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Accenture

A global network of delivery centers sets Accenture apart from the many other outsourcers by significantly reducing implementation risk and rapidly realizing benefits. In this case study two of the delivery centers, serving the needs of highly different client bases, are examined.

Offering a Unique Combination of Technology, Processes, and Alliances

Companies are right to be skeptical about the claims pitched by outsourcing providers. What skilled labor pool will the potential provider draw on? What technology and tools will be deployed? What experience does the provider already possess in the particular industry or sector?

Readily available resources and exceptional service are often promised, but in reality are rarely delivered. In trying to cut costs and gain the freedom to focus on their core business, organizations must be assured that the outsourcing provider has sufficient resources in place to minimize the risk to the business. It is much better if a prospective provider takes real ownership and offers a proactive, innovative approach to helping its clients solve their business problems.

Commitment to Infrastructure

A global network of delivery centers differentiates Accenture’s outsourcing service offering. It is tangible proof of Accenture’s heavy investment to support clients’ businesses. Comprising 50 onshore and low-cost location centers, the network enables Accenture teams to move fast to anticipate clients’ changing needs. Best practice and experience can be shared to give clients the accumulated benefit of quality, predictable solutions.

As depicted in figure 1, Accenture’s 15 delivery centers, located strategically throughout the world, are focused on accommodating clients’ finance and accounting business operations. Housing reusable, proven assets, they employ more than 2,500 finance and accounting professionals. Any single client would find it difficult or impossible to replicate the technology, processes, and alliances developed within these centers – and indeed why should they take the risk and attempt to when Accenture has already made the necessary investment?

Accenture Delivery Centers for finance and accounting support clients operating in a wide range of industries in 19 countries. Here, we look at how two centers are serving the needs of very different client bases. For one, proximity to the business is a key factor. In contrast, the location of the second center has its own intrinsic qualities that give rise to unique benefits for Accenture clients. 

Accenture Delivery Center – Aberdeen

Oil companies under pressure turn to Accenture. The companies that exploit the oil and gas riches beneath the North Sea are fiercely competitive but have the wisdom to recognize that sharing common resources in certain areas makes sound operational and financial sense. When it comes to controlling the costs of finance and accounting, maintaining high quality service, and attracting, motivating, and retaining highly skilled people, they all face essentially the same challenges.

Operating in the North Sea is never an easy ride and by 1990 life became even tougher as the industry faced seemingly impossible market conditions. In just one decade, production costs per barrel of oil tripled, while in real terms the selling price plummeted by two-thirds. Clearly, exploiting the maturing fields of the North Sea was becoming increasingly complex and costly.

It was against this backdrop that the Accenture Delivery Center in Aberdeen, Scotland was opened. Launched in 1991, initially to serve BP Exploration, the Aberdeen center provides world-class finance and accounting services to five major upstream oil companies that handle approximately 40 percent of North Sea oil and gas production. These include BP Exploration, Talisman Energy (U.K.) Ltd., Conoco U.K., TotalFinaElf Exploration U.K., and BOL (Britannia Operator Ltd.).

In a groundbreaking agreement, more than 300 accounting staff transferred from BP Exploration to the Accenture Delivery Center in Aberdeen, taking on all BP Exploration accounting operations. As part of the agreement, Accenture guaranteed BP an operational savings of at least 20 percent. This was BP Exploration’s first outsourcing contract and for the time was an extremely innovative move. BP’s chief of staff Colin Goodall comments,“ The process ran so smoothly that the transition phase ended four months ahead of schedule.”

Accenture has achieved dramatic cost reductions for all these energy clients, well over 40 percent in some cases, depending on the scope, timing, and length of contract. Not surprisingly, today Accenture is regarded as part of the fabric of the North Sea oil industry.

Benefits Beyond the Balance Sheet

Outsourcing their finance and accounting functions to the Accenture Delivery Center in Aberdeen Center has brought clients benefits that go beyond reduced operating costs.

