However, it is likely that the following types of customers will consider moving onto an outsourcer’s technology platform:

•		Midsize buyers (2,000 to 10,000 employees) that still use legacy F&A systems
•		Buyers that have a history of M&A activity.

Moving onto an outsourcer’s technology platform is particularly beneficial when a customer wants to rapidly unify multiple, non-standard F&A platforms across different business units/geographies.

Retain. As Chart 3 shows, 90% of early adopters opted to retain ownership of their existing F&A technology systems. However, one-third have already chosen to shift the maintenance of these systems to the outsourcer. This is especially the case when the outsourcer has a strong IT-services heritage (e.g., IBM, Accenture and Capgemini).

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The emerging trend of customers bundling their technology services with the FAO business processes within the same contract drives genuine technology/business convergence within the BPO process.

Wrap-Around. Most FAO buyers want their outsourcers to have technology solutions that are additive, not disruptive, which they can deploy across their existing F&A systems. Most large organizations with complex systems that opt for incremental FAO transition avoid many of the issues of F&A system replacement by orchestrating and managing data and workflow across disparate systems.

Moreover, there is a move to embed Web-services technology and use Service-oriented Architecture (SOA), in particular, the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) workflow engine. These technologies help organizations to more effectively orchestrate their F&A business processes across customers, providers and third-party outsourcers’ applications. Hence, many organizations are more focused on breaking down their business processes into manageable Web services (such as “customer setup,” “deduction calculation” or “create invoice” in the O2C cycle) than looking to rip out what they have and re-design all F&A processes.

From a technology perspective, the challenge for customers is to identify which key F&A processes to transform. The wrap-around approach is proving particularly popular with large FAO buyers who desire incremental transition toward their ideal FAO end-state. Value-added functionalities (e.g., integrated view of company data or working capital reduction) and reduced process complexity (e.g., ability to serve multiple industries, geographies, or languages) that dovetail with the buyer’s existing F&A technology is fast proving to be the most desirable route for technology transformation within FAO.

Leveraging the Maximum from an FAO process

8		Initiate the technology discussion early in the FAO process. They need to research the true cost early in the sourcing discussion.
8		Approach FAO as an opportunity to improve access to information. With competition among FAO providers intensifying, customers should be able to negotiate a powerful offering that bundles processes with technology.
8		Engage the CIO and other stakeholders early in the process when making FAO technology decisions. The CIO needs to understand the business benefits the buyer seeks to attain from FAO and select the right options for the organization. It is imperative that the buyer’s business users and process owners are also actively engaged throughout the sourcing process.
8		Keep the future possibilities flexible. There is no reason why a customer organization cannot experiment with different options.
8		Determine which providers can deploy the technology solutions your organization needs. The key providers in today’s FAO marketplace come from varying backgrounds. There are pureplay FAO providers, global outsourcers and global ITO/BPO providers. Ultimately, a buyer needs to engage a provider that can deliver the optimal balance of F&A domain expertise and operational business process delivery with access to the technology solutions and services necessary for a successful FAO engagement.
8		Balance the FAO strategy with other BPO initiatives within the buyer organization.