Caliber Point :: Knowledge Center

Roy Marshall
Consultant, Magellan Consultancy Services

About

Roy has spent most of his working career in the aviation business, chiefly in the customer service portfolio. Whilst working with British Airways, Roy was sent to Mumbai to set up a data processing operation that grew to become a leading third-party BPO provider servicing clients across multiple industries and functions. Roy considers it a privilege to have been part of the emergent outsourcing sector.

He now operates as a consultant in the out sourcing sector for Magellan Consulting Services.

Questions

What are the drivers for outsourcing for companies in the UK?

The main drivers that companies look at are:

	Cost
	Lack of suitable manpower
	Enhancement of customer service
	Lack of office space, which hinders expansion

What aspects should companies consider before embarking on an outsourcing strategy?

	The impact of outsourcing on the existing staff morale
	The manner in which the organization deals with the business configuration after the movement of processes offshore
	Managing the offshore processes
	Building offshore operations as a long term opportunity for the business

What are the trends and changes you have observed in the services sourcing landscape in the past 3 years and how do you see them evolving over the next few years?

	Companies used to look at the cost aspect as the major reason to outsource. That motive still exists, but the opportunity to improve customer service and to get a new product to market quicker has taken over as a prime mover.

What organizations would benefit most by adopting an outsourcing strategy?

	Any Customer Service orientated operation

	Any organization that handles large data or record keeping

For organizations which are keen to offshore, what do you think would be the preferred option - look for Greenfield options or partner with a third-party vendor?

	Partner with a third party vendor for most ventures. However, if an organization is looking to outsource in excess of 600 jobs, then the option of BOT has to be seriously considered.

What according to you would be the most common processes that are likely to be outsourced by companies in the near future?

	A difficult question to give a precise answer to, as other than customer-facing processes, there is very little that cannot be outsourced. I would expect to see more and more back office functions moving, in addition to some areas of high skill such as actuary, stock broking, risk management in the finance and insurance sectors, medical services and so on.

With the recent backlash on outsourcing, especially in the voice space, where do you see the industry heading in the next 3 to 4 years? Do you believe we are likely to see more of non-voiced based (transaction as well as high-end) processes taking precedence, as opposed to voice based processes?

I would expect outsourcing to establish itself on most business cases as the normal way forward as far as data mining and back office is concerned. I do expect companies to take the voice element back in-house. Some will still stick with offshore call centers but I think they will loose out in the race for customer loyalty. To make the home call centre profitable the organizations will outsource the back office and support areas.

Do you foresee future outsourcing contracts from the UK being smaller in size, with organizations adopting a risk mitigation strategy by outsourcing work to multiple vendors?

	The way forward for the outsourcing sector in the UK is to have robust products for small and medium businesses. The large companies are just about done with their moves offshore.

What problems, if any, do you foresee for companies adopting an outsourcing strategy?

	None.

All views expressed in this interview are those of the author alone. Magellan is an independent consultancy firm and does not subscribe to any particular vendor or service provider.

Magellan Consultancy Services (MCS) is an independent niche consultancy firm specialising in Technology and Process improvement for the Financial Services industry.

To know more, visit the Magellan website at www.magellancs.com