BPO: freeing up your back to concentrate on core competencies
Outsourcing has been one of the top issues in management for years and has developed significantly over time.
Since the 1990s, Accenture, for example, has differentiated between six generations of business process outsourcing (BPO), each with different drivers and still open objectives for the future. [1]
The spectrum ranges from simple out-tasking of individual services, to cost savings through near- and off-shoring, to (extended) outsourcing, in which the depth of value creation and the form of cooperation with the selected service provider is determined by the takeover of complete business processes (BPO).
Almost every company has been practicing some form of ("simple") BPO for years - even if it is not usually referred to as BPO: Services such as building cleaning, travel bookings or payroll accounting are outsourced to external service providers as experts.
As is so often the case, there is a variety of terms used in science and practice: for example, outsourcing, application service providing (e.g. in relation to the operation and maintenance of (IT) applications in an external data center) or BPO. The outsourced processes can be part of both supporting and primary value-added activities, so that in order to differentiate the depth of service and the risk shifted to the service provider, the term Business Process Services (BPS) has recently also been used in the sense of an advanced (extended) BPO. [2]
The contractor not only provides IT support for business processes, but is also responsible for the correct handling of the content of business transactions and their successful processing overall. His remuneration can be linked to the success of the process execution (example: share of the call center's sales revenue).
Financial service providers and leasing companies are under pressure from increasing regulation, competition among themselves and from new market participants (non- and near banks). The resulting falling margins - at historically low interest rates - are prompting them to look for potential savings and ways to reduce risk. This is where BPO and BPS offer a valuable option for freeing up resources and transferring operational risks to external service providers. If the outsourcing company succeeds in using the freed-up resources to increase efficiency and align the business model for the future by concentrating on the core business, a significant leverage effect can be achieved to promote corporate growth and innovation.
Back in 2004, Gartner analyst Rebecca Scholl predicted that the BPO spectrum would expand: "It will become established in areas such as billing and lending and extend to entire sales processes from sales acceptance to invoicing."[3] At the time, she saw the danger that a large proportion of services could be outsourced to offshore countries, which has since made some (particularly Indian) IT service providers big. However, what is feasible does not always make sense, as the cost savings are usually overcompensated by the disproportionately high cost of outsourcing management.
It is therefore not surprising that this is a significant market with high growth rates, not only worldwide but also in Germany:
afb recognized the needs of its customers early on and launched its first services 15 years ago - even then entirely in the spirit of BPO and BPS. Today, all afb customers use at least one of the services on offer:
Administration Support
As part of the outsourcing of original business tasks, we take over parts of regular product maintenance (marketing and action plans), forms management and dealer administration.
Customers can choose between different levels of support:
With Standard Support, we take on order-related services on a case-by-case basis and can thus support requirements for segregation of duty (dual control principle & separation of functions), for example.
Advanced Support means complete integration into the customer's processes and thus ensures permanent relief and increased efficiency.
As part of optimal process management, we create detailed documents containing the services to be provided, the necessary input data and the workflow descriptions.
Third-party support
We support our customers in the management of IT service providers who have interfaces to afb-Solutions. With our in-depth professional and technical expertise, we ensure that incidents on the part of third-party suppliers are resolved quickly and efficiently.
The possible support levels:
With Standard Support, we pass on escalations from our customer to third-party suppliers and follow them up effectively.
Advanced Support includes comprehensive managed services. We act on behalf of our customer and ensure that requests are processed quickly, incidents are resolved and customer SLAs (Service Level Agreements) are adhered to by the third-party supplier.
Operation Services (Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS))
As part of cloud computing, we use IaaS to provide virtual infrastructure components as required: servers, computing power, network capacities, storage, archiving and backup systems as well as other components of the data center and network infrastructure. A recovery system ensures high system availability.
We support our customers in the design, procurement and setup of the required system environments and hardware (up to six) as well as in the provision of the data center with reference to defined security requirements and documentation.
Hosting can take place in the afb high-security center, which is ISO 27001 certified, or in the customer's own data center. When using our own data center, we offer competent consulting services from our experts.
Application services and service management (Software as a Service / SaaS)
We take care of the installation, maintenance and operation of the components of the implemented afb solution. This also includes those afb module groups that contain service integrations from partners: Statistics (BI functionality), Accounting (Varial World Edition), Customer Relationship Management, Advanced Document Management, Floor Check Management, Driver License Control, etc.
Service Management initiates, for example, the regular updating of the systems by installing security updates. It monitors availability, continuity, capacity and security and initiates any necessary measures.
In service management, we rely on recognized best practices such as ITIL, ISO 20000, COBIT, ISO27001, ISAE 3402 (SSAE 16 / SAS 70), IT-Grundschutz etc. to increase transparency and security.
Benefit from these advantages!
Focus on core competencies: Outsource your Back office activities to us and concentrate fully on your core business. This not only allows you to react more agilely to changes, but also frees up more resources to drive your innovation efforts forward.
Increased efficiency: Relieve your employees of administrative or other tasks and increase the efficiency of your own business processes.
Cost optimization: Benefit from clearly defined and optimized costs thanks to scalability and needs-based adjustments to your requirements. SaaS eliminates the costs of software installation, for example. Centralized data backup leads to savings in hardware and IT administration.
Reduction of risks: Benefit from lower risks - know-how, modern technologies and secure platforms ensure high security standards, maximum availability and security with trouble-free operation.
No contract commitment: There is no contractual commitment with Administration Support - you can also use this service as an interim solution for a specific period.
Outlook
In line with Gartner analyst Rebecca Scholl: afb will continue to develop its services and meet the challenges of the market. 20 years of experience in the market, knowledge of proven best practices and a renowned clientele that appreciates and drives afb's focus on innovation - supported by competent consulting services - will be a good guide on the path to business process (outsourcing) servicing.
