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http://www.the-financedirector.com/contractors/pensions/aegon/press1.html Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:49:27 GMT http://www.the-financedirector.com/contractors/pensions/aegon/press1.html AEGON Global Pensions Appoints Two Senior Managers AEGON Global Pensions has appointed two new senior managers in sales and product development, further strengthening its team of international executives. Henry Henkel has been hired as a Regional Sales Director based in Princeton, New Jersey to work with Bill Hatten in developing AEGON Global Pensions' presence in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Bill and Henry will work along side three Regional Sales Directors based in Europe. Mr Henkel has spent over 20 years in the sales and marketing of institutional asset management products to large tax exempt organizations throughout the United States. Mr. Henkel has extensive experience in the distribution of broad product line-ups for large firms and boutiques focused on the US high yield and institutional asset management consultancy market. Mr Henkel has a BA cum laude from Buffalo University and an MA from New York University. Meanwhile, AEGON Global Pensions has hired Alexander van Ittersum as product manager asset pooling, based in The Hague. AEGON Global Pensions offers cross-border asset pooling for multinationals with pension funds in various countries. It offers small and medium sized pension funds access to the benefits of asset pooling in a cost efficient and tax neutral way. Alexander worked for six years with Robeco Asset Management as a senior product manager responsible for the institutional fund range and later for the fixed income product range. Before Robeco, Alexander worked for Euronext as a relationship manager. Alexander took up his new post in February 2008. http://www.the-financedirector.com/contractors/business-process-outsourcing/golss/press1.html Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:28:43 GMT http://www.the-financedirector.com/contractors/business-process-outsourcing/golss/press1.html KPMG to Announce International Sourcing Study Results at Global Outsourcing Strategy Summit Expert analysts from KPMG will be announcing the results of their international sourcing study at GOLSS, the Global Outsourcing Location Strategy Summit, to be held in Budapest from 8 - 11 March. The KPMG study involved an in-depth survey of 100 suppliers and 550 end-user organisations across the globe and aims to provide businesses with clear direction on current and future outsourcing trends and best practice. Aimed at senior level executives, GOLSS provides a unique opportunity for delegates and representatives from outsourcing locations to network and develop contacts in a non sales-driven environment. Investment promotion agencies attending GOLSS include: Invest Australia, ITD Hungary, KZNonSource, Invest Northern Ireland, Scottish Development International, Invest in Iceland Agency, the Northwest Regional Development Agency and the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka. Alex Blues, Director, Sourcing Advisory Services for KPMG and a keynote speaker at GOLSS comments: "GOLSS provides us with the ideal platform to gain an audience with European-based multinationals and share our latest outsourcing study findings which provide thought leadership on making the right outsourcing decisions, particularly at the critical procurement stage." http://www.the-financedirector.com/contractors/info-management/oracle Fri, 16 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.the-financedirector.com/contractors/info-management/oracle Oracle Corporation Oracle's business is information – how to manage it, use it, share it and protect it. For nearly three decades, Oracle, the world's largest enterprise software company, has provided the software and services that let organisations get the most up-to-date and accurate information from their business systems. After 30 years, Oracle remains the gold standard for database technology and applications in enterprises throughout the world: the company is the world's leading supplier of software for information management, and the world's second largest independent software company. Oracle technology can be found in nearly every industry, and in the data centres of 98 of the Fortune 100 companies. INTERNET-ENABLED ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE Oracle is the first software company to develop and deploy 100% internet-enabled enterprise software across its entire product line: database, business applications, application development and decision-support tools. Innovation drives Oracle's success: for example, we were one of the first companies to make our enterprise applications available through the internet – an idea that is now all-pervasive. With the release of Oracle Fusion Middleware, Oracle has begun debuting new products and functionality that reflect the company's goal; connecting all levels of enterprise technology to help customers access the knowledge they need to respond to market conditions with speed and agility. Today, Oracle Real Application Clusters, Oracle E-Business Suite, Oracle grid-computing, support for enterprise Linux and Oracle Fusion all fuel a commitment to innovation and results that has defined Oracle for 30 years. OPEN-ARCHITECTURE ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE Oracle unites the world's best enterprise software applications in an open architecture to provide: The most customer success The most complete offering The strongest strategic road map Advantages of using Oracle and our enterprise software include: Gartner rated Oracle number one in CRM AMR Research rated Oracle as the number-one company in Supply-Chain Management (SCM) and human-capital management 37,000 customers have deployed our software We provide the most open, innovative and fast-growing application platform ORACLE SUPPLY-CHAIN MANAGEMENT Oracle SCM is the complete, integrated solution that powers