Among these are:

• A high level of service, with satisfaction regularly monitored and constantly enhanced through an ongoing program of service initiatives. Close collaboration with client management teams ensures Accenture stays fully in tune with the pressures under which the oil companies operate.
• A skilled and motivated team created from the staff who have joined through outsourced arrangements by providing excellent capability development, diverse work experiences, and rewarding career paths.
• A tight operating and control framework, which has prevented any loss or the build up of any balance sheet issues.

Accenture continually looks for innovative ways to improve service at an affordable cost to the customer. Aberdeen is a true example of where technology assets are leveraged to benefit all customers. Multiple oil companies even run on the same configured SAP solution.

However, a multiclient Accenture Delivery Center doesn’t impose a straitjacket of uniformity on its clients. In this case, the companies received clearly differentiated benefits:

• BP Exploration now enjoys accounting operational cost savings of more than 50 percent and at a level well below those of its nearest competitor. An overwhelming majority – 90 percent – of managers rate the service “good” or “very good.”
• Conoco saw reductions in accounting staff of 30 percent in the first year.
• Elf’s target of 40 percent reduction in operational costs for accounting services has been substantially met, helped by the migration to a new accounting platform.
• Talisman has been provided with flexible and responsive service to meet the company’s further growth aspirations.

The Aberdeen team has a forward-looking approach to technology. It is currently building a number of multiclient applications and new Web-enabled services to transform the center into a business service provider that offers access for clients, suppliers, and customers through private networks or the Internet. The aim is to make further service improvements, with better quality and more timely management information readily available. The center uses Adaytum planning and reporting software to monitor its own performance and also offers higher value-added services, such as contract compliance and SAP support.

Prague Sets the Scene for Service

In contrast to Aberdeen, which is dedicated to a single industry, the Accenture Delivery Center in Prague provides cost-effective finance and accounting services for clients in multiple industries spread across Europe. Opened in 2001, its service portfolio includes accounts payable, accounts receivable, cash management (payment and receipt), credit and collection, statutory accounting, and general accounting.

What were the drivers behind Accenture’s decision to site its pan-European Delivery Center in the capital of the Czech Republic?

• Access to a well-educated workforce that possesses excellent technical and language skills.
• Comparatively modest salary costs; clients save through labor arbitrage on services transferred to Prague.
• Picturesque Prague is attractive to many European cultures, making it easier to recruit high-caliber staff.
• Easy accessibility, with a central European location and good transportation links.
• A stable economy and political environment.

Accenture’s own strong consulting presence in Prague since 1991 meant it could draw on local sources of expertise to ensure the new center was up and running as quickly as possible. Experienced people were on hand to plan and implement the transition to Prague; set up

and operate a service management framework; establish the physical office and working environment; deliver proven knowledge transfer programs; and access a steady flow of quality candidates with language skills from proven sources. Accenture was able to pass these benefits on to its clients in providing fast, cost-effective transition and startup.

Customers can now reduce risk on their pan-European implementations and rapidly realize the benefits. With the Prague center firmly in place, Accenture’s experience, tools, and resources can all be deployed to maintain business continuity during the transition phase.

One major client is a leading specialty chemical manufacturer. From Prague, Accenture supports their operation in eight countries – Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

A major automotive parts manufacturer draws on the center for services for its business in six countries – France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. Accenture’s global network of Delivery Centers has allowed the client’s processes for accounts payable and expenses to be supported out of another low-cost location center – Mauritius. Handling accounts payable in Mauritius capitalizes on competitively priced local strengths in languages and skills. The remainder of the functions are delivered from Prague, which combine the benefits of cost-effectiveness with proximity to the client’s business.

Benefits of Accenture’s Approach to Service Delivery

The collaboration between Prague and Mauritius has extended the operating model to new scales with a dual-center low cost solution. It demonstrates that through its network of delivery centers, Accenture continues to offer innovative service delivery, so that clients benefit from:

• Comprehensive services, from technology infrastructure to application management to business process outsourcing.
• An end-to-end lifecycle delivery approach, from design to execution to long-term operation and management of a solution.
• A technically-skilled, flexible labor pool trained in Accenture’s proven and systematic solution delivery approach.
• An anytime, anywhere development and maintenance environment available to Accenture clients globally for speed of delivery.
• A customized suite of disaster recovery and business continuity services.
• An integrated suite of assets, methods, and techniques.