Comments on: Platform BPO http://6ampacific.com/2007/02/19/platform-bpo/ Basab Pradhan's weblog about business and life in a 'flat world'. 6 AM Pacific is the best time for a global conference call. Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:15:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Vivek http://6ampacific.com/2007/02/19/platform-bpo/#comment-13451 Vivek Fri, 18 Apr 2008 07:07:03 +0000 http://6ampacific.com/2007/02/19/platform-bpo/#comment-13451 Basab - great post. You have a successful Platform BPO model in Gridstone - providing Data, Analysis tools for your Customers. Medical Billing, Claims Adjudication has both SW players, BPOs and a few Platform BPO players. Look at a firm called athenahealth that does Transactional stuff. Equinox is a company that specializes in Mortgage process and "I think" also has a Software to support it. There is a company that tracks Medicine Sales Worldwide and provides Data, Analytics services to all the Big Pharma companies. Fedex,UPS, and all the other logistics playes .. provide NOT only the shipping service - but also logistics, planning, tracking .. through use of their Software (and each one is custom - providing the differentiator). In a wide sense could this also be called platform BPO, though NOT pure play as they need physical assets ? It seems like there could be a Platform BPO opportunity for many verticals or non-core Horizontals. But its not easy to spot one - at least to me. Or maybe I am limited by my linear thinking. Any more examples or ideas ? Plug: Would like to start one or associate with one. Basab - great post.
You have a successful Platform BPO model in Gridstone - providing Data, Analysis tools for your Customers.

Medical Billing, Claims Adjudication has both SW players, BPOs and a few Platform BPO players. Look at a firm called athenahealth that does Transactional stuff.

Equinox is a company that specializes in Mortgage process and “I think” also has a Software to support it.

There is a company that tracks Medicine Sales Worldwide and provides Data, Analytics services to all the Big Pharma companies.

Fedex,UPS, and all the other logistics playes .. provide NOT only the shipping service - but also logistics, planning, tracking .. through use of their Software (and each one is custom - providing the differentiator). In a wide sense could this also be called platform BPO, though NOT pure play as they need physical assets ?

It seems like there could be a Platform BPO opportunity for many verticals or non-core Horizontals. But its not easy to spot one - at least to me. Or maybe I am limited by my linear thinking. Any more examples or ideas ?
Plug: Would like to start one or associate with one.

]]> By: 6 AM Pacific » Blog Archive » The IP imperative for IT Services or How to Beat the Recession http://6ampacific.com/2007/02/19/platform-bpo/#comment-13437 6 AM Pacific » Blog Archive » The IP imperative for IT Services or How to Beat the Recession Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:48:26 +0000 http://6ampacific.com/2007/02/19/platform-bpo/#comment-13437 [...] and nurturing of Intellectual Property. Nothing new, I have written about this before here and here. There is no better time to turn on the turbo charger on your IP related strategies than [...] [...] and nurturing of Intellectual Property. Nothing new, I have written about this before here and here. There is no better time to turn on the turbo charger on your IP related strategies than [...]

]]> By: Ramesh http://6ampacific.com/2007/02/19/platform-bpo/#comment-12004 Ramesh Fri, 22 Feb 2008 04:58:23 +0000 http://6ampacific.com/2007/02/19/platform-bpo/#comment-12004 Apart from HR, Which are the other top 10 areas where BPOL Platform can be hot? Apart from HR, Which are the other top 10 areas where BPOL Platform can be hot?