information-driven supply chains. With Oracle SCM, companies can predict market requirements, innovate in response to volatile market conditions, and align operations across global networks. Oracle SCM provides industry-specific solutions based on best-in-class applications that span product development, demand management, sales and operations planning, transportation management, and supply management. Advantages include: Only Oracle provides the ability to sense, shape and fulfil demand with best-in-class demand management and real-time sales and operations planning Only Oracle provides best-in-class global transportation management and supply management Only Oracle supports lean, mixed mode manufacturing with integrated Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) that meet both discrete and process requirements Only Oracle's SCM applications are based on an open, complete and standards-based architecture Only Oracle delivers best-in-class capabilities including demand management, product design, analytics, and optimisation via strategic acquisitions including Demantra, Agile and 360Commerce FUSION MIDDLEWARE SOFTWARE Oracle Fusion Middleware is a pre-integrated portfolio of customer-proven software that spans from portals and process managers to application infrastructure, developer tools, and business intelligence. It is the industry's most comprehensive family of middleware, which enables organisations to: Increase their capacity for growth and change Improve insight into business operations Mitigate risk and drive compliance Connect with customers, partners, and workers Oracle Fusion Middleware includes Oracle's comprehensive, best-in-class identity management to drive security and compliance. The industry's most comprehensive and integrated middleware, Oracle Fusion provides a clear path to service-oriented architecture. ORACLE DATABASE GRID-COMPUTING Oracle Database 11g delivers the benefits of grid computing with more self-management and automation, making it easier to: Change IT systems without risk using real application testing Partition and compress tables to store more data and run queries faster Securely protect and audit data, and enable total recall of data Integrate and manage the lifecycle of all enterprise information Run a business 24/7 with unique maximum availability architecture According to IDC, is Oracle is the data warehouse market leader, while Gartner: rates Oracle as the number-one database, with a 47.1% market share in the year 2006. Oracle also holds world-record benchmark results on Windows, Linux and UNIX, and is the number-one database on Linux with more than 80% of the market share. http://www.the-financedirector.com/contractors/cash-management/northern-trust Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.the-financedirector.com/contractors/cash-management/northern-trust Northern Trust Northern Trust is one of the world&squo;s leading providers of asset servicing, asset management and wealth management services. Founded in 1889, we are a global leader in combining high-touch client service and expertise with innovative products and technology. Our flexible, customised solutions for asset servicing span global custody, traditional and alternative fund administration and investment operations outsourcing as well as an array of additional services. We operate service and product centres in 13 locations in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region offering a global approach to our clients' servicing needs and continuity of service in multiple time zones. GLOBAL CUSTODY SERVICES Northern Trust delivers comprehensive global custody services for an international client base including corporations, governments, public entities, financial institutions, charities, insurance companies and investment managers. Our global custody offering includes: safekeeping, trade settlement, tax reclamation, income collection, corporate actions, proxy voting, foreign exchange and portfolio reporting. We offer settlement capabilities in developed and emerging markets through a fully integrated sub-custodian network. Core custody services are complemented by an array of products to help clients derive maximum value from their relationship with us. These include: risk management and performance analytics, securities lending, commission recapture, transition management, trade services and trade execution analysis and fund administration. CROSS-BORDER POOLING SOLUTIONS Northern Trust was the first global custodian to offer a cross-border pooling solution for multinational pension fund clients. Today we offer market-leading pooling solutions for multinational pension plans and investment managers. Our solution supports both tax-transparent and non tax-transparent vehicles domiciled in Luxembourg, Dublin and the Netherlands with multiple countries of investment and multiple countries of investor ‐ a groundbreaking development. As part of our pooling capabilities we provide global custody, management company services and fund administration, including fund accounting and transfer agency. Our patent pending automated solution also supports tax reclaim, securities lending and investor regulatory reporting. FUND ADMINISTRATION SERVICES Northern Trust supports multiple fund structures across multiple jurisdictions from our fund servicing centres in the UK, Ireland, Guernsey, Jersey, Luxembourg and Chicago. We provide services to a broad spectrum of asset classes for some of the world&squo;s leading fund-management groups and boutique managers. Extensive services for traditional funds are complemented by specialist services for alternative funds including: hedge funds and fund of hedge funds, private equity, real estate funds and infrastructure funds. Our core fund administration services include fund establishment, fund accounting, transfer agency/investor services and corporate secretarial in addition to our asset specific services for alternative classes. Our alternative fund services are delivered by dedicated teams specialising in these investments. INVESTMENT