Transforming a Cost Mandate into an Integrated Global Business Services Model

An integrated service transformation

Acquis approached the engagement as an operating model transformation. The core premise: sustainable cost improvement in HR, Finance, and IT required shifting from functional management to an integrated GBS model, where work is designed, sourced, and governed as a unified service portfolio.

Execution required executive alignment before any analysis began. Working directly with the CHRO, CFO, and CIO, Acquis structured the engagement as a multi-vertical transformation spanning all three towers’ operations and developed a unified strategic outsourcing program.

The engagement progressed through six phases:

Phase 1: Validate priorities and define success criteria

Leadership understood the financial targets but was not aligned on the constraints. How much operational risk could the organization tolerate during transition? Which capabilities were non-negotiable? What timeline was realistic given the organization's change capacity?

Acquis facilitated structured alignment sessions with the CHRO, CFO, CIO, and their designated leaders to resolve these questions. The team established measurable success criteria across efficiency, cost, and service quality, then grounded the criteria in a transformation timeline calibrated to what the organization could absorb.

Phase 2: Map the current state operating model

With success criteria defined, Acquis analyzed workforce distribution, fully loaded costs by service, service delivery processes, and the alignment between work complexity and resource skill levels.

The three functions entered this work from different starting points. HR had not operated an outsourcing model, which required additional guidance and stakeholder education. Alternatively, Finance had maintained the same BPO relationship for 15 years. Over time, the contract, governance model, and service expectations had become misaligned with the company's current needs. The organization needed to determine whether to modernize the existing partnership or pursue a new provider.

Phase 3: Benchmark performance and identify structural opportunities

Acquis benchmarked the organization's HR, Finance, and IT operations against industry peers and applied a consistent maturity framework across five dimensions: people, process, technology, data, and governance.

The team used comparative data to distinguish between areas where structural inefficiency drove high costs (addressable through operating model redesign) and areas where necessary complexity drove costs. This distinction enabled the organization to focus transformation efforts on changes that would produce sustainable savings.

Phase 4: Design the future state workforce and service delivery model

Building on the current state findings and benchmarking analysis, Acquis developed the workforce strategy at the core of the operating model. The team mapped service and process against the delivery model, determining what should remain in-house, what could shift to shared services or lower-cost delivery locations, what could be automated, and what should transfer to external providers.

The team also looked at individual roles and talent, retaining talent that held critical institutional knowledge, required proximity to business decision-making, or supported capabilities the organization could not afford to lose. This allowed the retained organization to focus on high-value work. The remaining service elements identified for offshoring, automation, or outsourcing constituted the value proposition.

Phase 5: Reset the outsourcing relationship

The existing Finance BPO relationship could not meet the organization's evolving needs to expand into HR and IT. Acquis led a full vendor reassessment, from RFP development through evaluation, selection support, and contract negotiation. The team provided independent analysis throughout the process, verifying that service levels and pricing in the negotiation reflected the organization's delivery requirements. Acquis structured the new arrangement to integrate into the broader GBS governance model rather than operate as a standalone outsourcing contract.

Phase 6: Build the transformation roadmap

Acquis translated the strategy into a sequenced implementation plan, prioritizing initiatives based on business impact, implementation effort, and organizational readiness to avoid change fatigue and improve execution success. Acquis designed a comprehensive RFP that addressed the varying levels of maturity across functions, based on the existing BPO’s contract and service delivery. The revised BPO provided economies of scale that would otherwise require additional outsourced providers.