]]> By: Sanal http://6ampacific.com/2007/02/19/platform-bpo/#comment-7709 Sanal Fri, 21 Sep 2007 03:42:18 +0000 http://6ampacific.com/2007/02/19/platform-bpo/#comment-7709 There are several forces at play here that puts the whole Platform BPO paradigm at a very interesting stage today 1. The customer angle - clients have accepted the Saas model and hence are more open to vendor owned platforms - clients are looking for ways to shift cost structure from Capex to Opex - Clients are now looking for their vendors to go beyond labor arbitrage and bring in creative solutions and pricing models 2. The BPO vendor angle - reflective of the last point mentioned above - they are looking for ways to differentiate - platform BPO pricing can be linked to business outcome or value (transactional pricing, value based pricing) etc hence gives BPO companies ways to grow revenue in a non-linear fashion 3. The software vendor angle - They're looking for ways to increase revenue and hence using BPO provider as another channel to reach new clients especially in the mid market (see SAP's own aggressive mid market campaign in the US) - they are being more flexible and not insisting on the BPOs spending a zillion bucks on licenses upfront Some comments - a.true leaders will develop Industry/sub vertical specific flavors for their platform BPO solutions - pseudo customization b. Ideally the technology platforms should be true multi-tenant environments - but am not betting on that yet..that is the next generation platform BPO for most processes/solutions. Multi-tenancy will also allow BPOs to operate using shared services/resource models - which means lower costs for clients as well. In the overall equation, the software vendors are the ones who lose out..but most of these guys are heavily overpriced and it is time for a reality check. And I think they realize it. Thanks Salesforce. Smart BPOs will pick their platform BPO battles and craft their solutions carefully thinking through all of these factors. There are several forces at play here that puts the whole Platform BPO paradigm at a very interesting stage today

1. The customer angle
- clients have accepted the Saas model and hence are more open to vendor owned platforms
- clients are looking for ways to shift cost structure from Capex to Opex
- Clients are now looking for their vendors to go beyond labor arbitrage and bring in creative solutions and pricing models

2. The BPO vendor angle
- reflective of the last point mentioned above - they are looking for ways to differentiate
- platform BPO pricing can be linked to business outcome or value (transactional pricing, value based pricing) etc hence gives BPO companies ways to grow revenue in a non-linear fashion

3. The software vendor angle
- They’re looking for ways to increase revenue and hence using BPO provider as another channel to reach new clients especially in the mid market (see SAP’s own aggressive mid market campaign in the US)
- they are being more flexible and not insisting on the BPOs spending a zillion bucks on licenses upfront

Some comments -

a.true leaders will develop Industry/sub vertical specific flavors for their platform BPO solutions - pseudo customization

b. Ideally the technology platforms should be true multi-tenant environments - but am not betting on that yet..that is the next generation platform BPO for most processes/solutions. Multi-tenancy will also allow BPOs to operate using shared services/resource models - which means lower costs for clients as well.

In the overall equation, the software vendors are the ones who lose out..but most of these guys are heavily overpriced and it is time for a reality check. And I think they realize it. Thanks Salesforce.

Smart BPOs will pick their platform BPO battles and craft their solutions carefully thinking through all of these factors.

]]> By: Ramesh http://6ampacific.com/2007/02/19/platform-bpo/#comment-7701 Ramesh Thu, 20 Sep 2007 08:40:12 +0000 http://6ampacific.com/2007/02/19/platform-bpo/#comment-7701 Platform BPO to me is a combination of Domain and Technology. Indian BPO companies are not wanting to invest in Domain and build platforms. Now the only other possibility is to Buy a company with Domain and Technology. The problem with this route is that these solutions are transaction centric and not process centric. BPO companies have to add the process layer and this needs IT skills. Hence Platform BPO remains a sales pitch rather than a scaleable and a viable solution. Few large players like Accenture, IBM and Genpact are buying for eg. SAP and building the Process management layer and go to market with a platform building. Other IT backed BPO's like Infosys/TCS/CTS are using their IT skills to do a combination of build and buy. In a nutshell Platform BPO is more a wish list rather than something concrete. Its interesting that the HR domain is the most suitable for Platform and SAAS model like the author mentions ADP and Ceridian have been doing it for many many years..... Platform BPO to me is a combination of Domain and Technology. Indian BPO companies are not wanting to invest in Domain and build platforms. Now the only other possibility is to Buy a company with Domain and Technology.

The problem with this route is that these solutions are transaction centric and not process centric. BPO companies have to add the process layer and this needs IT skills. Hence Platform BPO remains a sales pitch rather than a scaleable and a viable solution.

Few large players like Accenture, IBM and Genpact are buying for eg. SAP and building the Process management layer and go to market with a platform building. Other IT backed BPO’s like Infosys/TCS/CTS are using their IT skills to do a combination of build and buy.

In a nutshell Platform BPO is more a wish list rather than something concrete. Its interesting that the HR domain is the most suitable for Platform and SAAS model like the author mentions ADP and Ceridian have been doing it for many many years…..

