Business Process Services White Paper Improving Operational Efficiencies through Pattern-Based Analysis
About the Author Mahesh Kshirsagar Mahesh has more than 24 years of experience in various technologies and architecture domains across industry verticals, most extensively in Banking and Financial Services. He has played a key role in addressing the ever-changing business demands of our clients by architecting state-of-the-art IT solutions. As a technology leader, he has successfully incubated several high impact, high revenue potential IT service lines, as well as technology centers of excellence (CoE).
Abstract Even as the business process services (BPS) industry witnesses tremendous growth, service providers struggle to ensure that the technology supporting business operations stays relevant and effective. Incremental changes and stop-gap measures are also not adequate to bridge this gap. It is imperative that service providers take a fresh and holistic look at their technology systems portfolio to build solutions that address the evolving needs of business operations today. This paper proposes that service providers perform pattern-based analysis of operation processes, data, and systems to build leading edge solutions. Pattern based analysis ensures that the adopted solutions are robust, scalable, and renewable, and also appropriate for all of the relevant areas of operations and underlying systems. It also enables optimal utilization and performance of both human and technology resources, helping service providers meet service level agreements (SLAs).
Contents List of Abbreviations 5 Evolving Customer Expectations in the BPS Industry 6 Developing Value Adding Technology Solutions: Role of Key Patterns and Solution Accelerators in Business Operations 10 Key Solution Accelerators of Business Process Operations 13 Enabling Service Providers to Effectively Meet BPS Customer Expectations 14
List of Abbreviations BPS BAM BPM FTE HSI KPI KRI OCR SLA STP TAT UI UPT UX Business Process Services Business Activity Monitoring Business Process Management Full Time Employees Human System Integration Key Performance Indicator Key Risk Indicator Optical Character Recognition Service Level Agreement Straight Through Processing Turnaround Time User Interface Unit Process Time User Experience
Evolving Customer Expectations in the BPS Industry The BPS industry has witnessed accelerated growth over the past decade. For service providers, this growth brings the additional burden of meeting evolving expectations of BPS customers. Organizations routinely expect service providers to add significant value by bringing in increased efficiency and effectiveness to their business process operations. In order to address this growing demand, service providers need to accelerate innovation and develop value adding IT solutions. These technology solutions can take the form of a disruptive solution such as Platform-BPS or an incremental solution that completely or partly automates routine tasks. Figure 1 depicts the role that technology can play across different levers such as people, processes, applications, and infrastructure. Automation Solution Accelerators People Process Applications BPaaS Infrastructure Figure 1: View of technology across business process levers 6
Analyzing Operations for Identifying Required Solutions A close examination of operations reveals discrete work patterns that can help identify the kind of technology solutions needed. Table 1 lists some benefits that result from implementing solutions that are developed based on these discrete patterns. Workforce Performance Financials Customer Compliance 1. Improve accuracy and productivity 2. Reduce turnaround time (TAT) 3. Standardize and optimize 4. Improve predictability 1. Optimize customer on-boarding cost 2. Improve working capital or revenue generation 3. Create enhanced pricing model (from FTE-based to output-based to outcome-based pricing) 1. Improve service delivery management 2. Improve customer satisfaction 3. Acquire and retain new customers 1. Improve compliance and risk management 2. Reduce operational risks 3. Implement knowledge management Table 1: Expected benefits from technology solutions 7
Selecting the Right Methodology for Analysis To get the best output from pattern-based analysis, it is important to adhere to a well-defined methodology that streamlines and simplifies the assessment process involved in analyzing floor operations. Figure 2 highlights such a methodology. Figure 2: Analysis methodology to streamline and simplify the assessment process The deliverables from such an assessment process include a business case scenario and a demonstrable work product. To ensure stakeholder acceptance, it is important that the demonstrable work product complements the proposed business case. 8
Categorizing Business Process Operations Categorizing operations in a business process environment based on work profiles helps in the identification of key patterns. The operations can be categorized into three different work profiles voice operations, data processing operations, and knowledge intensive operations. Table 2 depicts the typical work pattern of process associates for each of the three work profiles. Typical Operations Profile Agent Type Voice Operator Data Processing Operator Knowledge Intensive Processor Business Process Activity Voice-based Data Entry-based Knowledge-based Browsing 90 percent 10 percent 10 percent Data Entry 5 percent 85 percent 50 percent Thinking 5 percent 5 percent 40 percent Table 2: Typical work pattern of BPS agents for standard work profiles 9
