Outsourcing Journal Editors 
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]By Guilherme Pereira, Head of International Business Development of HCCM-Outsourcing Investment Group. – It is a fact that no matter the type of activity or services we may be talking about, Technology is evolving dramatically and factually playing the role of game changer. Based on our companies accumulated experience, technology is a very important piece of the puzzle that needs to be placed right for your businesses to succeed. And People, the right people, the skilled, re-skilled and qualified professionals are the basis of a top-quality customer experience and service levels but also to ensure the right use of technology.
Considering the customers’ demands for acceleration in terms of technological complexity side by side with their pressure for better service quality, the right combination of Technology and People definitely is the most complex challenge BPO service providers must always be ready to overcome.
Thus, regardless of the solutions we may be addressing, Technology and People must always ‘run together’ in order to deliver any expected outcome.
… AND WHAT MUST ALWAYS BE KEPT IN MIND.
These are very interesting times and technology must be on top of our minds and actions.
It is quite clear that the automation of business processes with AI and IA are very impressive since digital transformation as a whole is creating new business opportunities, leading to the need of developing new strategies and requiring the ability to create new solutions and operational models.
However, there’s something that we must keep in our grid of concerns: as service providers performing in an accelerating and competitive global market, we must keep on track with the key sourcing fundamentals. Because only with strong, deeply rooted sourcing fundamentals organizations will be able succeed: ensuring internal and external respect for best practices at all organizational and business aspects is the right path to maintain and even improve reputational excellence.
That’s why the sourcing governance concept and its adequate implementation assumes such critical relevance, as more sourcing deals under progressively more complex models and changing technological conditions and opportunities have been arising.
The quickness and complexity of the digital transformation we are observing requires much more efficient governance, being absolutely essential to ensure all steps of the outsourcing lifecycle are fully and continuously attended and monitored. In fact, we have all heard market players and business analysts/consultants highlighting the too high percentage of contracts that have failed throughout the ‘journey’ in times were the pressure was not due to fast and complex technological advances: unclear expected outcomes and basic inputs in each step of the contracts, inability and no capacity to set and implement adequate and measurable metrics, and to foresee potential failures and successes throughout the way, and even lack of both-sides leadership and relationship management’ ability or competence. And we all know what all the previous most necessarily leads to very bad results, with impacts at operational and cost efficiency levels, affecting the quality and steadiness of the expected outcomes and destroying trust and badly hitting the before mentioned reputational excellence.
Therefore, if general Governance skills were almost mandatory in the past, we are now looking at the fundamental need of Digital Governance skills in the organizations. The digital era is leading us to observe the expansion of our businesses and markets under a profound transformation but we are facing the lesser availability of really qualified professionals to perform as interlocutors on both sides of net: providers and customers.
So, bottom line here is that although our businesses are definitely evolving fast due to the vertiginous transformation of processes resulting from the technological changes forced and enabled by the digital era, still our business will keep on being dependent on the human factor – and requiring a more and more solid alignment with best practices and key fundamentals for a success story, which really demand the existence of a clear Digital Governance strategy in place.
Technology. People. Sourcing Fundamentals. Governance. And Digital Governance. Those that can tick all these boxes will adapt and expand.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”4140″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]Guilherme Pereira, Head of International Business Development of HCCM-Outsourcing Investment Group. Guilherme was the General Secretary of Portugal Outsourcing Association since its foundation in 2008 where he held very relevant roles in positioning Portugal as a top nearshore location next to a wide range of European market stakeholders. Both his international educational and professional background and experiences have always been key enablers for developing the businesses and activities he has been involved with, with a partnership mindset to always develop and cultivate long term mutually beneficial personal and business relationships.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]