Arvato named world’s third largest provider of business process outsourcing services
HfS Research, the leading industry analyst firm, has named Arvato as the world’s third largest provider of BPO services. The ‘HfS BPO Top 50’ is an annual review of the leading players in the market.
Arvato’s positioning in this review, an important decision-making tool for BPO buyers, reflects our global strength, capabilities and commitment to growth. Our strategy is focused on value creation and digital transformation across the whole customer journey. Many of the world’s most respected brands trust us as their long-term BPO partner, which is now reflected in the company’s position as the third-largest provider.
Jamie Snowdon, Chief Data Officer at HfS Research, highlights market insights in the review that align with Arvato’s view of the industry: “The model is shifting away from the traditional KPI, cost saving, and efficiency efforts and toward genuine business solutions. As external drivers and continuous market disruption impacts organisations, they require not just efficient operations but flexible, agile, and increasingly intelligent operations. The most important changes are the ones linked to an increased use of technology within the services, and they are changing delivery models.”
Globally, we have more than 68,000 people at 200 locations in 40 countries delivering services that cover the whole customer journey including Customer Services, Supply Chain, Finance BPO and IT.
The HfS BPO top 50 is determined based on HfS Research 2017, estimated from services provider financials. The full list can be accessed here.
Employees take on Tough Mudder for the second year running
In September, employees from across our Chesterfield, Farnborough, Willerby and Slough sites successfully took part in Tough Mudder, the 10-12 mile obstacle challenge, to raise funds for The Prince’s Trust. So far, the teams have raised a fantastic £2,395 for disadvantaged young people in the UK and the donations are still coming in.
Tough Mudder is an extremely challenging and strenuous activity which is not for the faint hearted, and all employees completed the challenge with great camaraderie and enthusiasm.
Wayne Church, Print & Design Manager for our partnership with Chesterfield Borough Council, commented: “The whole experience is something that I would recommend to anybody, it is such a fun event to take part in, the camaraderie is fantastic and the buzz it gives me for completing Tough Mudder is second to none. Meeting new colleagues from different sites and taking part as a team is also an experience as it feels like we have known each for a while. The whole event is such a pleasure to take part in and represent the company.”
Colin Rowe, Head of Business Strategy, CRM Solutions, Arvato UK & Ireland said, “As a first time mudder I did not really know what to expect. Yes it was hard… and due to the very very wet weather, much muddier than I think anyone had imagined (I know the clue is in the name!). However what I experienced has left a huge and positive impression on me. Despite the few grazes, bruises and muscle aches that I had the next day, this is one of the best team events that I have ever taken part in. A huge thanks and respect to everyone that took part and especially the Arvato team who were amazing. And yes, I will definitely be taking part in this again next year.”
The Princes Trust was founded in 1976 by HRH The Prince of Wales, and has since helped more than 750,000 disadvantaged young to develop the confidence and skills to move into work, training or education.
Well done to all our employees who were involved in this team challenge!
Arvato’s partnership with leading European research centre develops social media monitoring tool
Arvato and the European Research Centre for Information Systems (ERCIS) at the University of Münster recently presented their “Social Media Monitor” at the ERCIS annual workshop. The tool supports brands in analysing their performance across social media platforms and benchmarking this against competitors and overall industry standards.
The partnership formed in 2016 was set up with the aim of collaborating to create new, innovative solutions for our customer services. It combines ERCIS’ established academic research network and teaching facilities with Arvato’s industry expertise, gained from handling 1.7 million customer service interactions every day for some of the world’s best-known brands. The lab’s three main areas of expertise and focus are processes, data and analytics.
The annual workshop, hosted by the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS) at Leiden University, in collaboration with the Leiden Centre of Data Science, saw members of the ERCIS network from across Europe gather to discuss current trends, new developments and plan joint research initiatives.
One of this year’s key themes was focussed on the confluence of data science and information systems – specifically, the huge impact of social media and implications for data privacy with the introduction of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).With this being a key focus area for the ERCIS Lab, both Karsten Kraume, Chief Strategy Officer, Arvato CRM Solutions and Markus Heuchert, Research Assistant, ERCIS presented the Lab’s new ‘Social Media Monitor’. This proprietary tool, designed and developed by the Lab, automatically gathers data from social media platforms, crunches the numbers, and derives KPIs for service quality. An important aspect is its ability to compare the competitive landscape within and across industry verticals.Karsten Kraume said: “The Lab’s Social Media Monitor tool can deliver very valuable market insights into service quality across industry verticals. Of course, as a global leader in the customer experience sector, data privacy is a top priority for Arvato. Being able to explore the topic at our workshop, delivered valuable feedback and new insights on how ERCIS partners approach data privacy issues.”
