Predictive analytics have been used in actuarial services in the insurance industry for many years now. However, given the nature of the insurance business and the market, it is now used in various other functions in the insurance industry – to enhance customer experience and satisfaction, for sales and marketing, to improve operational efficiencies and to reduce costs. In business, predictive models exploit patterns found in historical and transactional data to identify risks and opportunities.
Insurers gather and store a tremendous amount of data. Information from a variety of sources, including applications for policies, premiums and claims contain vital intelligence… Read the rest
Analytics beyond patterns
All successful Financial Service providers are exploring analytics to manage business. An important aspect of analytics is to use historic patterns to determine future trends. Thus the knowledge of fraud patterns can be used to strengthen fraud management.
Regulations changing risk analytics needs
Maintaining an organization or individual risk score card was once confined to larger organizations. Bureaus filled the gap by offering a unified approach to scoring based on behavioral attributes, which appealed to smaller firms. The evolution of business intelligence and analytical tools has helped smaller organizations adopt analytical insights and risk-grid-based pricing to… Read the rest
The long-term evolution of industries has long been studied. A small market grows when competitors fill niches and primary demand increases. Innovation sparks products. Services refinement and differentiation then occurs. More providers enter the market and then, as the growth cycle matures, scale and leverage become forces for consolidation. Now joining those ranks: the IT and business process outsourcing industry.
Three recent transactions – HP buys EDS, Dell buys Perot Systems, and Xerox purchases ACS – point to a future where “one-stop shopping” indeed becomes a reality in the outsourcing market.
With IBM Global Services leading this pack of “full-service” providers, what… Read the rest
Like all journalists, my inbox fills daily with press releases. Here’s one that caught my eye this week and – believe it or not – it made me think about outsourcing.
Do you love gourmet, country style bacon? Do you love premium roast gourmet coffee? Do you love the semi-sweet, sensuously succulent flavor of maple? Then something tells me that you are going to absolutely love Boss Hog’s Maple Bacon Coffee!
The press release went on to describe the product in these terms: “taken us by surprise,” “totally blown our mind,” “actually a pleasure,” “top notch,” award… Read the rest
Three statistics caught my eye as important outsourcing news today: #1, 3/4, and 24.
#1 - Congratulations to Océ Business Services!
The Black Book of Outsourcing’s 2010 “State of the Industry” survey ranked Océ as the leading document process outsourcing provider among the Global Top 50 Outsourcing Providers. Océ Business Services received the highest scores of any DPO provider in the three criteria that 6,500 respondents considered to be the most important. These include awareness of requirements, closely followed by the ability to resolve problems as and when they arise, and the skills and resources that providers can bring to the work they… Read the rest
This is the second blog in a recurring column in Outsourcing Buzz Blog focusing on thought leadership in outsourcing, as seen from the perspectives of two industry leaders with unique views into the workings of how outsourcing deals really get put together – and the results of those maneuvers. (See “Never Underestimate the Value of PEOPLE When it Comes to Outsourcing,” the first blog in this column.)
Insights in this recurring column come from sourcing advisors, Joe Vales and Kerry Ann Vales of Vales Consulting Group and Vales Consulting Lite.
This week I asked Joe and Kerry Ann… Read the rest
Over the past 20 years, the outsourcing request for proposal (RFP) process fueled the growth of outsourcing on a global basis. It served as a framework for buyers to evaluate service providers and their proposed solutions. Overall, it provided buyers with the details to reduce the risk related to large outsourcing transactions and led to identification of best practices, templates, and processes that leveled the playing field for unsophisticated buyers. For service providers, the RFP process initially provided a structured platform to present their solutions and differentiate their services.
All of these developments were extremely positive and would normally insure that the RFP process… Read the rest
The due-diligence task of talking to a potential service provider’s existing clients for references on the provider’s capabilities is part of the first line of defense in trying to structure an outsourcing relationship for success.
But it’s somewhat like talking to the poison taster for a king – clients giving references are those who tasted the provider’s services and lived on to tell the tale.
Sure, finding out if the provider has successful past experience with a deal of the scope and complexity of the deal under consideration is of vital importance. Absolutely. But wouldn’t the potential buyer also benefit… Read the rest
This is the first in a frequently recurring column in Outsourcing Buzz Blog focusing on thought leadership in outsourcing, as seen from the perspectives of two industry leaders with unique views into the workings of how outsourcing deals really get put together – or why they don’t. Insights in this recurring column come from sourcing advisors, Joe Vales and Kerry Ann Vales of Vales Consulting Group and Vales Consulting Lite.
This week I asked Joe and Kerry Ann this question: What should never be underestimated as valuable – but often is – when it comes to outsourcing? Their immediate… Read the rest
Two outsourcing news items grabbed my attention for today’s Pulse list — one deserving of a thumb’s up, and one a thumbs-down rating.
Thumbs Up
Congratulations to Motif, a global BPO service provider now celebrating its tenth anniversary as an outsourcing firm coinciding with the inauguration of its new delivery center in Costa Rica (adding to its global footprint in the USA, the Philippines, India, Singapore, and Australia).
Thumbs Down
An Ecademy blog focuses on what it calls the “Seven Deadly Sins of Outsourcing.” This blogger makes the Outsourcing Pulse List for using a title focused on sensationalism – something not helpful to outsourcing,… Read the rest
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