Unilever EMEA-IBM Finance and Accounting Outsourcing (FAO) deal has secured the top position in “2008 FAO Research Awards of Distinction,” the awards by FAO Research, a research firm focused on the FAO and procurement outsourcing markets. The research firm recognized 10 most referenced FAO engagements that have undergone renewals and scope increases to expand their long-term FAO partnerships.

According to research firm, the Unilever-IBM FAO contract is “a groundbreaking success thus far, with the potential to expand significantly within the entire Unilever organization.”

“In 2005, Unilever embarked upon an ambitious, global change program called “One Unilever” to streamline the organization to increase growth and competitiveness in its markets. Unilever Europe wanted to act with speed but carefully to achieve its highly ambitious objectives for change. It hired sourcing advisory firm EquaTerra to understand the underlying economics of an outsourcing model and the dynamics of the FAO market. To optimize cost synergies/savings of its finance business process in Europe and to leverage its scale, Unilever EMEA ultimately selected IBM as its FAO provider, even though it had stronger business relationships with some competing bidders. Unilever ultimately chose IBM based on its ability to demonstrate a realistic “future state” for the company to achieve its ambitious transformation goals and growth agenda and how IBM could help Unilever Europe get there,” according to the study.  

“The size, scale and scope of change required for IBM to complete transition successfully, let alone manage this complex engagement at the same time that Unilever EMEA embarked upon a global change agenda, are unprecedented in the FAO market,” according to FAO Research. Unilever now has pan-European service management that provides greater access to finance information for decision-making and continuous improvements worldwide. Unilever Europe went from a loose federation of 24 countries with three different processes by business unit per country to an integrated operation.

Other partnerships that made to the list are: BT-Accenture, GlaxoSmithKline-Genpact, Avago Technologies-Wipro BPO, BBC-Xansa, AOL-CGS, D3P-VWA, Church’s Chicken-WNS Global Services, and U.S. Government Defense Contractor- Campass BPO.

Winners of the 2008 FAO Research Awards of Distinction