Developing Value Adding Technology Solutions: Role of Key Patterns and Solution Accelerators in Business Operations The key patterns found in operations as well as process enablers act as accelerators in the identification and development of best-fit technology solutions. a. Identification of Key Patterns in Business Process Operations Pattern-based analysis reveals key patterns across operations in areas as such as work inflow, data operations, decision making, reporting, and analytics, which can be used to improve efficiencies and business outcomes. Here's a look at how pattern-based analytics can enhance each operation: Ensuring Smooth Work Inflow Management The volume and variety of work inflow processed as part of business operations highlight a strong need for guided and integrated queue management across numerous processes. While 'integrated' refers to a technology solution that has secure and defined access to the required data points of the business process technology systems, 'guided' implies that the solution proactively monitors and provides suggestions for efficient and effective management of the queue. Such guided and integrated queue management should be driven by queue modeling linked to the particular business process for which the solution is being deployed. This in turn enables the organization to: Handle large volumes, adhere to timelines, and deal with critical issues Adapt to the level of process complexity Manage queue status at the organizational level as well as at the individual work item or task level Allocate work content based on the skill set and availability of process associates Notify stakeholders about the work in the pipeline along with the queue characteristics Enabling Efficient Data Operations Data operations within business process operations can lead to a number of technology solutions based on the context of data usage. Data view and data search tasks usually require a process associate to carry out extended retinal and motor movements. For instance, the process associate has to scroll and click several times to reach the required content. In such a scenario, a technology solution leveraging the science of user experience (UX) can result in significant improvement in the productivity and accuracy of the work performed by a process associate. 10
A process associate also has to navigate multiple applications to get to the needed data points. A solution that provides a unified view and integrates the data points across multiple technology systems in a contextual manner ensures increased accuracy and productivity and reduced TAT. In the case of data compare, a process associate is required to compare varied data points across multiple applications. A technology solution that provides a unified view and helps transform, split, and aggregate contextual data can prove to be very useful in such a case. One important case of data comparison is the maker-checker functionality linked to transaction processing. Typically, a checker verifies (visual inspection) the data entered by a maker by referring to the same source contents or documents referenced by the maker. Since this involves only visual inspection, the chances of a checker overlooking the errors and authorizing incorrect contents are very high. A solution that forces the checker to re-enter key fields by referring to the same set of sources enhances the accuracy as well as the yield of the checker functionality substantially. Similarly, a technology that automates data entry (fully or partially) can lead to a significant improvement in the accuracy and efficiency of data entry operations. In the case of data capture, process associates typically refer to image documents. A solution that recognizes the content within images (e.g., optical character recognition (OCR)) and makes it contextually available can improve efficiency and accuracy. There are also times where process associates have to transfer or share the data with other agents, the customer, or the customer's end customer. Data transfer processes need a solution that ensures data confidentiality, integrity, and consistency. Such a solution should also generate a barcode from the data contents to provide security. These data transfer processes can also benefit from increasing the extent of automation by leveraging methods such as straight-through processing (STP). Supporting Guided Decision Making Most processes are driven by business rules; but these business rules are often not an integral part of the underlying technology systems. This requires process associates to undergo process-specific training, and it may take several months for the agent to become fully productive. This creates the need for a business rules engine-based technology solution for guided decision-making. This need could be straight forward enough to be addressed by a simple decision tree, or complicated, requiring the support of a complex and cascaded decision tree with several attributes. For knowledgeintensive business processing, a business rule-based processing can sometimes involve a combination of business rules configured in decision trees and decision tables. A business rules engine-based solution not only reduces extensive training needs but also augments and complements existing technology systems, making operations more structured and easier to audit. 11
