An international financial services company were in the process of going through a Business Process Out-processing (BPO), while attempting to scale the business to three times the current amount of assets under management (AUM).
The problem was the company was spread across thirty different countries, most of which had their own technology stack. The 30 different systems had been loosely tied together, but not in a way that provided leadership with the information they needed, nor could they separate their finances from the parent company. It also meant that there were 30 different processes that the BPO team would have to learn and cover.
During the initial review, it became notable that the largest dealers were all focusing on a similar product mix. Further analysis of the product mix showed 3 primary differences in product mix. The assumption quickly became product mix was a driver of different business models that were occurring under the surface in these franchises, and they must be accounted for.
1. Capture the Process(es) – Because there were multiple systems, running off of multiple systems, having everyone in the same space to talk about where the processes were similar and where they were different was extremely important in understanding the pain points, the overlap of expectations, and the diverging expectations.
2. Sculpt the Vision – The input from the first process left a lot of information that needed to be digested and molded. From the 82 slides, capturing notes from 68 process nodes, a new process could be built and streamlined with a digital-first mindset.
3. Architect the System – While sculpting the vision, three mantras were created: 1 Put the right information in the right hands at the right time; 2 Ensure the right tools are used for the right task; 3 The process works, it just needs to be digitized. With this in mind, a system was architected to ensure a new system would live by these new rules.
4. Choose the Tentpoles – Because the legacy system had 30 different systems, a new tech stack had to be developed from scratch. Identifying the necessary software to execute the broader vision would take a lot of research. Over the following six months, 4 Requests for Proposals (RFPs) were opened, and 2 other vendors were chosen through direct procurement.
Sometimes, technology is a tool in a company’s tool belt. Sometimes, technology is a opportunity for efficiency. In this case, technology was a record keeper of a company’s formation.
For example, in Europe, the primary software being used was initiated in about six different versions. The oldest versions represented the longest standing operations. The new versions represented the newest expansion. Many times, the operations were stood up in one region at the same time; the Nordic countries were all on the same version of the software. The southern countries, however, were on several different iterations of the software.
The creation of operations in a given country or region also showed challenges I’ve seen in companies that go through heavy rounds of M&A. As each of these versions were stood up, the regions were largely given autonomy for how they wanted to operate. Each of the regions had differences in how they used the systems, what upgrades the systems had, and what data needed to be captured; the regional/country-based regulations also lead to more differentiation between the countries.
This realization meant that giving any country or region autonomy over their operations would inevitably lead to differences. The systems need to be combined, not just because it was hard to maintain, but because one could not have a successful BPO operation or a common conversation about data given the operational differences.
The result of this project is that the program was ultimately approved. The licensing of seven new technologies, along with installation and restructuring of the IT support team was appropriated $80MM, and additional consultants were brought in to spearhead the implementation.
It’s hard to assess the ultimate value of the work, because the implementation is still on-going. As you can imagine, synthesizing 30 different systems and 30 different processes into a single entity is a very arduous process.
I heard a similar refrain several different times. “Is this an academic exercise?” or “What is the value to all of this work?” I laughed it off at the time, but the more I think about it, the more I should have realized this needed to be a narrative I should snuff out. Sculpting the Vision for a transformation gives you the guiding light, a recognition of what you’re building toward. None of this was academic, but it was time consuming. At the end of the Capture the Process stage, I went back to calculate how many working hours I had used from senior leaders at the company. Over six weeks, I estimated I had asked them to provide me about 1,100 hours of time in their schedules. That information was vital to finding the pain points, finding the needs, and finding what information people had and needed.
If you don’t have time to Sculpt the Vision, then you won’t have the patience to complete the transformation.
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