How can global business services benefit from smart matchmaking platform?

Interview with Mark Angus, Founding Partner of The World Source Marketplace for Global Business Services (GBS.World)

Wiktor Doktór, Pro Progressio: I have a feeling that in the third decade of 21^st century Business Support Services are experiencing one of the best periods of their growth. Companies set up new global operation centres, advisory organizations build stronger consulting units, media focus more on BSS and we also have more and more events for professionals in this industry. You are also in the group of people who decided to improve the BSS World and together with your Team you created GBS.World. What is it and how did it start?

Mark Angus, GBS World: Yes, absolutely Wiktor, we live and work in a dynamic and exciting industry! The BSS (or global business services) sector has certainly been getting a lot of international attention from businesses, academia, donors and governments – and more so in the last 5 years. This is mainly due to the opportunities it provides for global buyers/enterprises in Australia, Europe, the UK and the US to cut business costs while tapping into large, diverse and emotionally intelligent pools of youth talent. The sector is also being tapped for business continuity purposes whereby enterprises are adopting multi-location, multi-sourcing strategies that enable them to spread their risk geographically. And of course, at a country level, these sourcing opportunities create jobs and much-needed foreign direct investment (FDI).

It is against this backdrop that our organization, Genesis Global Business Services, collaborated with, and co-created, research and analytics for the BSS/GBS sector (for about 14 years now). In this time, we have grown to respect and admire the various stakeholders in the industry. This includes leading BSS industry organizations/clubs like Pro Progressio, as well as investment promotion agencies, economic development organizations, service providers, analysts, donors and business buyers. And of course, not forgetting the frontline people/talent who make it all happen and service international consumers – the knowledge workers and service agents in the various locations.

The World Source Marketplace for Global Business Services (GBS.World) was launched to help global business buyers discover sourcing opportunities, verify, shortlist and right-source service providers and nearshore/offshore locations. We have backed it with incisive research, our community of partner analysts/consultants, and location assessments.

This includes the Trusted, Verified and Certified authentication program that assesses the size, scalability, capabilities and customer success track records of service providers, thereby providing interested buyers with validated profiles and data driven matchmaking.

I must say I did go through your GBS.World web platform and learned that it has many functionalities. What are the benefits for outsourcing services providers once they decide to be listed on your platform?

Yes, thank you for noting that. It has been a journey – and continues to be a process of constant refinement – based on feedback from global buyers who we survey and who visit the marketplace. Currently, there is functionality to search for service providers based on keyword, category of service or location.

Within this framework, our authentication program provides several benefits for outsourcing service providers including assessments of their size, capabilities and services for matchmaking with potential buyers, profiles of their organisations which appear in search results, access to our online bulletin board where we publish requests for proposals (RFPs), various marketing/branding opportunities and a thought leadership blog where they can publish content directly within their profiles. It’s essentially a 12-month program for each provider that can be renewed each year.

But the biggest benefit we are focusing on is our location-to-provider buyer matchmaking and lead generation program. This is where we promote the various benefits of outsourcing/nearshoring/offshoring (including the significant cost-performance savings) to would-be business buyers. We then help them assess and identify the best locations followed by a selection process to shortlist the right-fit service providers in those locations. At this stage, we hand over the process to our global BSS/GBS consultants who then help the buyer select the best provider (from the shortlist we provide) and manage the service level relationship and operational elements between the two parties.

   And what are benefits for companies who search for service providers? How they can be sure providers you have on your web platform are verified, checked and trusted?

 As mentioned, our parent company, Genesis GBS, is a market research and consulting firm. So, we ensure that whatever we do on the platform is based on direct feedback from global buyers and we regularly conduct surveys with such buyers in Australia, Europe, the UK and the US.

Many buyers indicated that service providers do not have a clear understanding of their needs as a buyer. There is a general lack of trust in what outsourced providers say they can do or deliver. Therefore, they want to access authentic reviews on BSS/GBS/CX service providers. We utilize the skills and expertise of our research fieldwork team to conduct, verify and check the assessments we conduct on service providers.

 In the table on the next page, you will note that global buyers also indicated that they wanted to view certifications and qualifications on service providers (11%) and so we provide this information on each service provider profile with badges for certifications such as ISO 2000 and GDPR. They also want objective, third-party or client reviews on service providers (14%) so we have switched on a 5-star rating and testimonial functionality in each profile.

Other benefits we offer buyers is access to market intelligence. This includes insights on shifting working models, customer experience trends and how to reduce costs and increase profitability. The table 2 explains more.

With the exception of location reviews or our tailored consulting services, all this information is available free to would-be/interested business buyers.

You are also an organizer of business events for outsourcing industry. In the middle of September 2022 together with Peter Ryan and Traci Freeman you have organized CxOutsourcers 2022 conference in Las Vegas. What was the main goal of this event and who has participated in it?

CxOutsourcers is a global CX mindshare group and forum for C-level decision-makers to get inside the buyer’s mind and be equipped with the latest global research and strategy to create their blueprints for success. Members are customer experience (CX) and business process outsourcing (BPO) knowledge leaders, consultants and third-party operators who require strategy and best practice insights to steer their CX, contact center and BPO investment strategies. As such, it’s an exclusive group for BPO/CX outsourcers (many of whom are competitors) to come together and co-share knowledge and insights regarding the sector. The CxOutsourcers Group and Event was co-founded by me and Peter Ryan in partnership with Traci Freeman.

Our recent event in Las Vegas, Nevada garnered a lot of support with over 40 C-level outsourcing executives in attendance, and an additional 35+ analysts, consultants and technology suppliers. Employee experience, skills development, buyer pain points and blending technology with the human touch were just some of the key trends we covered in this year’s event.

Consulting, GBS.World web platform, CxOutsourcers event – this is quite large portfolio of your activities. Is there anything else?

We also produce the GBS World Competitiveness Index that identifies and ranks the leading global destinations for Customer Experience and Back Office Services, Digital and IT Outsourcing (ITO) and Finance & Accounting (F&A) Services. The index and rankings emerged from extensive survey data from our annual GBS vertical industry demand survey conducted on behalf of GBS.World by Genesis GBS.

This year, over 380 interviews were conducted with global enterprise executives from organizations based in Australia, Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States that outsource and offshore services. Surveyed executives were asked to rank and rate each country that they outsource to, including service level delivery across various key business process areas. Based on the survey results, the top countries across four global regions were ranked according to their final scores. At a regional level, the top 10 countries in each region were also placed in three categories: High Performer, Proficient and Capable.

Notably, Poland did quite well in the index, ranking in the top 10 locations for Customer Lifecycle Management services and in the top 3 locations for General ITO services. And it was ranked first globally for Technical and Helpdesk Services. We can unpack those results in future editorials within FOCUS ON Business.

Thank you Mark for our talk.

This article comes from magazine:
FOCUS ON Business #7 November-December (6/2022)