The pandemic has done as much as any other event in living history to accelerate technological change by changing the way we all work together. From the acceleration and adoption of cloud services to the support and implantation of End User Services (EUS), or Workplace Services as they are commonly called now, we have been enabling client companies, their staff and stakeholders alike to digitally transform their working world and how they deliver business.
Inhouse Or Outsource – The Issues Are RealAs part of their digital transformation, our client, a FTSE listed global financial services organisation with many sites in multiple geographies, needed to ensure its End-User Services were providing the best value to the business and able to meet the needs of a modern, forward-thinking organisation. Our client faced a common dilemma that most large organisations face when considering their approach to End User Services: should they deliver them in-house or source them from a specialist third party provider?Getting Fit For PurposeThe current end user devices and the underlying technologies that supported them had been underperforming for several years. The service desk and customer satisfaction data showed that whilst the current EUS teams were very effective at resolving the user issues, the legacy technologies and parts of the service were not meeting the needs of the organisation. Issues were one that will be familiar to everyone from the several minutes required to boot up a laptop, to the cumbersome security layers, numerous usernames, passwords, and convoluted steps to connect remotely which had become more critical during the pandemic. An EUS strategy that had been sufficient before was now exposed.
The procurement team, in conjunction with the EUS team, had already attempted to approach the market to assess if the services could be provided better and more cost effectively this way. However, they struggled to collate the data and requirements to be able to effectively engage with potential service providers. This left the organisation without a strategic approach and improved operating model for EUS just when they needed it most.
The Coeus Cavalry - Accelerating The Right Kind Of ChangeThe Director of End User Services and the procurement team appointed Coeus Consulting to cut through the complexities and bring both their procurement / sourcing and EUS experience to the working group. Our independence provided an impartial assessment of end user services whilst our sourcing experience and benchmark data delivered insight into the marketplace and potential commercial providers and their offers quickly and efficiently.
We assessed whether services were sufficiently high quality and good value - or if it would be more efficient to source services from market providers. We also applied tried-and-tested data driven models, to underpin our independent, evidenced-based recommendations.
Our full data capture and current state review processes covered the current operating model, financial breakdown, structure and head count, supplier / contract information, performance data, strategy documents and planned transformation initiatives. Our assessment included observations and recommendations, a review against industry domain models, a maturity & value calculation, and a sourcing readiness assessment.
Our approach aligned the services to an industry model, which supported benchmarking against other similar sized organisations for cost and quality. In turn this was used to provide a market assessment and potential benefits of externally sourcing services. It delivered a clear evidence-based value assessment for the organisation. Our recommendations included. actions to improve each sub service within EUS on quality and / or cost, strategic options, cost benefit analysis, a high-level business case and executive summary.
Our industry knowledge and direct sourcing experience shone a light on potential sourcing options, their feasibility, the financial and non-financial benefits of each, and above all the correct sequencing of activities. This provided our client with the insight and guidance needed to decide whether they should outsource EUS or focus primarily on internal delivery and service transformation. The CIO stakeholder group welcomed the insight and commented that they had not previously seen such clarity or transparency of EUS within their organisation.