OPERATIONS OUTSOURCING Northern Trust&squo;s investment operations outsourcing solutions cover every aspect of post-trade execution support including: a fully integrated suite of full back-office processing activities, automated trade matching, a collateral management solution and independent valuations for over-the-counter derivatives, performance measurement data and daily attribution services and a web-based post-trade compliance checking and regulatory reporting tool. WEB-BASED CLIENT INFORMATION Our leading web-based client information system, Northern Trust Passport® - available to our custody and fund administration clients - provides real-time access to portfolio information. The secure online portal allows clients to view a range of customised account-specific information including latest NAVs, portfolio holdings, transactions, shareholder and custody data. http://www.the-financedirector.com/contractors/corporate-finance/ge-capital Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.the-financedirector.com/contractors/corporate-finance/ge-capital GE Capital GE Capital Solutions Europe helps companies to operate successfully. We consider our customers&squo; unique requirements, and whether they need, sell, or manufacture equipment, our combination of inventory finance, equipment finance and fleet services delivers the right solution. Our industry-leading solutions enable finance professionals to make informed decisions, through real-time information, to make their business, their supply chain and their customers more successful. For each of our products, GE Capital Solutions Europe starts with a network of local experts who work with customers to build their business strategically, not simply at a finance transactional level. From a foundation of deep industry and collateral experience, we listen to our customers, plan with their objectives in mind, and execute those aims with a broad array of products and services to ensure success. ASSET-MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES Through innovative finance, service and asset-management strategies, we help customers drive productivity, increase margins and build competitive advantage. GE Capital Solutions Europe has relationships with over 450,000 manufacturers, dealers and end users and over 335,000 relationships with fleet drivers. GE Capital the company comprises GE Commercial Distribution Finance, Equipment Financing and Fleet Services. COMMERCIAL DISTRIBUTION FINANCE Our goal is to support the sales process from manufacturers to dealers throughout Europe. Thanks to our industry expertise, service consistency, and pan-European and global partnerships, GE is the world&squo;s leading distribution finance provider. Across Europe, the senior finance managers within our impressive portfolio of manufacturer customers are experiencing the specific benefits of commercial distribution finance. These benefits include sales growth, improved balance sheet performance, offset of risk, enhanced liquidity, increased product-visibility and up-to-date online information regarding their distribution chain. DISTRIBUTION FINANCE PROGRAMMES GE Capital Solutions&squo; distribution finance programmes are available across a range of industry-focused segments: Cars IT and telecommunications Office equipment Construction and agriculture Transportation Marine Motorsports Caravan and motor homes EQUIPMENT FINANCING Whether inspired by budget requirements, balance sheet and working capital enhancement, or debt covenant management, our European network of experts will structure the right financing solution to suit specific customer needs. We assist customers' equipment at every stage of financing, from the initial quote through to the end of the equipment&squo;s lifespan. ASSET-BASED LENDING Customers benefit from our years of experience and financial strength, backed by GE&squo;s AAA-rating. Our key account managers are the face of GE Capital Solutions. The strong personal partnerships they develop with our customers are based on trust, reliability and understanding. Our specialised asset teams provide the right solution for the following industries: IT and Telecommunications Office equipment Construction and agriculture Transportation Manufacturing Corporate aircraft Healthcare VEHICLE LEASING AND MANAGEMENT GE Capital Solutions, Fleet Services is a leading pan-European provider of vehicle leasing and fleet management services. We use our global experience to provide financing and fleet management solutions for customers. The experienced fleet management professionals at GE Capital Solutions ‐ backed by innovative products and services ‐ provide customers with a tailored solution for a broad range of fleet sizes and complexities. GE Capital Solutions, Fleet Services has more than 335,000 cars under lease and services management across Europe. FLEET MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS GE Capital Solutions, Fleet Services&squo; key products are a comprehensive range of finance and fleet management solutions designed to simplify your fleet operations. Each one has been designed to help you manage your fleet more efficiently and control your fleet operating costs. http://www.the-financedirector.com/projects/erm-strategy/ Mon, 11 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.the-financedirector.com/projects/erm-strategy/ ERM - The Flipside of Strategy After years of talk about enterprise risk management, some experts still feel that senior management has failed to understand its importance. For some, argues FTI Consulting's Roger Carlile, ERM should be embedded with planning and operations, and should be seen as the flipside of strategy. The concept of enterprise risk has been discussed for at least a decade, but there is growing frustration that, so far, there has been more talk than action. Finally, however, a new attitude towards risk is emerging, which could bring enterprise risk management (ERM) to the fore. “Boards and senior management have experienced a lot of risks from Enron onwards.' The