The ABSL survey indicates that centralisation of processes is becoming a great trend, both in relation to international companies and also Czech firms with multiple branches. 81% of Czech business services centres assume that they will be expanding the scope of supported processes for example and companies that have not previously considered provision of services from one centre are also implementing centralisation. The reason for this is not just to reduce costs, but also to increase effectiveness and, increasingly, to improve the quality of the customer’s experience. This was also one of the reasons for establishment of the Dimension Data servicing centre, which was awarded an ABSL Diamond for successful centralisation of provision of technical support from 47 countries to Prague and Bangalore.
“Companies are creating business services centres across all sectors and regions today. Thanks to the internet and modern technologies it is no longer important where you carry out what activities from, access to qualified human resources with language skills and know-how in the field of designing processes and services is much more important,“ Jonathan Appleton, Director of the ABSL Association, which associates companies in the business services sector in the Czech Republic, explained.
By moving selected administration processes to a business services centre, companies can achieve much greater effectiveness and savings, ranging in the extent of tens of per cent. And the range of processes that can be centralised is rapidly increasing along with implementation of modern technologies. While the first centres chiefly specialised in customer support during provision of financial services, which also included accounting invoices or preparing salaries for example, nowadays centres also handle logistics, marketing, personnel management or research and development as standard. IT services are also experiencing an enormous boom.
“During the elapsed year we had the opportunity to observe the significant advances made by centres in the direction of increasing the scope of the provided services and also in the direction of their complexity and intricacy. Companies are also increasingly not implementing centralisation just because they need to reduce costs, but also to ensure the greatest possible customer satisfaction,“ Jonathan Appleton adds, with the understanding that this was also the case of the recently awarded project for centralisation of technical support by the Dimension Data Company.
Centralisation of processes leads to a better customer experience and growth of revenue
The Dimension Data Company decided to move customer technical support from 47 branches to 2 business services centres with offices in Prague and Bangalore. It had to recruit 160 technical experts in Prague within just 9 months for this purpose.
“Recruitment of employees for the Prague centre was probably the most complicated moment of the entire project. The employees not only had to be proficient in the necessary technologies, but also had to speak foreign languages, which were often not the standard required languages. This was also why we had to address foreign candidates during recruitment. Today our experts serve a total of 13,000 customers worldwide,“
Natálie Záhorská, HR Director for the Dimension Data Company, explained and she added: “Not only high-quality and rapid recruitment, but also implementation of an effective training system, which is crucial in our sector, was of particular importance. I am pleased that we can now boast a stable and satisfied team and reduced fluctuation in both centres.”
The centralisation project, called PACE 1.0, is one of the biggest transformation projects in the company’s history. It also includes the complete redesign of process with the goal of improving the customer experience as much as possible. After settling each of their requests customers can now also provide feedback using a simple tool. The PACE 1.0 project also resulted in a year-on-year increase in revenue by 8%, higher-quality employee education and 40% higher effectiveness in providing services. The Dimension Data Company was awarded a global award this year by the Technology Services Industry TSIA STAR Association and also an ABSL Diamond award in the Business Innovation category in relation to this project.