Enhancing Visibility and Transparency through Reporting A structured mechanism is needed for continuous tracking of business operations and ensuring visibility into the TAT and unit processing time (UPT). In order to do so, it is important to have the right workflow monitoring tools and process management dashboards across the enterprise. Floor operations production data should also be measured and published in a transparent manner. In this case, a technology solution for the process management office that is focused on monitoring, measuring, and analyzing the efficiency and effectiveness of operations can prove to be very useful. It should not only highlight key performance indicators (KPI) for accuracy, productivity, and TAT, but also provide guidance on optimal headcount and cost reduction. Deploying Analytics for Business Insights The data generated during operations can be used for analyzing trends, patterns, and correlations in the operations. The results of this analysis can provide much-needed business insights into the management of overall operations. Analytics can typically be classified into descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics. Predictive analytics solutions focus on analyzing the historical and current business events to enhance the yield from customer-facing actions such as up-selling, cross-selling, collections, and recovery. It does this through prioritization and simplicity. Prioritization is enabled through guided decision-making. Activities that are likely to yield required business outcomes such as customer acquisition, customer retention, sales, or payments are given higher focus and immediate attention. Simplicity is enabled by delivering contextspecific content to process associates to empower them to directly execute the task on hand instead of losing time in preparing for task execution, which includes logging into multiple systems for gathering relevant data and so on. In the case of advanced analytics solution, the focus is on improving the operational efficiency. This is done by understanding the patterns associated with the operations, and analyzing how the accuracy of operations can be improved by either eliminating or significantly reducing the errors. This requires either eliminating or correcting the root cause of the errors or training employees. Advanced analytics can also be deployed for work or volume prediction, thereby ensuring adequate staffing with requisite skills. 12
Key Solution Accelerators of Business Process Operations Data and process integration, application performance, and portfolio analysis act as key solution accelerators of business process operations. Leveraging Process and Data level Integration Business process management (BPM)-led process modeling is an essential tool for enhancing operations. Hence, it is recommended that this activity be performed first during process optimization. Typically, BPM-led process modeling encompasses multiple hierarchical levels, where the first level depicts the business view and the final level depicts the details of the activities with their underlying technology systems. Such structured process modeling demystifies processes as they unfold from first-level to lastlevel mapping. It also captures all aspects linked to the process from various stakeholders to technology systems and the tasks associated with each of the processes. While process modeling and simulation highlight process bottlenecks and redundancies, a complete BPMbased process map highlights opportunities for 'human-system integration' (HSI), which includes human-tosystem, system-to-human, system-to-system, and human-to-human interactions. It can also identify opportunities for enhancing the agility and flexibility of the technology solution through the implementation of a business rules engine-based solution. Such a solution can identify areas to be monitored in the course of business process execution and the type of data to be captured at each point. This enables the deployment of business activity monitoring (BAM)-based solution for real-time and proactive monitoring of operations based on appropriate KPIs and metrics. While managing an exception to a particular task, process associates may have to resort to unstructured and sequential modes of collaboration such as e-mail or phone calls to connect with the customer. Such an activity is not only time-consuming but also precludes an audit trail. Hence, a solution that facilitates crossenterprise collaboration through the adoption of social collaboration principles can bring in the required integration across technology systems. Driving Performance across Application Tiers SLAs stipulate timely and gainful completion of allocated work content, both under conditions of normalcy and stress. The performance of operations is affected by the performance of the underlying technology systems in terms of their throughput and response time. Hence, it is imperative to understand the performance of the underlying technology applications and predict their performance under various work conditions. A technology solution focused on analyzing performance bottlenecks across all tiers of technology application is essential for this. Since most of the technology applications are online, a solution that can measure browser performance (such as the lag between the content reaching the browser and the time it is rendered in a usable form) is required. 13