major corporate shocks that have rocked global business during the last decade have led more companies to take steps, albeit slowly, to implement systems and processes for ERM as they place more emphasis on risk management. “Boards and senior management have experienced a lot of risks from Enron onwards. There have been losses of all kinds and these risks are making companies look again at ERM,” says Roger Carlile, Senior Managing Director of FTI Consulting. RETURNING TO ERM Carlile heads the forensic and litigation consulting segment of global business advisory firm FTI, which assists many leading companies with legal, financial and reputational matters. The organisation helps clients anticipate, illuminate and overcome complex business challenges, and in his role, Carlile has seen first hand the effects of corporate failures and the vicissitudes of global markets on attitudes to risk. “If you went to your doctor and your recent history was fine and they told you that you needed to exercise more, you would hear it, but you wouldn't necessarily take action. If you'd just had a heart attack, you might respond differently. So, companies are now more sensitised to the reality of risks,” comments Carlile. Furthermore, agencies such as Standard &Poor's now give ratings on the risk management capability of commercial enterprises. “Investment in ERM is going on because, if you are rated on risk management, then you must see and understand the processes and control points that allow you to identify and mitigate risk,” adds Carlile. Nevertheless, he fears that some companies still pay mere lip service to ERM. “Boards should not see it as just another compliance process. ERM is the other side of the coin to strategy. Companies are eager to spend time on strategy and operations, but to analyse positive outcomes and identify benefits you must look at the cost of risk in any strategy,” he adds. NO SURPRISES PLEASE Carlile firmly believes that ERM should sit with strategic and operational decisions, noting that, “ERM is about identifying the risks of strategy, which allows a company to either accept those risks or mitigate them. You need to know the risks of manufacturing abroad, for example, or of disruptions to production or distribution.” 'There have been losses of all kinds and these risks are making companies look again at ERM.' Risk is part of the business of banks and insurance companies, and while firms in the financial sector may not have ERM, they at least have welldefined risk processes. Yet this sector, too, has suffered shocks to its system. Take the damage from the sub-prime mortgage market in the US, which shows how different decisions produce radically different results. This also highlights how major financial blows can alarmingly catch financial institutions well versed in risk management by surprise. “Goldman Sachs made a record profit in 2007, but others like Bank of America, Citibank and Bear Stearns were surprised when they lost their bets on the sub-prime market. If they had had strong ERM in place then there would have been no surprises. They would have known the best and worst case scenarios, as well as the most likely,” remarks Carlile. “It is OK to make mistakes, but ERM at least means you are not surprised by any outcome. It allows users to identify and quantify major risks,” he adds, in the firm belief that now is the time for businesses to learn the lessons of the last decade and unleash the power of ERM. http://www.the-financedirector.com/projects/third-offshore/ Mon, 11 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.the-financedirector.com/projects/third-offshore/ A Third Way to Offshore To get the best out of offshoring, companies need to source talent from multiple locations while retaining control. Genpact's Patrick Cogny, European CEO, and Andrew Groth, European senior vice president of business development, tell Michael Jones of FDE about an alternative route to offshore. FDE: Outsourcing has been advanced as a solution for meeting the shortage of skilled labour in Europe. How does it help? Patrick Cogny: European corporations are facing major challenges, including a shortage of skilled workers, heightened global competition and increased demand for products and services. Higher life expectancy in Europe and growth in the global markets have spurred demand for products and services while decades of reduced birth rates combined with a retiring workforce have resulted in a shortage of skilled workers. The demand-supply imbalance makes hiring local talent difficult. Not only does excess demand push up wages, but corporates will witness high attrition rates, as many companies vie for the same talent. Talent churn also increases training costs and results in knowledge loss, which can disrupt processes. Sourcing services from talent-rich offshore locations, such as Eastern Europe, India and China, is the obvious answer. US-based corporations are already successfully offshoring multiple processes and Europe can benefit, too. Offshoring provides access to talent, cost savings and increased process productivity. FDE: Many European corporates have been sourcing services from Eastern Europe for several years and are now facing wage escalation and attrition. Do you think outsourcing is a long-term solution to bridge the talent gap? Andrew Groth: Global outsourcing is definitely a long-term solution to bridge the talent gap, and several European corporates are already sourcing services solely from Eastern Europe. However, the rapid increase of captive centres in such locations has resulted in wage escalation and increased attrition, which obviously reduces or even neutralises the effectiveness of offshoring. 