Tech Mahindra has agreed to acquire SOFGEN to enhance its core banking systems integration (build, run, operate) capabilities. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of March. Swiss-headquartered SOFGEN is a specialist in Avaloq and Temenos platforms and also has capabilities in TCS BaNCS and Misys. SOFGEN has 450 employees, including >70[...]

In the last twelve months we have more customer management services (CMS) BPO investment in South Africa, including  Webhelp setting up centers in Cape Town and Johannesburg with an agent headcount approaching 1,000 Capita transitioning part of its O2 support to Cape Town in the form of a ~1,400 seat operation. One (of many) attributes that make South Afr[...]

This is the final in a series of short blogs that look at various disruptive forces and their impact on BPO. The impact of all these disruptive factors is that BPO is now changing into something that the client has always wanted namely “High Velocity BPO”. In its early days, BPO was a linear and lengthy process with knowledge transfer followed by labor arbitrage, followed by process[...]

In our discussion, we’ve missed out lots of fashionable disruptors like mobile and cloud and these are indeed important elements within BPO. However, let’s be more futuristic still and consider the impact of the Internet of Things. Some examples of current deployment of the Internet of Things are as follows  Sector  Examples [...]

BPO has always depended on partnerships with third-party software providers to provide supplementary platforms around client core systems to provide specialist functionality in areas like procurement, collections, & reconciliation handling. However, there is a danger that this can lead to a Heath Robinson (or Rube Goldberg) combination of applications, involving expensive software or SaaS[...]

There has always been a big divide between those suppliers that are comfortable handling voice and those suppliers that were comfortable handling data with very few comfortable with both. However, the impact of digital is such that it increases the need for voice and data convergence. A common misconception in customer service is that the number of transactions is going down. It isn’t, it[...]

Robotics has moved incredibly fast over the past year, but so has analytics. Analytics has been around in support of process improvement initiatives & Lean Six sigma projects for many years. It has also been present in areas like fraud analytics, which means at a personal level that you now have to re-instate your credit card most weeks. However, analytics is now becoming much more pervasiv[...]

This blog is the first of seven in a series looking at six disruptive forces and their implications for BPO. Some of these are widely talked about, others less so. This first blog sets the scene and looks at the impact of robotics. Subsequent blogs will consider the implications of: Analytics  becoming all-pervasive and increasingly predictive Labor arbitrage is dead – long live l[...]

NelsonHall’s latest CMS market analysis focuses on the increasing importance of transformational CMS, whereby a vendor not only takes over the running of a client’s call center processes, but seeks to optimize these processes to achieve the desired business goals of the organization. In the current market, the need to reduce cost while maintaining or enhancing customer satisfaction [...]

At last week’s 2014 HR Technology conference I met with several of the RPO providers. Discussions included service offerings, latest trends, new business and growth. My meetings confirmed findings reported in NelsonHall’s Q1 2014 RPO market analysis that RPO growth would be mid-teens in 2014. RPO is thriving, with vendors reporting growth ranging from the low teens to 30%. And one[...]

This week Wipro held its first analyst day in the U.S. in over 18 months. During this time, Wipro has conducted a strategic review of its approach to the market, and decided to change its method of engaging clients and prospects.    First CEO TK Kurien opened by describing Wipro’s view of the market: Enterprises were created prior to the current digital era. As a[...]

NelsonHall recently attended CSS Corp’s analyst day and OneWorld conference. The overriding theme of the day was a reinforcement of the company’s direction; CEO Tiger Ramesh emphasized his ambition for CSS Corp to become the leading global tech support service provider, as emphasized in the company’s new by-line “Wired to Support”. A new leadership team has been [...]

NIIT is set to launch its latest offering to the insurance market next week, in the form of an upgraded policy and claims administration system which will join its existing set of insurance tools. NIIT has delivered IT services to its Lloyds of London clients for some 20-years, using its insurance specific tools: Subscribe: NIIT’s existing policy administration platform, a multi-cur[...]

Sitel has been awarded a two year 800 FTE CMS contract by Danish telecom provider TDC, following an initial contact that was made with twelve potential suppliers in November 2013. This is TDC’s largest foray into outsourcing its CMS function by agent number and by total value, with headcount representing approximately one third of total CMS capacity. The contract includes the transfer of [...]

TeleTech recently briefed NelsonHall on its growing healthcare sector business. A few years ago, TeleTech shifted its go-to -market strategy from being capability-led to sector-led. One of its key target sectors is healthcare, where TeleTech’s focus is U.S. tier 1 health insurance payers, providers and life sciences companies, also the personal health products sector. [...]

Chesnara plc, the life assurance consolidator, has awarded a life & pensions BPO contract renewal to HCL Insurance BPO Services Limited ('HCL') which consolidates the services provided in the existing arrangements and which extends the service for a further 11 years. The service scope across the various books remains unchanged, as do the broad service levels. HCL’s original co[...]

NelsonHall, the leading global BPO and IT outsourcing analyst firm, has today launched a new tool, the NelsonHall Self-Service Forecasting Tool” to assist organizations in downloading market forecasts customized to their business requirements. This new tool is aimed at assisting executives in accessing the precise market size, growth, and vendor share information they require rapidly and [...]

With like-for-like growth of 10.3% this is another strong quarter for Teleperformance although it continues to be challenged to its exposure to exchange rate fluctuations in the LATAM region resulting in reported revenue growth of 4.1%. Its Brazil business is contending with a stalling economy and a sharply depreciating currency, although it is still profitable and[...]

Teleperformance has had an impressive quarter that might have resulted in 9.1% growth if it wasn't for the extremely unfavorable exchange rate fluctuations which resulted in an overall negative impact of €32.7m ($44.2m). Despite this Teleperformance achieved 3% y/y revenue growth in the quarter to €610m. Growth in the English-speaking market & Asia-Pacific SBU w[...]

Convergys closed the acquisition of Stream on March 3, 2014. Its Q1 2014 reported results include contributions from Stream for the month of March. Revenue wsas $606m, up 23% y/y. Excluding the four week contribution of ~$86m from Stream, revenue was u- 5% y/y EBIT was $22m, an EBIT margin of 3.6%, down 376 bps y/y End of Q1 2014, combined footprint of contact cent[...]