Managing metrics and comparing productivity data of multiple service providers is no easy task. Providers send in daily reports on several performance metrics — call volume, response targets, credits etc. And because different providers use different tools, reports are usually in as many different formats! Often, providers still use traditional methods of reporting, such as spreadsheets and PDFs.
Service Level Agreements (SLAs) monitoring tools, and their advanced versions called outsourcing relationship-management tools or governance tools, are now increasingly used by customers to manage complex multiprovider relationships. The tools provide a single dashboard for the customer to monitor multiple shared-services or third-party providers.
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| KEY Vendors |
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- Digital Fuel
- Janeeva
- Managed Objects
- Oblicore
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TrasUnion, a credit-reporting agency that works with multiple offshore call centers, for instance, uses a tool from Janeeva, a 2004 start-up. The tool allows program managers at TransUnion to track amendments made to SLAs, change requests, conflict resolutions and other metrics of its multiple providers through a single interface.
“With multiple offshore call-center locations come increased complexity that Janeeva manages. I get accurate, validated information on a regular basis so I can plan accordingly,” says Brad Rubin, Director, Operations, TransUnion.
“TransUnion now spends 50% less time on data collection and report generation,” says Vinay Gupta, Janeeva's CEO. “Within five years, every major company will be using some version of ORM [Outsourcing Relationship Management] software.”
Companies use such tools to track performance, reward high performers and penalize the poorer ones. A leading computer manufacturer that has several onshore and offshore partners, for instance, regularly takes a percentage of business away from its lagging providers and gives it to its high-performing providers.
Companies like P&G, O2, GE and Cummins use software from another SLA management-tools provider, Digital Fuel. While Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island, JP Morgan, and American Express use Janeeva's tool.
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| Governance tools, such as this one from Janeeva, provide a single dashboard S RESEARCH for BPO customers to manage multiple providers |