'It is important to create a global services value chain linking talent across several countries to tap into the best each location has to offer.' Limiting yourself to Eastern Europe is not the best strategy. We believe corporates should have a comprehensive sourcing platform that can access talent all over the world. India and China are two locations that can be part of your outsourcing portfolio. India particularly has a vast talent pool. A comprehensive outsourcing strategy must be composed of multiple components that provide an optimum solution. We believe that European companies should use Eastern Europe to meet specific language requirements and tap India for a cost-effective and deep talent pool. Attrition will continue to be an issue, but can be managed by selecting the right offshoring model. FDE: What are the pros and cons of outsourcing to Eastern Europe vs. India or China? AG: Firstly, the question is not about Eastern Europe vs. India or China. We believe that European companies must tap all these locations to implement a successful and comprehensive outsourcing initiative. The needs of European customers are unique. Even though India has a large talent pool, its services are in English, which does not effectively serve customers in non-English speaking countries. European companies need an offshore model that can tap the deep talent pool in India and access Eastern European talent for specialised languages. India has a huge talent pool, with nearly 400,000 graduates added each year, and its metropolises and large and secondary cities have a ready talent base of more than 30 million people. English is widely used and the country is the largest democracy with a favourable business and tax environment. Senior talent is available at low cost and BPOs are valued for offering leading-edge careers. Eastern Europe, on the other hand, has a fragmented talent pool of about three million, but has strong French, German, Italian and Spanish language skills. Business and tax environments are tougher and senior management talent is in short supply. Eastern Europe has very little experience in global service delivery as it is dominated by small captives with 50 to 500 employees. Selecting just one location will limit the benefits of an outsourcing initiative. It is therefore important to create a global services value chain linking talent across several countries to tap into the best each location has to offer. FDE: What are the different models corporations use to outsource offshore and which works best? AG: Corporates take two different approaches to offshoring: they either set up a captive centre or partner with a third-party service provider. The captive offshoring model has a distinct disadvantage. It operates on a much smaller scale than third-party vendors, making it difficult to adopt a multi-country strategy. Companies tapping offshore talent must be able to source talent from wherever it is available around the world to mitigate the risk of wage escalation and attrition. 'The Virtual Captive model takes the best of independent providers and captive centres and eliminates the drawbacks.' Europe's talent needs are different to those of US and UK companies because although countries such as India can provide services in English, they cannot meet the multi-language needs of European corporates. This essentially means that European companies must tap multiple locations to truly overcome the talent gap. Since captives operate on a small scale, this is not the most effective model to source talent from several countries. Large third-party vendors are the best partners for implementing a multi-country sourcing initiative. Third-party vendors cost less than captives and they continuously invest in talent and knowledge management to remain competitive and control attrition. Using a third party also means that buyers can eliminate fixed costs and exit the partnership if they are not satisfied. However, since third-party vendors have numerous clients, they may not be committed to a single relationship or dedicate the best talent exclusively to a customer. Once buyers sign the dotted line, they may find vendors reluctant to invest in a governance model, resulting in limited control of the outsourcing initiative. Captive centres provide better controllership, integrity with corporate culture and access to dedicated resources. However, corporations devote a lot of resources to running a captive. The lack of scale hampers investment in talent management and the ability to tap multi-country resources. Also, employees have limited growth opportunities as they are working for a single customer, which increases the risk of attrition. Serving a single customer means captives have limited access to global best practices. Captives also find it more difficult than independent providers to roll out gain-sharing models for fear of distorting compensation structures within the organisation. Finally, being part of an organisation makes it difficult to exit a captive relationship. FDE: Neither captives nor third-party vendors seem to provide the optimal solution. What model do you think works best? PC: To provide customers with the flexibility and cost-effective talent access of third-party vendors while offering the control and other benefits of a captive, Genpact has launched the Virtual Captive™ model. This is a mature global sourcing model that takes the best of indepen http://www.the-financedirector.com/projects/fruitful-finance/ Mon, 11 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.the-financedirector.com/projects/fruitful-finance/ Fruitful Finance Expediting business performance improvement by making intelligent use of a BPO partner's operational expertise, capabilities and assets is a strategy that is fast gaining attention, says Hewlett Packard's head of BPO, Les Mara. While cost pressures continue to drive business process outsourcing (BPO) decisions, chief financial officers are increasingly seeking improvement in business outcomes and transformative advantages when outsourcing their finance and accounting organisation. The advantages to be gained by leveraging the operational excellence capability of partners - including better business outcomes and results, process innovation, efficiency, standardisation, improved quality, data privacy, security, continuity, and compliance - can be as important as the traditional outsourcing benefits of lower labour costs and asset transfer. Accelerating business performance improvement by leveraging a BPO partner's operational expertise, capabilities and assets is a strategy that is gaining attention among organisations that outsource business processes. Business functions such as finance and accounting, traditionally viewed as support functions, are now seen as areas of opportunity. A strategic partner's ability to improve process quality, speed, security, continuity and compliance can deliver significant additional cost savings, reduce risk, and enhance competitive advantage. As such, operational excellence is fast becoming a critical factor when selecting a BPO provider. 