Enterprises Seek Data-Driven Insights into their Finance and Accounting Operations

STAMFORD, Conn., June 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Enterprises across the globe are looking to finance and accounting outsourcing providers to enable data-driven decisions and improve visibility into their finance operations, according to a new report published today by Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a leading global technology research and advisory firm.

The ISG Provider Lens™ Finance & Accounting Digital Outsourcing Services Archetype Report also finds enterprises increasingly looking to F&A outsourcing providers to deliver strategic capabilities, instead of only transactional services. In many cases, enterprises are looking for automation technologies, including bots, artificial intelligence and machine learning, to deliver valuable finance insights to CFOs.

F&A processes are ripe for a large number of bot deployments, the report says. Robotic process automation, meanwhile, has become a standard technology for many F&A outsourcing providers.

With the adoption of new technologies, many enterprises are now becoming comfortable with outsourcing complex finance functions, said noted FAO authority Scott Furlong, partner and head of ISG Business Advisory Services. “Outsourcing providers can distinguish themselves by offering advanced technology, skilled employees, domain expertise, open communication and improved collaboration with clients,” he said.

The report sees increasing enterprise demand for outsourcers that provide advanced F&A services, such as budgeting, forecasting, cash flow modeling, decision support and other complex functions.

Outsourcing providers are investing in hiring skilled employees and in retaining existing workers to meet these demands, the report says. Some outsourcing providers are establishing partnerships with major F&A firms to deliver these services.

The report also sees growing demand for F&A consulting services. Many companies are under pressure to transform their finance functions but are unsure where to begin the journey. As a result, they are leaning on the expertise and capabilities of outsourcing providers to develop a transformation roadmap.

The ISG Provider Lens™ Finance & Accounting Digital Outsourcing Services Archetype Report examines four different types of clients, or archetypes, that are looking for finance and accounting outsourcing services. The report evaluates the capabilities of 22 F&A providers to deliver services to the four archetypes:

Transactional services buyers: Typically, these are first-generation outsourcers that are looking to outsource less complex finance functions that are repetitive and transactional in nature. These buyers are looking for point solutions and are not inclined to outsource other critical finance functions, and they want to reduce cost of processing transactions by using offshore labor arbitrage.

Automation implementers: These are buyers looking to leverage automation extensively, and their outsourcing objectives are not limited to cost savings. The clients in this archetype are more mature and have considered outsourcing finance functions that go beyond transactional services. The objective is to reap the benefits of technology to get deeper insights for supporting decision-making.

Transformation-oriented buyers: These companies are looking to transform their F&A operations to be ahead of the curve, improve customer experience and optimize the use of technology to their advantage. These buyers want to embrace the chain of digital technologies and their outsourcing objective is not limited to transactional processes. Analytics is one of the key focus areas, with CFOs looking to focus on their core business and use technology to get real-time insights to make quick decisions and enable their finance departments to function more effectively.

Holistic partner buyers: Customers in this archetype are looking to outsource end-to-end F&A functions so that they can focus on their core business activities. The objective of buyers in this archetype goes beyond technology, although it continues to be a priority. These buyers are looking for a strategic partner that can understand their business and its related processes and offer solutions that can help them achieve their business objectives.

Among the providers ISG evaluated, Cognizant, EXL, Genpact, IBM, Infosys, TCS and WNS were named leaders across all four archetypes. Accenture, Capgemini and Wipro were named leaders in three archetypes, and HCL and Sutherland were named leaders in two. Hexaware was named a leader in one.

Customized versions of the report are available from Hexaware and Infosys.

The ISG Provider Lens™ Finance & Accounting Digital Outsourcing Services Archetype Report is available to subscribers or for immediate, one-time purchase on this webpage. A Global Summary Report, available to subscribers, also has been produced as part of this research study.

About ISG Provider Lens™ Research

The ISG Provider Lens™ Quadrant research series is the only service provider evaluation of its kind to combine empirical, data-driven research and market analysis with the real-world experience and observations of ISG's global advisory team. Enterprises will find a wealth of detailed data and market analysis to help guide their selection of appropriate sourcing partners, while ISG advisors use the reports to validate their own market knowledge and make recommendations to ISG's enterprise clients. The research currently covers providers offering their services globally, across Europe and Latin America, as well as in the U.S., Germany, the U.K., France, the Nordics, Brazil and Australia/New Zealand, with additional markets to be added in the future. For more information about ISG Provider Lens research, please visit this webpage.

The series is a complement to the ISG Provider Lens Archetype reports, which offer a first-of-its-kind evaluation of providers from the perspective of specific buyer types.

Starting this year, each ISG Provider Lens™ study will include a Global Summary to help enterprise subscribers better understand provider capabilities across all geographic markets covered by that study. All ISG Provider Lens™ reports also will now include an Enterprise Context feature to help executives quickly identify key insights related to their roles and responsibilities.

About ISG 

ISG (Information Services Group) (Nasdaq: III) is a leading global technology research and advisory firm. A trusted business partner to more than 700 clients, including more than 75 of the world's top 100 enterprises, ISG is committed to helping corporations, public sector organizations, and service and technology providers achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm specializes in digital transformation services, including automation, cloud and data analytics; sourcing advisory; managed governance and risk services; network carrier services; strategy and operations design; change management; market intelligence and technology research and analysis. Founded in 2006, and based in Stamford, Conn., ISG employs more than 1,300 digital-ready professionals operating in more than 20 countries—a global team known for its innovative thinking, market influence, deep industry and technology expertise, and world-class research and analytical capabilities based on the industry’s most comprehensive marketplace data. For more information, visit www.isg-one.com.

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Will Thoretz
Information Services Group, Inc. 
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Jim Baptiste
Matter Communications for ISG
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