Medical Solutions: SOAP-ing Your Wellness Program? - The "A" of SOAP

Hello again. For those of you who have been following the “SOAP-ing" series over the past few weeks, thanks for reading. This week finds us at the “A” of the SOAP-ing process. A stands for Assessment. Simply defined assessment is the act of making a judgment about something.1 A workplace health assessment helps to identify the current picture of health at a company as well as ways to improve it that can potentially increase productivity, decrease absenteeism, and control health care costs for both employees and the organization as a whole.2 It is a necessary first step before goals are developed, resources allocated, strategies adopted and interventions implemented.

Now don’t let the definition of “workplace health assessment” overwhelm you. To put it more plainly, we are going to rinse the “SOAP” off the pieces of the puzzle of your employee health status and get a really good look at all the information that you have collected. Up to this point we have been gathering the pieces of the puzzle, the pieces being the subjective and objective information. Now, we can put the puzzle together by assessing the information.

Are you starting to feel like you would rather take a nap?

Not to worry, this is where you will get the information you need to move forward. Let’s not forget why you are doing all of this. Your goal is to develop a comprehensive employee wellness program that will have a measurable impact on your workplace.

In order to do this, it is imperative that you understand your employees’ current state of wellness as well as what impacts the health of employees at work. This is the core of what assessment is all about. According to the Center for Disease Control some key questions you may want to consider as you evaluate your information are as follows:

1. What are the key health issues affecting employees?
2. What factors at the work site influence employee health?
3. What are the employees’ health and safety concerns?
4. What strategies are most appropriate to address these health issues?

So where should we begin? If you are like many, all of your subjective and objective information has been recorded on paper. Argh! Now what? Well, somehow this paper-based information has got to be processed into a usable report. In most situations this requires labor and time intensive effort by ..you? Argh! What? You don’t like setting up spread sheets or retrofitting information into a generic data base? Me neither, but if you are going to put this puzzle together, this information has to be transformed into reports so that you can see the whole, clear and accurate puzzle picture. Additionally, the accuracy/focus of the picture begins to fade the more time it takes to get these reports.

So here we are, several weeks into reading each installment of this “SOAP” series hoping for a tangible way to go about putting together a really great workplace wellness program and it all boils down to this, the tedious task of processing information? You’ve got to be kidding me! Right now, buying apples for the break room sounds better than ever! I know, I know. Don’t give up. Remember the cliff-hanger? There is a solution.

What if there was a completely digital process for collecting biometric (objective) information? What if there was a completely digital process for collecting customized subjective information? What if that same system could generate reports in real time from that collected information? What if those reports were saved and the information could be tracked from one workplace assessment event to another year over year? No more time spent trying to read someone’s handwriting for data entry. No more inaccuracies in reporting due to human error. Now that would be something right? Surprisingly, there is only one such system that can accomplish all this and it has been developed right here in Indiana by Telamon Corporation. The solution is called statwatch.

Statwatch is a mobile application that simplifies employee health assessment and biometric screening. Statwatch is comprised of two components: stat and watch.

Stat is a tablet-based version of the boring old paper forms. Watch serves as the central repository for all the information gathered. Watch provides real-time reporting access so that a business can quickly identify health trends and respond. No more manual processing of information - saving time, money and your sanity. Thank goodness there is a solution!

To complete your assessment, you will need to review your reports to look for trends. As mentioned previously , the type of trends that you are looking for will be specific to your particular business. Next, an assessment report can be written identifying the most concerning trends and prioritizing them based on health and/or safety risk.

As a result of gathering Subjective information in the form of customized questions specific to your business, Objective information through biometric screening (blood pressure, pulse, blood sugar, etc.) and Assessing the reports generated from your information gathering, you are now ready to begin making a Plan to impact your workplace/employee wellness.

Next week: The “P” of SOAP

1  (Merriam-Webster dictionary.com)
2  (www.CDC.gov/workplacehealthpromotion/assessment)

Medical Solutions: SOAP-ing Your Wellness Program? - The "O" of SOAP

Welcome back. Here we are at the next installment of how to SOAP your wellness program. In case you didn’t get a chance to read the first installment of this series: SOAP is a system for evaluating and putting together a plan for any program or project. One of the first things I learned in nursing school was how to use the SOAP system when evaluating and planning the care of a patient. The acronym SOAP stands for Subjective, Objective, Assessment and Plan. Last week we took a look at the “S” of SOAP. Now we are moving on to the “O”.

