Business process outsourcing
there was a back-up plan, we kept some people – but we did it and they closed the books.” And central to the success of the project, Madi says, was the involvement of Inchcape’s regional and market finance directors, who provided invaluable support and knowledge throughout all phases of the journey. “I spent a lot of time engaging with the business to ensure they were part of the team. Having that group sponsoring and pushing the work forwards was core to its overall success,” she says. And further proof of that came when Inchcape passed its full audit with Deloitte. Madi believes that, in many ways, the full project actually presented a smoother transition than most GBS for year end – and a testament to the tenacity and skill of Inchcape’s people working with Cognizant. With all this in mind, what comes now? “Next we’re doing the tougher, smaller markets of Europe and the Americas,” says Madi. These other markets, which may only have five to ten people in each office, can produce a lot more noise in terms of transitional friction. Because of this, we worked carefully to ensure the same approach and all our supporting materials are tailored to the new markets and ready to use.
Getting the right partner
The reason Inchcape chose Cognizant can be traced back to their initial approach. Madi puts it like this: “They understood we had systems and process issues. But while they had a framework, they were prepared to listen and be flexible in some of the approaches.’”
Cognizant uses consultants and third parties to create solutions that work in harmony with everyone.
While Cognizant offered a proven method, in other words, flexibility was key. Madi says other suppliers’ models – of offering one set templated solution – ran the risk of failing to deliver lasting change by ignoring some of Inchcape’s specific challenges. “Our greatest fear when it came to the other BPO suppliers was
them offering a set blueprint to create global processes that didn’t take into account our specific needs. The fact is, they were not listening to our problems.”
Things were different with Cognizant. “Ultimately, it was about creating a partnership,” she stresses. “We don’t want to be dictated to. We know our business but we respect that they know shared services and both of us will work together.” “We found that while Inchcape is a serious F&A partner with a lot of clients, 350 of them overall, primarily they wanted to listen to us and problem- solve and we appreciate that.”
But that is not to say that Inchcape were not demanding in terms of the technical sophistication required as part of a BPO project. “We have 39 active directories, so we needed someone that actually had the right technical background,” Madi says. Cognizant’s technology skill sets were a critical factor in delivering a successful transformation project – a big achievement, given Madi admits Inchcape’s existing IT landscape represented a serious challenge. “We needed someone with the right technology background that could help shape the future.” But beyond that, Madi says it was Cognizant’s determination to connect with Inchcape’s market teams and roll up their sleeves that was the real game changer. “In my experience, imposing a solution doesn’t work. We’ve had many consultants or third parties that come in and spend fortunes trying to harmonise our process. “So that’s not about simply saying, ‘We know the
answer.’ In fact it’s more about getting around a table – and this was in Covid times – and working together to design a solution that was right for us. “They explained what they could bring to the table but they also listened to our problems,” she says. “And in doing so, they teased out some of the issues that we could work together on, and that’s really what won us over.”
Step in the right direction As Madi summarises, Cognizant recognised that Inchcape’s particular challenges required a bespoke approach. “They started at the beginning and they listened to the coaching. We had a third-party integrator, as well, to coach them. That helped us ” Instead, they said, ‘Let’s try this solution. If it
doesn’t work then we’ll think of something else.’” In short, Madi stresses that both sides have delivered on their promise to be open and work collaboratively. “A year in, we know there are things we need to improve, but instead of us looking at the contract and arguing about who is right and who is wrong, we just get everyone around the table and fix it together. ■
18 Finance Director Europe /
www.ns-businesshub.com
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