An ideal solution should also conduct performance extrapolation to proactively highlight how the underlying applications and the technology infrastructure are likely to behave under increased workload. This helps in better capacity planning by taking into account the projected throughput and response time requirements. Conducting Systems Portfolio Analysis Adverse incidents and pre-identified operational risks negatively impact business, resulting in customer dissatisfaction, non-compliance, financial penalties, and so on. A comprehensive study of the underlying technology applications in order to gauge their usability, reliability, and risk is therefore highly recommended. While the industry has seen accelerated growth over the past decade, many applications currently leveraged by service providers are over 10-15 years old. These applications may no longer mirror the current requirements of today's business operations. A comprehensive system usage analysis can help service providers build a solution incorporating architecture consulting. Here, the focus is on analyzing gaps between the existing technology systems portfolio and the operations requirements. Given that operations typically span multiple functions and geographies, they are likely to have similar redundant systems deployed. Architecture consulting can also help in technology portfolio optimization. Based on whether an application is used in core or complementary areas of operation, an informed decision can then be made on whether each system should be retained, consolidated, upgraded, or retired. Developing an integrated operational risk management solution enables service providers to focus on systemically measuring the existing controls in business operations through design and operational shortcomings. It also helps them define and track key risk indicators (KRI) to gainfully manage the operations with minimal or controllable risks. Enabling Service Providers to Effectively Meet BPS Customer Expectations A technology systems portfolio supporting the business process operations of an organization must be efficient and accurate in order to meet all its business and functional requirements. Given the exponential growth in the BPS industry, service providers can no longer make incremental changes to existing systems and still hope to meet the growing demands of their clients. In the face of intense competition, they will need to rethink their portfolio in its entirety to effectively further their clients' business objectives. Patternbased analysis of business operations can help them adopt a robust portfolio of solutions with the ability to ensure relevance and longevity of the underlying systems and drive optimal performance for their clients. 14
About TCS Business Process Services Unit Enterprises seek to drive business growth and agility through innovation in an increasingly regulated, competitive, and global market. TCS helps clients achieve these goals by managing and executing their business operations effectively and efficiently. TCS' Business Process Services (BPS) include core industry-specific processes, analytics and insights, and enterprise services such as finance and accounting, HR, and supply chain management. TCS TM creates value through its FORE simplification and transformation methodology, backed by its deep TM domain expertise, extensive technology experience, and TRAPEZE governance enablers and solutions. TCS complements its experience and expertise with innovative delivery models such as using robotic automation and providing Business Processes as a Service (BPaaS). TCS' BPS unit has been positioned in the leaders' quadrant for various service lines by many leading analyst firms. With over four decades of global experience and a delivery footprint spanning six continents, TCS is one of the largest BPS providers today. Contact For more information about TCS' Business Process Services Unit, visit: www.tcs.com/bps Email: bps.connect@tcs.com Subscribe to TCS White Papers TCS.com RSS: http://www.tcs.com/rss_feeds/pages/feed.aspx?f=w Feedburner: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/tcswhitepapers About Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organization that delivers real results to global business, ensuring a level of certainty no other firm can match. TCS offers a consulting-led, integrated portfolio of IT and IT-enabled infrastructure, engineering and TM assurance services. This is delivered through its unique Global Network Delivery Model, recognized as the benchmark of excellence in software development. A part of the Tata Group, India s largest industrial conglomerate, TCS has a global footprint and is listed on the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange in India. For more information, visit us at www.tcs.com IT Services Business Solutions Consulting All content / information present here is the exclusive property of Tata Consultancy Services Limited (TCS). The content / information contained here is correct at the time of publishing. No material from here may be copied, modified, reproduced, republished, uploaded, transmitted, posted or distributed in any form without prior written permission from TCS. Unauthorized use of the content / information appearing here may violate copyright, trademark and other applicable laws, and could result in criminal or civil penalties. Copyright 2015 Tata Consultancy Services Limited TCS BPS Design Services I 01I 15