Objective information is based on facts rather than feelings or opinions and is not influenced by feelings.1 In the health care environment, an example of objective information would be a patient’s body temperature reading. Objective data in the health care setting, therefore, can be defined as data that is factual, unbiased, and unchanged by personal feelings or interpretations.2

I bet you can tell what comes next. No? Well, now we need employee biometric screening: Blood pressure, pulse, height, weight, blood sugar, lipid profile, cholesterol, A1C. Seems simple enough, right? Just bring in an outside company to do this part. Surprisingly, this is where most workplaces get bogged down. Employee screenings take man hours to set up and run, as well as dollars to fund the testing. What’s worse is many of these screening programs bring with them inherent inaccuracies and delays inaccuracies and delays stemming from the manual entry of information collected on paper into a spread sheet or general digital form. It can take weeks from the collection of the objective data to the generation of actionable information. This is valuable time lost.

SO...What’s an HR/Wellness manager to do? I know! You’re thinking,

Have no fear, the 21st century is here! This process doesn’t have to be painful. There is a new mobile application that combats the painstaking barriers for gathering your Subjective and Objective information. Yes, there is a digital way to conduct health screening! What’s more it even generates “real time” reports!

Who would have thought that a series of article about employee wellness programs could be so exciting! I know, right? So here comes the cliff-hanger.

Before we discover the name of this revolutionary application, let’s finish SOAP-ing your Wellness Program.

Next Week: The "A" of SOAP

1  (Merriam-Webster dictionary.com)
2  (ehow.com definitions)

Industrial Solutions - Safety Is the Name of the Game!

One of the current primary markets for Industrial Solutions is the automotive safety restraints market. This is automotive jargon for airbags and seatbelts. You may occasionally hear this market referred to as the passive safety market. Telamon's wire harness function is a supplier to the four largest manufacturers of airbag modules and seatbelts.

John White, our Executive Vice President, recently attended a seminar at our largest customer. They produce driver, passenger, and side airbags. One portion of the seminar included a short video of a plant associate describing how their daughter had been in a crash. The driver airbag produced by their company had saved her life while the vehicle was destroyed. This video, with pictures of a mangled vehicle, made the responsibility for our products more than numbers.

You have likely seen news reports regarding the recalls related to airbags produced by Takata. A quick search of YouTube found over 2,000 videos related to this recall. While Telamon is not a part of this recall, it has again reinforced the need to protect our processes and assure that these processes allow for the production of defect-free parts.

The second area of the safety restraints universe is the active safety market. This is described as systems that use an understanding of the state of the vehicle to both avoid and minimize the effects of a crash. These include braking systems, like brake assist, traction control systems and electronic stability control systems that interpret signals from various sensors to help the driver control the vehicle. Additionally, forward-looking, sensor-based systems such as Advanced Driver Assistance Systems including adaptive cruise control and collision warning/avoidance/mitigation systems are also considered as active safety systems under this definition. I recently drove a vehicle with a collision warning system. As I approached a truck from behind, the car slowed my speed to make sure I was not too close to the truck. It was an odd feeling as “someone” began slowing my car!

The safety restraints market is a unique industry and we are always surprised at the collaboration within the six/seven companies that comprise this marketplace. In some cases, they are customers or suppliers to each other as they utilize available capacity or technology.  

Telamon is a safety supplier and we understand this responsibility. Whatever car you drive, we likely have some part in the safety of you or your family as you head to Grandma’s house for the holidays! 

-David Lillich
VP - Sales

Industrial Solutions - Telamon Corporation

Medical Solutions: SOAP-ing Your Wellness Program? - The "S" of SOAP

Welcome back. Let’s get down to the “nitty-gritty” of how to SOAP your wellness
program. I’m sure that those of you charged with implementing an employee wellness program are tempted to just search the web for“employee wellness vendors”. SLOW DOWN! Yes, this would definitely provide a path of least resistance, but will more than likely end up with underwhelming results. Why you ask? Well, this approach is like ordering a double cheeseburger, large order of fries, and a fried apple pie for lunch, then topping your meal off with a diet soda as a means of cutting calories. Come on now, we’ve all done it. Right?

It is vital to get a clear picture of the current state of employee health in order to determine the needs and where best to direct your efforts. You should have as much say and design impact as your vendor, along with a clear understanding of your program steps, expectations, and anticipated outcomes.

In case you didn’t get a chance to read the first installment of this series, SOAP is a system for evaluating and putting together a plan for any program or project. One of the first things I learned in nursing school was how to use the SOAP system when evaluating the health of a patient and then putting together a plan of care. The acronym SOAP stands for Subjective, Objective, Assessment and Plan. This week we are going to look at the “S” of SOAP.

What is subjective information? Simply put, subjective information is one person’s opinion. It can be based on fact, but it is one person’s interpretation of that fact.1 In the clinical setting of nursing, subjective information is the information supplied to you by the subject or patient. It is information that you cannot perceive with your own senses. For example: a patient tells you that they have pain in their leg. That is subjective information.

