Home OPERATION Business Process PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers)- Outsourcing and Shared Service Programmes

PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers)- Outsourcing and Shared Service Programmes

July 9, 2011

Increasingly, value is created from successful collaboration of stakeholders connected in a network. Therefore outsourcing solutions must capture opportunities and navigate risk across these extended business networks.

Outsourcing and shared service programmes to reduce costs, increase efficiency, drive innovation and access talent

PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) helps clients set up and manage outsourcing and shared service programmes to reduce costs, increase efficiency, drive innovation and access talent. Implementation is a major undertaking that must be accompanied by attention to detail and accountability for results. As trusted advisors, we bring discipline to decision-making, drive value and remove risk from complex contracts, and form the partnership bridge.

Outsourcing of finance, accounting, HR and finance function

Intensified outsourcing beyond IT and procurement activities into finance, accounting and HR functions offers wide opportunities. To realize benefits, disciplined management must be combined with the culture, structures and processes of collaborative partnering, and openness to business model innovation. This is even more important in the outsourcing of finance function.

To realize benefits, disciplined management must be combined with the culture, structures and processes of collaborative partnering, and openness to business model innovation.

Increasingly the emphasis moves away from looking at cost alone, and more upon effective risk management and meeting the client’s needs. Outsourcing is becoming more complex to manage.

A broad range of skills is required to manage the pressure points in the outsourcing lifecycle: • Strategy development • Business case development • Structuring the deal • Managing the transition • Ongoing and monitoring • Regeneration and renegotiation

Multi-sourcing and open business finance-function outsourcing

Traditional long-term exclusive outsourcing arrangements work better for nearly commoditised services (such as IT) than for the less commoditised (such as finance function). As a result, clients and providers employ multi-sourcing and open business models that require proactive collaboration.

Multi-sourcing models deliver tangible benefits and facilitate innovation and performance improvement. However, multi-sourcing also presents challenges: managing several relationships, operational and performance management, allocating incentives, a focus on intellectual property. The response is a proliferation of new approaches to govern and manage the relationships, based upon:

• Honest and transparent business dealings • Joint decision-making on matters of mutual interest • Effective joint-governance structures • Good cooperation between competing suppliers • Shared risks and rewards • Proactive innovation by suppliers

Uncertainty about service providers’ honesty and transparency increases the complexity. The outsourcing community needs to explicitly undertake a best practices approach. The performance challenge is clear.

Assessing, planning and implementing transactions

We help companies achieve their outsourcing objectives by supporting them in assessing, planning and implementing transactions and by providing access to real, experienced resources on the ground in key supply markets. PwC has a strong track record of success in this field, and was named the top global outsourcing advisor for 2009 by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals.

Assurance, financial processes, control systems and risk management

Our in-depth knowledge of assurance, financial processes, control systems and risk management enables us to assist clients in all sectors in capitalising upon the opportunities outsourcing has to offer.

Industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services

PwC in Belgium provides industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services to public and private clients in Belgium and internationally. The use of our experience, industry knowledge, business insights and network in each of these areas enables us to create a distinctive experience for our clients.

We aim to be recognised as the leading professional services firm in Belgium, bringing real value to our clients, investing in our people and supporting our local communities. With more than 1,450 partners and staff in four locations (Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent and Liège) we are able to draw on the knowledge and skills of our people and of colleagues in our global network of firms.

All our work is governed by the highest standards in terms of quality, integrity, independence and objectivity. We pride ourselves on our ability to invest in long-term client relationships, to share and collaborate, to put ourselves in our clients’ shoes and above all to focus on consistently delivering value.

We stick to a simple winning strategy: leading in the markets we choose to serve based on quality and being a great place to work for all our people.