Outsourcing Times

Welsh Water to revamp IT systems in multi-outsourcing contract

CapGemini, LogicaCMG, and TCS will seek to transform the business processes and IT systems at UK utility Welsh Water in a £100 million outsourcing contract. The outsourcing partners will bring about comprehensive hardware replacements and implement the fully integrated SAP enterprise resource planning system.

The outsourcing move is expected to bring Welsh Water on par with state-of-the-art water technology, and the next three years will see the utility train 2,500 employees so that the new system is put to its optimum use. Vnunet quotes head of IT Fraser Nairn:

In the past, we have not invested a great deal in IT, and we want to update all our systems to give much better services to our customers and bring big efficiencies into the business.

Outsourcing your insurance

Do not be surprised if your insurer is looking to outsource services to a third party to improve operational efficiency and enhance growth opportunities. According to a report by Dublin-based consultants Research and Markets (R&M), outsourcing among insurance companies is a growing trend.

R&M based its conclusions on interviews conducted with insurers from the American continent, the Asia Pacific region, and EMEA. More than 50% of the interviews use BPO-based insurers.

The bulletin released by R&M, and quoted by Insurance Journal, goes on to say:

The horizontal processes such as HRO, F&A and CRM continue to grow significantly despite their dominance in terms of absolute usage. However, the fastest growth going forward will be in the industry specific processes such as claims processing and policy administration.

IT heavyweights discuss the outsourcing flight path

As we have seen in an older post titled "Western European IT outsourcing bounds ahead through mega deals", it is least surprising that IT continues to be the one industry that is making rapid strides, attracting many offshore mega deals. India is very much a part of this world phenomenon. 

This was reflected at the IT conclave organized by the Industrial Interaction Committee of the MBA program at IIT Kanpur, where several of the top IT heavyweights traced the development of outsourcing in India from its days of infancy to its present mature state.

Mr. Ramakanth Desai, Senior Vice President, Business Strategy and Innovation at Wipro, reflected on the initial phase when cost arbitrage was the key attraction that Indian IT players had, and looked at the status today when big deals are being struck by service providers in India. The BPO industry obviously continues to play a major role in the paradigm shift, with a growth rate of about 50% per annum.

Other speakers focused on issues such as the global mindset of Indian managers for a vibrant outsourcing industry, project management as a key to the success of the IT industry, the utilization of IT as a strategic tool for increasing business competitiveness, and the rather sordid tale of corruption in the IT industry.

For more details on each of these subjects, click here.

Fiserv Inc. to provide core banking services to Denmark State Bank

In an older post, I mentioned the high dependence of investment banks on outsourcing. In fact, outsourcing in the banking sector has been on a steady growth path across the globe.

When the time came to have a relook at its outsourcing partner, Denmark State Bank in Wisconsin opted to go for Fiserv Inc., rather than renew the contract with its existing service provider.

It's really the requirement for change that has prompted Denmark State Bank to opt for Fiserv Inc in the place of its current service provider. The Bank officials assert that the Premier core capability of Fiserv is a better option that enables the bank to access all customer data from a single application without giving up functionality requirements.

The Fiserv clearing network will posit the bank pretty well to create substitute checks as and when required and extract more mileage from the deal. Finextra reports on Fiserv's Information Technology Inc. (ITI) business unit:

Available for both outsourced and in-house environments, ITI's openly integrated software suite offers products for virtually every function, including Internet banking, enterprise content management, executive intelligence, relationship management, branch automation and core accounting, all available on the industry's most popular hardware platforms.

Fuel, food, and outsourcing come together at Shell

When you visit a gas station, it is no more a mere matter of filling up your vehicle. The modern marketing technique has taken over, and you should not be surprised if you get several fringe services to go with the fuel.

For instance, you could walk into the food outlet that is invariably a part of fuel stations these days, and bite into an appetizing snack.Thus, fuel and food go hand in hand these days. However, managing the food outlets at fuel stations is an important cog in the wheel.