Ok, now let’s apply this to your employees. What would qualify as subjective information when it comes to your employee population? The goal when gathering subjective information is to get a sense of the opinion of the employees regarding their own health and wellbeing. The next goal is to gain some insight about the employees’ opinions of their physical and social work environment. It is important to remember that each company and its employees is unique and the strategies used to address employee health will vary from company to company based on the resources available, needs and interests of management and employees, and health issues that are priorities.

Great start right? Now how do we get this information? You have to ask questions. Of course, you will be looking for unique information reflective of your workplace, but here are a few ideas to get you started.

• How would you describe your health?
• How do you physically feel when you start your day?
• How do you physically feel at the end of your day?
• When I am at work I am concerned about__________.
• True or False? I feel valued by my employer.
• True or False? I get along with my co-workers.
• How would you rate the quality of your work life?
• How would you rate the quality of your work environment?
• Do you feel that your health and safety needs are being met when you are at work?
• Do you have any concerns when at work? (i.e. environmental, cleanliness, sanitation, nutritional, safety)

As a result of gathering this subjective information you have begun the process of evaluating the state of your employee health and wellness. Can you stop here? The short answer is, no. While it is important to include subjective data in your employee wellness evaluation, its importance is strengthened by the inclusion of supporting objective data. As I said in the beginning, Subjective information is only a part of the employee wellness picture. We need more SOAP to clean up this picture.

Next week: The "O" of SOAP-ing your Wellness Program.

1(Old Dominion University Libraries. www.lib.ODU.edu)

Medical Solutions: SOAP-ing Your Wellness Program?

Don’t skip over this because you think this article is about hand-washing. IT IS NOT ABOUT HAND-WASHING...

One of the first things taught in nursing school is how to evaluate and document the condition of a patient. This system is called “SOAP” notes. SOAP notes were developed by Dr. Lawrence Weed in the 1960’s at the University of Vermont as part of the problem-orientated medical record (POMR).1 SOAP is an acronym for this system of assessment and charting. SOAP stands for:

As it turns out, this system not only works for patient care, it works for pretty much any situation, project, or program. See and you thought this was about hand-washing!

Over the next few weeks, this series, “SOAP-ing your Wellness Program” will present you with an organized and clear path to set up a new wellness program, or to evaluate an existing one. If you are like many in this ever-changing world of wellness, it can be difficult to determine where to start. Even more challenging is crafting a plan that will address the specific needs of your employee population. Last but not least, monitoring your program to identify trends, making adjustments for maximum impact and evaluating the effectiveness of your program can be a nightmare. Not to worry, all you need is a little SOAP.

Next week: The “S” of SOAP.

1(Quinn & Gordon, 2003).

Business Process Solutions - Resolutions for a New Year in BPO

As 2015 is just around the corner, I see it only fitting to put plans in place now to make sure your organization can bet suited for success in the coming year.  I have put together some areas that I think will benefit your bottom-line and your overall “health” of your organization.

1.  Definition of Insanity – Someone once said the definition of insanity is to do the same thing you have always been doing, but to expect different results.  Often times we hear the adage “it’s the way we have always done it”.  Quite frankly, that makes me cringe.  I believe in proven processes, but those processes must always be scrutinized for continuous improvement.  If we are not adept to change, then we are falling behind.  We know that there are many changes throughout the lifecycle of a process; we must update our processes as those changes occur.

2.  Follow the Profit – Simplify, simplify, simplify.  If there is one thing I have learned about executing business objectives, it is that is must be simply to execute or you begin your year just educating your team on what it is you are trying to achieve.  Maybe your organization sells widgets and gadgets, but in reality only widgets are profitable.  Simply your message and be the best widget maker in the market.  You will see your margins/bottom-line and customer satisfaction improves tremendously, not to mention your execution will run more smoothly.

3.  Get the right people on board – In Jim Collins book – Good to Great, he shares the concept that first you need to have the right people in your organization, have the wrong people leave, and then make sure the right people are in the right seats.  This is extremely critical for long-term success of your company.  It is not easy to manage others, but we also must have the foresight to see ahead and who can make a positive contribution to the company and who cannot.  Many times we allow mediocrity to set in and we do not manage expectations.  This is contagious to a company and when others see you are serious about performance, all of a sudden productivity rises.

