Industry news

The way in which the charity sector delivers its services needs to change in order to reflect shifting consumer habits and the way in which the public wants to access support and information.

At the same time as the media habits and access preferences of service users are changing, so the perspectives and priorities of commissioners and funders have also shifted significantly. Many charities face the challenge of sudden and often drastic cuts to funding, while having to provide services to, in many cases, more people than before.

And these evolving trends provide a unique opportunity for the outsourcing sector to provide added value, both to charities and the public whom they serve. Research recently undertaken by ICM on behalf of my organisation Connect Assist shows that previously held concerns regarding loss of personal interaction attributed to outsourcing are largely misguided, because consumer priorities have altered in favour of speed and ease of access.

Some of the main deterrents for charities outsourcing their services in the past have fears relating to the loss of personal interaction, expertise and the integrity of the organisation. Yet our research shows that the public consider speed and availability to be the most important priorities when contacting a charity (58% of those surveyed) compared with only 17% who felt that personal interaction was crucial. The overarching priority for respondents was that they received sympathetic advice from an expert source.

Broader social trends were also reflected in the findings. A quarter of those surveyed said that they wanted to access support and advice through Social Media such as Twitter and Facebook. Perhaps unsurprisingly this figure rises to 58% amongst the 18-24 year old demographic and 45% amongst the 25-34 year old group.

And herein lies the opportunity for charities to access the expertise already held within the outsourcing sector; with its strong track record of service delivery through traditional call centres and more recently multi-channel contact centres.

While online fundraising has become relatively mainstream, far fewer charities are delivering life-changing services to the people, families and communities they work for via a digital platform. Yet the digital medium offers immensely rich potential for service delivery, from providing information, advice and assessments to sustaining relationships with service users.

Most consumers are now familiar with accessing services online, whether from a PC, phone, tablet, kiosk or TV. A host of data illustrates the extraordinarily pervasive adoption of digital channels and an exploding preference for digital access, for example: 58% of the UK population now shop online, while charitable donations made online or via mobile phones have grown from 8% in 2004 to 18% in 2010.

Within the digital space, new applications of mobile technology are showing the fastest growth. Five billion applications were downloaded to mobile phones in 2010, compared with 300 million the previous year, and a large proportion of them are associated with social media. Indeed, by some accounting, social media is the predominant activity on the Web. In the UK, where mobile phone penetration is over 100%, half of the mobile Internet traffic is for Facebook.

As in any organisation, digital service delivery is a part of the mix of overall charity service delivery. In the same way that you can choose to walk into a bank, call them, write to them or interact online, charities still need to keep their services available across as many channels as possible. But the advent of digital services allows users to receive the same high-quality experience whether they engage online or offline, as well as enjoying the ability to switch from one channel to another at will.

At a time where undoubtedly more people will need the services of charities right across the UK, it is now urgent that charities meet the challenges that these survey results highlight. The outsourcing sector has the expertise and ability to enable charities of all sizes to embrace the digital revolution and expand the range of channels they use to provide services. Not only will this result in their ability to support more people in need, for many it will also result in a reduction in costs – surely a ‘win win’ situation for everyone?

Outsourcing. A route to retail growth.

At the moment, cost is a key driver in outsourcing, and, as such, clients consistently trying to cut their costs or losses, means innovation is one of the first elements to be cut by suppliers. Innovation is labour intensive, and therefore, can be expensive.

But, if we are to achieve better growth in 2012 and beyond, companies must not only outsource to cut costs, but make money too. Grabbing some market share is a good as cutting costs; combine the two, you’ve got growth on your hands. It’s an old adage that marketing budgets shouldn’t be cut in periods of recession – not that we’re in a recession. I don’t want to contribute to talking us into a double dip – and, in a way, outsourcing is a marketing strategy when it affects your customers’ experience of your brand.

We are seeing huge growth in the retail sector - EMEA retail outsourcing has risen 600% on last quarter, and 75% year-on-year. (see: TPI EMEA Index 3Q11). Major retail players are looking to streamline their processes, seeking competitive advantage by adopting hi-tech IT solutions and infrastructure upgrades. They are turning to outsourcing providers as a low- risk route to superior technology. Tesco, Argos, Homebase and Poundland all recently made major investments in outsourced technology solutions. This will help them run retail and warehouse operations to maximum efficiency, and improve customer experience. In today’s retail environment, outsourcing is becoming essential. Take up is skyrocketing due to cost-saving drives, and also, as seen in the cases of Argos and Homebase, as a way of delivering targeted marketing campaigns to boost sales. M-commerce or, employing mobile phone technology as channel to sell your wares, will become more and more prominent as the human race evolves to be evermore addicted to smartphones.

So, if you want to grow, and help the economy grow, look to innovate. And to keep the risks minimal? Outsource, of course.

Cisco Connected Stadium Wi-Fi solution, Real Madrid C.F. is poised to make the Santiago Bernabéu one of the most technologically advanced stadiums in the world.