'Cost savings, significantly through labour arbitrage, were the driving force for most of the early BPO relationships,' says Bob Cecil, the executive director of global operations and business and financial advisory services for EquaTerra. 'However, with inflation and exchange rates dampening the labour arbitrage benefit, buyers and providers of BPO services are increasingly looking at enhanced operational capability and improved business outcomes as the more sustainable benefits of an outsourcing relationship. It is now common to see these business outcome benefits, such as improved cashflow through working capital management or integrated business intelligence, far exceeding simple operational cost savings.' Streamlining and automating accounts receivable (AR) processes, for example, can significantly reduce a company's days sales outstanding by removing millions of dollars of debt from the corporate balance sheet, decreasing working capital levels and freeing up cash for investment or debt reduction. Automating and improving the procure to pay function can maximise days payable outstanding, optimise cash management and increase discounts taken. This leads to an improved cash position, lower cost of goods sold and additional cash freed up for investment and debt reduction. DEFINING OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE Operational excellence is something every business says they want to achieve and every service provider claims to provide. But what is it and what should one look for when evaluating a BPO partner? Because different organisations use different terms and approaches, defining operational excellence can be almost as difficult as achieving it. At its simplest and most universal, operational excellence can be defined as the ongoing optimisation of processes (and the superior execution of those processes) in order to improve quality and efficiency while reducing risk and cost. Regardless of terminology, it is becoming clear that making an impact on business performance requires excellence that spans the entire process, including inputs and outputs from the client and the service provider. Thus, to gauge the operational excellence of a potential BPO partner, outsourcing organisations need to look beyond point improvements and the ability to administer specific business functions at a transactional level. A realistic evaluation requires looking at the experience of the service provider, the quality of their process and technology and their commitment to continuous excellence, backed by investment in an ongoing and formal programme. Important questions to ask when assessing a provider include: Can the partner help to benchmark existing operations and identify, quantify, and prioritise areas of improvement? Is the focus on constant process improvement or just on steps in the process? Are financial controls transparent and robust enough to simplify regulatory compliance? What kind of visibility into operations is provided, for informed and timely decision making? Does the partner have the infrastructure, global resources and flexibility to support rapid growth, mergers and acquisitions and other business restructuring? A HOLISTIC APPROACH Achieving measurable, predictable and sustainable business performance improvements requires a holistic, multi-disciplinary and end-to-end approach to operational excellence - across people, process, and technology - with the ability to respond quickly and effectively to changes over time. When outsourcing critical business processes such as finance and accounting, it is especially important to go beyond the words and evaluate the methodologies, approach, tools and practices used to provide the highest quality, predictability and control. Outsourcing organisations should look for standardised procedures and a formal operational excellence programme that spans the entire BPO lifecycle - from initial benchmarking, assessment and analysis to process design, transition and ongoing improvement that includes: Knowledge management and transfer Business continuity planning Data privacy and security Organisational development and training Quality Industrial engineering and continuous process improvement Business controls Process engineering Audits - internal and external Compliance Achieving real business performance improvements through a partner's operational excellence requires more than a serial, single-methodology or single-function approach. Look for a holistic framework that integrates methodologies and tools across the entire BPO lifecycle. For companies outsourcing finance and accounting, as well as other critical business functions, when it comes to ensuring predictable, consistent delivery of a high-quality operation, operational excellence in their BPO partner is a must. This requirement, combined with the opportunity to leverage the investments of a partner to accelerate business transformation, makes careful scrutiny of the operational sophistication, practices, investments and quality of resources of that partner more important than ever. Optimised, compliant, and resilient business processes that maintain secure and well-protected information assets significantly reduce legal exposure and the possibility of a negative impact to the brand's reputation. They also lead to improvements in cost, customer satisfaction and productivity.