The function of the CFO organization is evolving from being a support organization to driving the strategic decision making in the organization. The financial planning and analysis (FP&A) function plays a key role in this evolution, helping the business navigate the turbulent macro-economic environment as well as the demand shift with its competitive pressures. FP&A is not about stating the obvious; it’s about finding the reality, analyzing it and then telling the organization what to do; these are critical tasks organizations need to drive organizational growth. In other words, a robust FP&A function is critical because it not only analyzes… Read the rest
The heavily regulated and IP-driven life sciences industry operates in a state of continual flux. This dynamic nature of the industry throws a diverse mix of powerful challenges and equally promising opportunities at the pharmaceutical executive all the time.
Some of the key challenges facing pharmaceutical companies at the moment are:
- A patent cliff
- Dwindling pipelines and late-stage attritions
- Rising cost of commercialization
- A host of healthcare cost containment measures adopted by regulators and payers across key markets
To offset the revenue loss triggered by major patent expirations, companies have moved towards innovative therapies—often biologics—for niche indications with… Read the rest
The retail sector is a significant contributor to a country’s economy. In 2010, retail consumption accounted for two-thirds of the U.S. gross domestic product at $4.35 trillion. In the UK, retail sales were over £293 billion, according to the British Retail Consortium.
The retail industry has seen upheaval with the global economic crisis and intensely competitive environment, where margins are slimming down and customer loyalty is constantly fluctuating. It is critical for retailers to obtain insights to decide how much and what merchandize to stock, how to operate, and which customers they should fight to retain so that they can… 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
It is a Formula One Grand Prix. Crew members are crunching data from the sensors attached to the car. In a single season, a team will burn 200,000 liters of fuel in testing to identify 50 slightly different blends of fuel additives. Subject to predictive and simulated models, the crew should be able to give the right blend of power boosting additives to touch the finish line!
Similarly, your banker, insurer, telecom provider or retail store could be tracking your buying behavior to offer you an optimal product/service mix. With Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs and other social media being tracked,… Read the rest
Don’t you just hate having to say “I should have paid more attention to that”? Here are four news items that caught my eye, as they bode strongly of trends that will change the outsourcing pulse.
Pay attention to these trends now and start planning for them in your future outsourcing strategies — or you’ll wnat to kick yourself later for not having done it sooner.
Trend #1. U.S. and UK banks are currently reducing the number of service providers they use, narrowing them down to two or three providers with whom they have a high level of… Read the rest
Research firm Forrester reports TCS received the overall highest customer reference scores among the 19 service providers it evaluated for its recent report, ”The Forrester Wave™: Global IT Infrastructure Outsourcing, Q1 2011.”
Assessed on 36 criteria in three categories (current offering, strategy, and market presence), TCS was ranked as a Leader for global IT infrastructure outsourcing.
Rebounding from the recession and economic crisis, and despite increasing competition from other offshore outsourcing destinations, India outsourcing firms will still occupy the headlines as the world leader in 2011. As evidence:
- Kotak Institutional Equities predicts “blockbuster growth” for TCS, Infosys, and Cognizant
- TCS upped its plans to hire, now announcing they’re looking for 50,000 new employees; Infosys wants to add another 20,000 in headcount
However, in a PC World article on 11 trends in 2011, advisory firms EquaTerra and Everest Group predict an increasing interest in outsourcing to providers in China,… Read the rest
The US residential lending market is currently undergoing a tumultuous business phase. A holistic framework for delivering operational excellence – such as the one TCS has – can be one of the most significant differentiators and also deliver value to customers consistently. Here’s why.
Changes impacting the market. The excesses of the boom period of 2002-2006, easy credit policies driven by a steady increase in property prices, competitive pressures across lending organizations, and a booming Mortgage Backed Securities market fueled by voracious investor appetite, led to the global financial meltdown in 2007-2008. Consequent to the recession, in most OECD countries,… Read the rest
On the heels of well-grounded success in Clinical Research Outsourcing (CRO), the ever-evolving pharmaceutical industry is exploring new ways to leverage outsourcing to address challenges of increasing cost pressures and shorter drug-development cycle times. Pharma companies are turning to Functional Service Providers (FSPs). FSPs provide services function by function but have the added advantage of providing full service through IT+BPO+IS. India’s service providers are on the leading edge of FSP services and are positioned for helping pharmaceutical companies transition to a single strategic partnership model for clinical trials. I spoke with VK Raman, Head of Domain BPO Services at TCS,… Read the rest
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