrace the ideals of As-a-Service. The firm is a real example why some mid-size service providers are adapting much better to As-a-Service than some of the monolithic Tier 1’s – it can scale down to pick up mid-market engagements and is big enough to play at the big table. EXL also has a genuinely collaborative client centric approach which really helps it deepen relationships in areas like process improvement\u00a0and analytics – and has stayed true and consistent to its product offerings over the years, with\u00a0EXLerator, for example, effectively supporting\u00a0process improvement for several clients. We would like to see it build on its nascent RPA capability with its recent partnership with Automation Anywhere.<\/p>\nTCS<\/strong> also makes its first F&A winners circle, with a determined focus on RPA in O2C and P2P processes. TCS is proving highly determined to prove the RPA model to its clients by taking risks and making revenue sacrifices. Moreover, its diverse portfolio and vertical depth in BFSI, manufacturing and utilities are starting to bear fruit in F&A. We would like to see the firm clearly articulate its overall focus and mission moving forwards, as TCS currently has so many initiatives in areas such as automation, cognitive, digital etc., that it sometimes comes across as a confederation of multiple businesses than one integrated enterprise.<\/p>\nCapgemini<\/strong> continues to be a leading F&A provider with its renowned global process model and real focus on operational excellence in finance delivery. \u00a0Moreover, its acquisition of IGATE could deliver real potential for the firm’s “As-a-Stack” approach to F&A by marrying IGATE’s ITOPS platform and bringing much-needed vertical industry depth. We would like to see greater urgency and focus on integrating the BPO components of IGATE and the firm would also benefit from increased focus on analytics.<\/p>\nWNS<\/strong> makes up the winners circle – also a first-time entrant – with a very effective outcome-based pricing approach and CFO framework, popular with many clients. \u00a0Not unlike EXL, being a mid-sized provider is playing to WNS’ advantage, with its aggressive sales approach and client-first mentality. We would like to see WNS expand its footprint further – both geographically and vertically – as the company continues to grow and perform well in the As-a-Service era.<\/p>\nOther standout As-a-Service performers include:\u00a0Sutherland<\/strong>, which has quietly won some impressive new deals and has been an early mover with RPA; HPE<\/strong>‘s well articulated approach to RPA; arvarto<\/strong>‘s\u00a0order-to-cash focus; OneSource Virtual<\/strong>‘s entry into the market with it’s Workday model and RPA-native development environment; Infosys<\/strong>‘ unique focus on Design Thinking; Wipro<\/strong>‘s deployment of it’s Holmes platform in processes such as AP and fraud detection.<\/p>\nAnd finally, what developments can we expect to see in this market over the next year?<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nTwo Ideals\u00a0are dominating the F&A As-a-Service space – Intelligent Automation and Actionable and Accessible Data, and I expect these to continue to differentiate the service providers. \u00a0While I see capabilities around RPA becoming fairly commonplace in the coming months, the ability to support the data underbelly for the finance function will come to the fore – and clients will need to let their service providers into their intimate systems and data repositories for them to be truly effective together.<\/p>\n
With all this pressure coming from the front office to embrace digital business models, the onus is moving to the middle\/back offices to keep pace with the changes happening at the business end of organizations, with the finance function being the fulcrum for future agility and responsiveness to market conditions. \u00a0I also believe we will start to see Design Thinking start to emerge as a methodology for buyers and providers to make the shift to As-a-Service, and the finance function is a place where many organizations need some serious re-imagination if they are ever going to break from legacy habits.<\/p>\n
This market has a long way to go, and the real work of making the shift to As-a-Service is still in its very early days.<\/p>\n
HfS readers can click\u00a0<\/i><\/b>here<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/a>\u00a0to view highlights of all our 37 HfS Blueprint reports. See our plans for 2016 Blueprints here<\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\nHfS subscribers\u00a0click here<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0to access the new HfS Blueprint Report:\u00a0F&A As-a-Service 2016<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Growth in offshore-dominated services may be slowing for traditional IT support services, but for multi-process\u00a0Finance and Accounting (F&A) services engagements,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,835,65,78,90],"tags":[303],"ppma_author":[19],"yoast_head":"\n
Accenture, Genpact, IBM, EXL, TCS, Capgemini and WNS lead the first As-a-Service lens of Finance and Accounting - Horses for Sources | No Boundaries<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n