]]> By: illiyaz http://6ampacific.com/2007/02/19/platform-bpo/#comment-5614 illiyaz Thu, 08 Mar 2007 19:50:35 +0000 http://6ampacific.com/2007/02/19/platform-bpo/#comment-5614 Good article and i especially liked "Another area ripe for platform BPO type services is Analytics and Business Intelligence. Expect to see BI software companies making a play for a piece of the action". Good insight Basab as i ve already seen this in US.Not many people in DWH BI may be aware but there are already a few leaders in this. Good article and i especially liked “Another area ripe for platform BPO type services is Analytics and Business Intelligence. Expect to see BI software companies making a play for a piece of the action”. Good insight Basab as i ve already seen this in US.Not many people in DWH BI may be aware but there are already a few leaders in this.

]]> By: Jessie Paul http://6ampacific.com/2007/02/19/platform-bpo/#comment-5562 Jessie Paul Sat, 03 Mar 2007 14:50:37 +0000 http://6ampacific.com/2007/02/19/platform-bpo/#comment-5562 Yes, googling on Platform BPO doesn't help much - yours was the most relevant article :) Yes, googling on Platform BPO doesn’t help much - yours was the most relevant article :)

]]> By: Basab http://6ampacific.com/2007/02/19/platform-bpo/#comment-5515 Basab Thu, 22 Feb 2007 02:04:09 +0000 http://6ampacific.com/2007/02/19/platform-bpo/#comment-5515 @Surya, agree that moving a larger proportion of the BPO workers to asynch, day time work in India will bring some balance to what is happening today. @Anuradha, I try not to be predictable :-) But point taken. @Surya, agree that moving a larger proportion of the BPO workers to asynch, day time work in India will bring some balance to what is happening today.

@Anuradha, I try not to be predictable :-) But point taken.

]]> By: Anuradha http://6ampacific.com/2007/02/19/platform-bpo/#comment-5510 Anuradha Tue, 20 Feb 2007 06:00:50 +0000 http://6ampacific.com/2007/02/19/platform-bpo/#comment-5510 Are you trying to say platform based solutions and KPOs are the next wave for IT industry? If you are, then you are stating the obvious or stating something that the regular media reports. For the first time I did not see an insight into what you are saying...:-) Are you trying to say platform based solutions and KPOs are the next wave for IT industry? If you are, then you are stating the obvious or stating something that the regular media reports.

For the first time I did not see an insight into what you are saying…:-)

]]> By: Surya http://6ampacific.com/2007/02/19/platform-bpo/#comment-5506 Surya Mon, 19 Feb 2007 19:28:21 +0000 http://6ampacific.com/2007/02/19/platform-bpo/#comment-5506 Hi Basab, In the whole article I was trying to find where value was being articulated. HR outsourcing has some metrics like how long a new-hire stays with the company and the economic value added by the individual. Can the software service companies take up ADP's work which is a part of a larger puzzle of employee compensation and management? some companies of employee size less than 200 in bangalore outsource their tax planning, payroll to E&Y. To export this model to US,this will require a significant onsite presence and a local Garb. Here-in lies the advantage of getting listed in the host country where maximum revenue is going to be generated. This does get brownie points from companies which are going to use platform bpo. Are cross-holdings a solution? -The other advantage I see is that it will free people from the bondage of working long nights :)in traditional BPO's which might fracture the fabric of our society . Would you call a combination of finacle and outsourcing of bank back-office operations to progeon a platform BPO? Hi Basab,
In the whole article I was trying to find where value was being articulated.
HR outsourcing has some metrics like how long a new-hire stays with the company and the economic value added by the individual. Can the software service companies take up ADP’s work which is a part of a larger puzzle of employee compensation and management? some companies of employee size less than 200 in bangalore outsource their tax planning, payroll to E&Y.

To export this model to US,this will require a significant onsite presence and a local Garb. Here-in lies the advantage of getting listed in the host country where maximum revenue is going to be generated. This does get brownie points from companies which are going to use platform bpo. Are cross-holdings a solution?

-The other advantage I see is that it will free people from the bondage of working long nights :)in traditional BPO’s which might fracture the fabric of our society .
Would you call a combination of finacle and outsourcing of bank back-office operations to progeon a platform BPO?

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