"We are making progress in some areas, but we know we can and should do better in other areas. Our direction is unchanged; we are making several shifts in the way that we execute against it” Ursula Burns. On Friday, Xerox announced results for Q2 2015 (for full details, see here): Xerox Services revenues were $2,569m, down 3.1% y/y (on continuing operations), up 1% in CC Segm[...]

Since my September 2014 blog, Wellness Outsourcing on the Rise, there have been some key developments in employee wellness programs, along with new Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidance that enables employers to offer incentives to wellness participants of up to 30% of their insurance premium. With employees keenly aware of the annual rise in their out-of-pocket health insuran[...]

It seems like yesterday that the concept of a private health insurance exchange was novel: it’s hard to believe that active exchanges have been available from benefits consultancies for three years, and that retiree exchanges are nearly 11 years old. Here’s a quick update and review of how the private exchange landscape has changed in this short time. Active exchanges are mu[...]

Financial planning for retirement readiness is a big concern for many individuals, and the stress is often magnified the closer one gets to retirement. For years, organizations and DC administration providers have been honing different approaches to address this. One of the biggest challenges in establishing a model that works stems from diversity within the workforce. Earlier approac[...]

Demand for learning services has been the lowest of all the HR outsourcing services over the last few years. But while the market has been in a lull, several suppliers have taken the time to revamp their learning services businesses in one of two ways. The first approach is about honing learning offerings around one specific learning function. Sometimes this is about refining one func[...]

Germany’s fiscal success story presents an interesting value proposition for the local customer management services (CMS) BPO market. Real GDP in Germany grew by 1.5% in 2014 and current forecasts indicate that, driven by a strong labor force, high consumption and favorable energy prices, Germany should be able to maintain this level of growth through 2015 and accelerate to around the 2.0% m[...]

“A lot has happened in the last 90 days and overall we're pleased with where we ended the year. We're reporting solid results that in some places exceeded expectations” Ursula Burns. Q4 summary: Services revenue was $2,725m, up 1.5% y/ y, and up 3% in constant currency: BPO CC growth was 4% (up from 2% in Q3) with growth in commercial healthcare payer, electronic[...]

In the early hours of this morning, Atos announced it is acquiring the IT outsourcing business of Xerox. Full details of the acquisition are here. Atos is ending 2014 with a bang. Having completed the integration of Siemens IT Solutions & Services pretty darned quickly (certainly far faster and more effectively than naysayers would have predicted), it has proceeded this year to the car[...]

On November 20, 2014 Xerox announced its acquisition of Intrepid Learning Solutions learning services to expand it learning services portfolio and capability. Intrepid Learning Solutions brings in capabilities that include: Consulting services, including development of learning strategies, measuring their effectiveness and benchmarking  Course curriculum design and development[...]

Xerox Services Q3 Results: Any Signs of Progress? Xerox Services, now 57% of total Xerox Group revenues, is critical to the future of Xerox: it is its engine for future growth.We have been waiting for a better quarter for some time, but Q3 was not a stellar quarter for Xerox Services. Revenues Flat and Signings Down, with ITO the weakest link Xerox Services revenues in 2014 YTD are flat &[...]

Companies today are increasingly looking to Wellness programs as a means of meeting their business objectives. It’s a two sided-approach and benefit. First, the cost of employees missing work due to sickness, diseases and stress-related illnesses can be significant in terms of healthcare costs and productivity. Per Towers Watson, employer healthcare costs are expected to increase 4.4% [...]

In a case that has been unfolding for several years now, and which heated up in early May, Accenture on August 1 assumed responsibility for administering Medicaid claims in the state of Texas. Accenture’s first award as a state’s primary fiscal agent was announced in the wake of a dispute between Texas and  Xerox over its process for reviewing Medicaid dental c[...]

Overall H1 HRO M&A activity is up year-over-year, and acquisition activity has increased in nearly all service lines except learning.   While learning M&A activity was high in H1 2013, this year, M&A activity in H1 2014 was strongest in the benefits administration market, and it’s occurring in both the U.S. and U.K. as vendors strengthen their DC contribution capability.&[...]

Xerox Services has had a challenging half year: In Q1 it announced it was taking an impairment charge ($80m for the year) related to HIX platform impairment (see here for discussion). In Q2 it lost the Texas Medicaid contract. The impact of this is significant (around 1.5% of revenues): Q2 2014 Services contract renewal rate was 63%, well below the company’s target range of 85% to 90[...]

Provision of analytics is important for Learning BPO (LBPO) providers to be able to demonstrate ROI for clients. The late Don Kirkpatrick, who passed away in May at age 90, developed back in the 1950s four levels to evaluate learning effectiveness. Taking a look at these levels, starting with the lowest: Reaction; evaluation about how the participants felt about[...]

Let's start with some positive takeaways about the performance of Xerox Services in Q1: The commercial healthcare BPO business experienced “strong” revenue growth and margin improvement ITO revenue was up 4.4% y/y and also saw margin improvement Document outsourcing was up 0.8%. Overall BPO revenue declined 1.9%, impacted by the runoff of the student loan contra[...]

Xerox Services financial performance in Q4 and full year 2013 had some clear positives. Looking at signings: Full year 2013 signings were up 20%, with BPO and ITO renewal rate at 92%, above the target range of 85% to 90% and 7 points higher than 2012. And new business signings was up 9% in BPO and up and up 23% in Document Outsourcing (DO) In Q4 2013, overall signings TCV was flat y/y w[...]

2013 proved to be an exciting year in benefits administration.  In the U.S., much of the focus was on corporate health exchanges for active employees while the U.K. was focused on auto-enrollment (AE).  Specific highlights of the year in the U.S. included: Aon Hewitt: added 15 clients to its corporate health exchange (total number of clients is at 18) Mercer: added 52 clients [...]

Customer management services (CMS) is no longer the red-headed step-child of the BPO world.  In spite of the exit from this area of IBM, most CMS pureplays are currently achieving improving margins and revenue growth. With multi-channel delivery proving crucial in winning new contracts, and the increasing importance of big data and analytics in the value proposition, 2014 is set to be an extr[...]

Xerox's acquisition of  U.K. based Customer Value Group (CVG) indicates that Xerox's ambitions for the acquired ACS business and for FAO in particular have not dimmed. CVG's primary product, Value+ is a SaaS-based offering that supports the management of customer credit, collections, and disputes and Value+ will now form a cornerstone of Xerox's O[...]