Once the new high density Wi-Fi network is deployed, fans will be able to easily utilise their mobile devices and smart phones to quickly and reliably access several applications specifically designed to engage with the Stadium, as well as accessing Internet and social media during the game. Encouraging fans to use the Connected Stadium Wi-Fi network for Internet connectivity will also help to free up cellular networks, allowing spectators to text and call throughout the games, something that can be challenging nowadays.

Google has offered businesses the chance to use its servers to crunch huge amounts of their raw information.

The firm's BigQuery service is designed to help organisations identify and analyse trends from their datasets. Google said small businesses struggled to access such tools in the past.

Esure, a leading provider of insurance in the UK, has chosen dynaTrace as its platform for application performance management. Selling car, home and travel insurance on the phone and over the internet, esure will use dynaTrace to gain visibility across its online applications and inside its systems to ensure optimal business and technical performance of critical IT services.

esure’s business infrastructure relies on specialised Java applications, and operates in a sophisticated environment. Using dynaTrace PurePath Technology®, esure will benefit from a continuous, end-toend view of all processed transactions from the web servers through the company’s application and web tiers back to the database.

Dashboards that show data as it is collected in real-time will allow for smart prioritisation of actions and give a business-savvy perspective on application performance.

Visa Europe has taken a minority stake in leading customer insight group, Beyond Analysis. The investment will strengthen Visa Europe’s data analytics capabilities and forms part of its strategy to deliver increased value for consumers, retailers and banks through electronic payments.

A key feature of Visa Europe’s data analytics is that all cardholder information is anonymous and does not include personal or private details.‬

Peter Ayliffe, President and CEO of Visa Europe said, “This investment in Beyond Analysis reflects Visa Europe’s commitment to redefining its relationship with retailers, helping them to build stronger relationships with customers and secure increased market share. Enhanced data analytics forms a key part of our vision for the future of payments alongside new technology such as mobile payments and e-wallets.”

Fujitsu has announced Hybrid Cloud Services for Microsoft Windows Azure, an extension of its global cloud portfolio and its relationship with Microsoft. The offering enables government and enterprise customers to benefit from hybrid cloud solutions and in doing so achieve operating cost reductions of typically 30% or more.

Hybrid Cloud Services gives organisations choice when they embark on a cloud strategy, putting their workloads and data wherever it is most appropriate for them –in a public, private, or mixed environment. The solution helps companies address the challenges of interoperability, data security, governance and compliance when delivering across multiple platforms.

“Our research shows public sector organizations in most countries are concerned about data security,” said Frank Gens, chief analyst, IDC. “Providing options to meet this concern could open up a much larger market for public cloud services and in our opinion is definitely a trend to watch.”

Luton Borough Council is to outsource its ICT services through a partnership agreement set up with the Luton Learning and Community Partnership (LLCP) through which, Civica, a market leader in specialist IT systems and business process services, will provide ongoing support to the Council. The 10-year agreement, worth more than £34 million to the company, is part of a broader programme to deliver cost savings in total of £12.6 million.

Effective from 14 November 2011 ‘Project Genesis’ will see LLCP, for which Civica is an IT partner, deliver all core ICT operations for the council in order to achieve savings and enhance services including ICT-based innovation to change access to and use of local services. The partners will also set up a new programme management office to support and focus Luton’s transformation initiatives in order to secure further savings.

Councillor Robin Harris, Deputy Leader Luton Borough Council, said, “This programme will enable us to improve front line services without additional cost. The transfer of Luton’s ICT service to the partnership provides a strong basis for creating IT-based savings and at the same time seeking improved service delivery to meet local residents’ current and future needs.

“We’re particularly excited that the partnership’s service centre model will concentrate work in the town to help support the local economy and jobs.”

India-based ICT and business process outsourcing company Wipro Technologies plans to set up a strategic delivery centre in South Africa that will create job opportunities for about 1000 skilled professionals over the next three years.

Wipro currently has an office in Johannesburg, and has around over 500 employees, both onsite and offsite, servicing its clients in the region.

According to a statement this week, the company says it views South Africa as a market for potential growth and has created a special structure to drive global presence and business growth in the region.

"South Africa's IT end-user spending, as a portion of real gross domestic product (GDP), will reach 8.6% in 2013," said Wipro Technologies senior vice president Manoj Punja. "This positions the country at the upper-middle level of IT spender nations within emerging markets."

The privatisation of public services has been branded a scandal by unions who say that leaked tender documents reveal that the opening-up of the prison system to competition is "heavily biased" in favour of private firms.

The Ministry of Justice has introduced competitive tendering for five jails as ministers seek to expand the role of the private sector. They claim that competition will result in more efficient services and a better deal for the taxpayer, but unions fear that it will result in widespread redundancies, poorer working conditions and reduced pensions for workers.