The photocopier, overnight document delivery, the fax machine and the Internet were innovations that improved the way we conduct business, and gave their early adopters a competitive edge. Now, of course, they are standard business tools for the way we all work. While migration of a business process offshore is widespread today, it is most common that the offshore process is performed the same way it was previously, in-house. But now there is a new wave of global sourcing innovation that is changing the way that outsourcing buyers conduct business and offering them competitive advantage.
What could you achieve through global sourcing with Integreon? Ask yourself:
1
Do I currently have the right staff, in the right place, with the right skill sets, doing the right things?
2
How can I provide my customers additional or better services?
3
How can I help my management team think more creatively?
4
How can I eliminate steps and inefficiencies from my processes?
"Customers first look to offshore business process outsourcing for immediate cost savings and headcount reductions," says Liam Brown. "During the first year of off-shoring they quickly figure out that their competitors are probably doing the same thing, so they ask us what more can be achieved next year - and again the year after that." Brown is President and CEO of Integreon Managed Solutions, Inc., formerly Integral Media Services, Inc. Established in 1999, with offices in India, US and Europe, Integreon provides information, analytics, content and document services to professional services and Global 1000 companies.
The company is an innovator amongst global outsourcing providers. Here is how:
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Integration. "We integrate into our customers' operations
so completely that the end users don't realize they're
offshore outsourcing," says Prashant Chawla, COO of
Integreon. In fact, what the end user notices is the effect
of a good outsourcer - improvements in service and
quality.
•
Domain Expertise. Integreon managers come with years
of relevant experience from their respective industries.
"This domain focus allows us to consult with our customers
to help them improve their business processes,"
says Brown. "We're proud to hear our customers tell us
that working with Integreon provides their management
teams with a powerful stimulus as well as an expert
partner to reexamine what they're doing and develop
ways to do it better," said Brown.
•
Global Perspective. As a third party, addressing worldwide
business process problems for customers in different
industry verticals, Integreon provides its customers
with a fresh, global perspective on how to apply best
practices to the non-core aspects of their business.
Outsourcing expert Frank Casale, CEO of The Outsourcing
Institute, agrees that working with a world-class outsourcer
can spur the reengineering of whole business processes.
"Best-in-class outsourcing should leverage industry knowledge,
best practices and measurement systems to catalyze
innovations in improved processes, new product development
and new technologies for the buyer," Casale says.
How does Integreon innovation help its customers? Here
are some examples:
CONSISTENCY, QUALITY & SERVICE
Several years ago a pharmaceuticals company contracted
Integreon to build an offshore document management center
to support its global offices. Initially, this customer was
only interested in support during the peaks in their workload, doing the work offshore the way it was already being
done internally. But Integreon was able to make a greater
contribution.
"After they mapped our processes, trained staff and transitioned
the processes offshore, they came back to us and
pointed out the non-compliances at each of our different
offices and even pointed out the problems that this caused
the end users who have to work together in research groups
all over the world," said the company's Executive Director,
Administration. "They had data, concrete recommendations,
proposed benefits and an ROI. It was impossible for
our management team to not explore this more carefully and
challenge our status quo."
As part of this process, not only did the customer cut
costs immediately, but the increased centralization quickly
improved the consistency of the quality and service it offered
its research groups, no matter where in the world they
were. The customer estimated that Integreon's expertise
succeeded in cutting out 4% of administrative burden.
"What we do for them and what they do for themselves
are now integrated into a standardized system worldwide,"
said Brown. "It allows them to make informed decisions
about what to outsource and what is most efficiently done
in-house."
This customer recently expanded Integreon's role again,
to include accounting and financial reporting services.
AUTOMATION & PRODUCTIVITY
"We start by asking customers what business problems they
face," said Chawla. "This sparks our thinking about the
value Integreon can add." While there is no one blueprint
for an outsourcing relationship with Integreon, the case of a
Global 1000 publishing and media company illustrates how
Integreon leverages its expertise and resources to create an
innovative solution.
This customer struggled with scalability during business
cycles that resulted in low utilization of resources and unacceptably
high related carrying cost. The customer's VP
Operations knew Integreon's global sourcing solution would
immediately provide cost savings and the scalable coverage
the firm needed. "What we didn't anticipate was that Integreon
would make a proposal for automation that actually
reduced our need for their services," he says.
Integreon's programmers in India worked directly with
the operations team to develop labor-saving automations.
From cutting keystrokes to removing steps or handoffs in the
process, Integreon's innovations reduced the time required
for some processes by 90%. "We produce more work now
than when we initially migrated the customer's processes
offshore, but with 60% of the headcount we started with,"
says Chawla.
'We innovate' is one of Integreon's three core values.
"Our employees know they'll be rewarded for contributing
innovative ideas that make their way into the operation,"
said Brown. "No idea is stupid, though the evaluation process
is quite Darwinian - only the best ideas survive."