In Bulgaria, Shell has 85 filling stations, and the company has now decided to outsource the management of the food outlets in at least 60 of these stations to the ice cream company Jimmy's. Under a five-year contract, Jimmy's will add the jest for food at the select Shell outlets across the country. According to a news report:

The management of the Select outlets, the brand under which Shell operates its food service stations, would represent a new business experience for Jimmy's. The company has so far operated as an ice cream producer and owner of a chain of ice cream parlours.

Swaziland government urged to outsource advertisement campaigns

The Swaziland International Trade Fair (SITF) is a mega event for the country. However, a meeting of exhibitors recently highlighted the need to advertise and market the event through outsourcing.

According to event coordinators, the business aspect of the fair needs to be emphasized, and this can be done by outsourcing the marketing of the event to subject matter experts.
According to the Swazi Observer, proper advertising can shift the focus of the trade fair from soccer and fun games to more serious business opportunities for the exhibitors.

Malaysia: Vehicular traffic in outsourcing

This is not the first time we are talking about outsourcing in Malaysia. In an older post titled “Malaysian Government appoints Outsourcing agents”, I mentioned the Malaysian government’s urge to stand strong in the Asian outsourcing market after India and China. The good sign is that the Malaysian government is taking the initiative in establishing the thread of outsourcing in the country.

For instance, look at the recent proposal of the government to outsource ambulance services to the private sector. At present, the ambulance fleet consists of 1000 vehicles, and this is likely to be expanded by another 800 in Ninth Malaysia Plan phase.

The move is to tackle the twin problems of a paucity of trained hands and the task of maintaining the vehicles. The success of the privatization move rides on the availability of appropriate rates that do not burden the government overmuch.

The Star has more details.

Epic Games goes on the outsourcing hunt

Outsourcing in the gaming industry has already been the subject of a couple of our earlier posts. While one of the posts stressed the emergence of India as a leading destination for gaming outsourcing, the other post brought out the fiscal benefits of outsourcing in this sector.

The outsourcing phenomenon is also catching up with Epic Games, which has come up with an outsourcing division based in Shanghai to build assets for its games and also to identify and pursue third-party developers. The justification for the move is the advantage of utilizing cheaper labor for making assets.

Click here for more information.

Millstone Medical Outsourcing expands customer base

In an older post titled "Medical outsourcing catches on", I mentioned the growth of medical outsourcing. Here is a somewhat related news story.

Millstone's continuum of start-up solutions, integrated services, and contract packaging services have made the company one of the top outsourcing partners for orthopedic companies. Its wide range of services has recently attracted five medical device companies, which include Doctors Research Group, Inc., DVO Extremity Solutions, and Aesculap Implant Systems, Inc.

Joyce Ludwig, a Quality and Regulatory Consultant for Aesculap, sums up the advantages of tying up with Millstone:

Finding an outsourcing partner who has top-of-the-line operating space and the necessary experience to handle a function as critical as sterile packaging is not an easy task. We were impressed by Millstone's clean room facility and packaging capabilities and are pleased to have found a partner we can trust.

Yahoo Finance has more on the story.

Alsbridge in line for twin National Outsourcing Association awards

If all goes well, representatives of Alsbridge—the independent advisors on outsourcing, shared services, and offshoring—could be walking away with the Advisor of the Year and Outsourcing Professional of the Year awards on October 12 at the NOA award ceremony in London.

The award for Outstanding Advisor could go to Alsbridge because of its four-volume Practitioners Guide to Shared Services and BPO, the highly acclaimed Tripartite Charter for successful deal negotiation, and the recognition by the OGC for the Catalist Framework Agreement for Outsourcing Advisory.

The other award for the Outsourcing Professional of the Year could go to Howard Spode, Principal with Alsbridge Europe. Spode has played a key role in new business delivery and client-side advice for outsourcing/offshoring strategies.

For more on the achievements of Alsbridge, click here.