Local Authority Challenge put East Midlands public sector talent to the test
We recently supported the East Midlands Local Authority Challenge for the second year running. The event brought together the best and brightest local government officers who competed in a series of real-life challenges.
The Local Authority challenge took place at Donnington Park Race Track on 16th November. The day-long programme aimed to help local government managers to build their professional skills, by working in teams to overcome the kind of strategic challenges faced by local government senior managers every day.
The East Midlands event saw teams of six delegates work together as a fictional local authority. The teams chose which actions to prioritise, deal with a range of sensitive issues that emerge throughout the day and plan service improvements through partnering with neighbouring councils and by selecting from a range of emerging technologies, such as chatbots and Robotics Process Automation (RPA).
As a sponsor of the event, the Arvato team was on hand to provide support and insight to the teams, including advice on the technologies that are set to drive major transformation across local government. We also sponsored the award ceremony later in the evening, which recognised the winning presentation, best Chief Executive and overall winners of the competition.
Peter Schriewersmann, Key Account Director, CRM Solutions, Arvato UK & Ireland, said: “The Local Authority Challenge offers the participants the opportunity to hone their strategic planning, management and communication skills, as they tackle real-life issues against the clock. It’s a fantastic programme that allows them to think about their own digital agenda and develop innovative ideas to tackle challenges and we’re proud to be sponsoring the East Midlands event again this year.”
You can find out more information about the event here.
Could a robot run your public services? Arvato facilitates dialogue about robotic process automation (RPA) in the public sector
Ever since successfully implementing RPA for its client Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council in 2016, Arvato has been at the forefront of promoting the benefits of the technology for the public sector.
Focusing on educating the sector and addressing some of the concerns around robotics and employment, Arvato has developed a raft of materials to help public sector organisations get their head around RPA:
- Industry research proving the business case for RPA in the public sector
- A white paper on how can help to drive transformation and much needed efficiencies
- A video explaining how RPA works and its benefits for public sector organisations
- A round table report in collaboration with think tank New Local Government Network (NLGN) discussing the wider impact on the local government workforce
Arvato’s ground-breaking work around RPA in local government has been recognised by numerous awards, including finalist for ‘Most Promising Pilot’ at the inaugural Challenge the Future Awards, ‘Automation Project of the Year’ finalist at the Global Sourcing Association Awards, and winner for ‘Best Use of Research’ at the UK PR Moment Awards.
Debra Maxwell, CEO of CRM Solutions, UK & Ireland, Arvato, said: “Automation has been widely embraced in the private sector and it’s encouraging to see that government bodies are becoming more receptive to this technology as a way to improve services for citizens and increase efficiencies. Fundamentally, it’s about enabling public sector employees to focus on what’s really important, and redirect resource away from mundane, repetitive tasks.”
“With automation technology inevitably becoming more accessible to UK organisations, it has huge potential to deliver transformation in the public sector. We’re keen to work with government organisations to help them prepare for the changes that this kind of innovation will bring.”
New ‘day in the life of…’ employee video launches to highlight company values
Our ‘day in the life of…’ video series showcases people from across Arvato, the development opportunities we offer and provides an insight into what life is like working across our sites in the UK and Ireland.
In our latest video, we follow the day in the life of Lysanne, a Content Analyst for our customer experience team in Dublin. She explains why she enjoys working for Arvato, thanks to the welcoming and friendly atmosphere in our offices and being able to work alongside a diverse group of people.
Lysanne is also heavily involved in the ‘fun committee’ which is run by employees in Dublin and organises regular social events for everyone across the site. She also talks about the emphasis Arvato puts on personal development and the support she’s received on her journey to becoming a team leader.
Sally Neale, HR Director, CRM Solutions, UK & Ireland, Arvato, said: “We want to make sure that our people enjoy where they work, and have every opportunity to develop their skills and progress in their careers.”
“The videos tell a great story of how our employees are proud to work for Arvato, passionate about delivering great results for our clients, and pioneer new ideas – be it in their roles or through voluntary activities like the fun committee. So they really help us with attracting new talent, but also in sharing Arvato’s culture across different teams and sites.”
To watch Lysanne’s video and view the rest of the series please click here.