4.  Outsource what is not your core competency - This can be a part of “following the profit”, but really takes it a step deeper in the sense of simplicity.  Maybe your widget is the core selling point for your company.  This widget outsells any other product or service you have and is what keeps customers coming back.  Dive deep into the processes that make this widget.  Are there areas for improvement within the procedures for production?  Service?  If there is a component within the production of this widget that is not client facing, not a core feature (filling out paperwork, stacking on pallets, etc.) then consider outsourcing this activity to maintain your competitiveness and prepare for growth. 

I hope you have enjoyed the few resolutions we discussed above.  Feel free to reach out to me, John Owen, VP of Sales, Telamon Business Process Solutions, for any additional ideas or comments.

Happy Holidays!

-John Owen
VP of Sales
Business Process Solutions - Telamon Corporation 

Telecom Solutions - Touchy Subject

With Thanksgiving coming up invariably there will be controversial subjects discussed at the family dinner table. Although I am one to revel in fabulous Thanksgiving stories - and we've all had them - I am not one who will bring up a topic just to see the sparks fly. That's just wrong. 

 

However, if you asked many people what the term "net neutrality" is or what it means, you might get a blank stare. If you ask people in the communications industry, you will unleash a torrent of opinion and emotion. Net neutrality is a very hot topic right now as changes are being proposed that will affect service providers and Internet users.

So what is "net neutrality"? I do not claim to be an expert on this subject but have done some research and have a simple understanding of the concept. Net neutrality is what we have today - an open Internet that allows all types of content to be available to anyone who can access it. At its core, the Internet provides us with access, openness, and a conduit for innovation. Take Google for instance. It us unknown when the company name became a verb, as in, "just Google it". Through Google, we can learn about any topic quickly and easily through our phones, tablets, or laptops. How many school projects have been researched through tools such as Wikipedia? This openness allows all opinions on a subject to be given the same treatment and respect. When researching a topic, one can see all sides presented and make informed conclusions. In terms of innovation, where would Amazon, Netflix, and Facebook be without open Internet? All of these companies have relied on the ability to reach a broad number of users to further their product and with an open Internet, have become incredibly successful.

So, what's the problem? Here's where things get sticky...many of the uses of the Internet take massive amounts of broadband capacity to deliver - think Netflix and YouTube. It has been proposed that users of these types of applications can be charged more for taking up much of the Internet Service Providers (ISP) capacity. This sets up a "pay for play" scenario that flies in the face of access for all as some may not be able to afford these services going forward. ISP's are in favor of this as it would produce huge revenues for them. Opponents say that the ISP's could control the content and restrict information flow to end users.

This issue has made it into the judicial system with a case in early 2014 affirming the FCC's authority to regulate broadband Internet access. However, the FCC is asking for public comment on new rules to be established for the Internet. 

Ultimately this is a subject that will affect us all - especially you, dear reader, as you are accessing this blog via our wonderful open Internet. We are wise to learn more about it and make sure our voices are heard.

 

-Suzanne Beck

VP Business Development

Telecom Solutions - Telamon Corporation  

 

Energy Solutions - You're Looking at it Wrong

In the years that I’ve been talking to customers and vendors alike about energy conservation and sustainability, at least 75% of the time, the discussion quickly devolves to “Cost Savings”. I also notice that a combination of wrong assumptions, lack of perspective, and in some cases desperation leads to the incorrect correlation between the price of a service and the value to an organization. One could reasonably argue that the internet has a lot to do with this. Without an ability to talk with a prospect, to let them examine the merchandise (so to speak), it does focus on price only – and we, as consumers accept this. That attitude bleeds over into the procurement world of B2B sales and services.

Recently, before I even had a chance to evaluate what a company MIGHT need from energy services, they immediately wanted to skip the diagnosis and jump right into the treatment/price. I had to stop the discussion and explain to the customer “You’re looking at it wrong.”

I’m a believer in humor and analogies – so here’s a moment of humor. A game show “blooper” from Catchphrase – a show where you have to guess a popular phrase with an incomplete view. As you will see, in some circumstances it’s almost impossible to NOT see it wrong. 

One thing that I try to work through with my customers is what actual value and benefit will a customer receive if they follow our suggestions? I don’t include intangible benefits either. If I’m not willing to do the work of helping identify and apply an “intangible benefit”, chances are my customer won’t either. If they don’t see the “benefit” and can’t “feel” any impact; it’s not really a “benefit”, is it? In addition to describing and applying a perceived/possible benefit – it’s our job as the seller….as the expert….as the “partner”….to quantify that benefit and provide the means to validate the claim later. (Those of you in energy will see where this is headed in setting up Measurement & Verification).

Let’s focus for a moment on cost savings only. In this example, a combination of energy projects in a facility is projected to save 5% of the energy spend. If today’s spend = $3.00 per square foot, that equals a savings of $.15/sq ft in the facility. That’s not exactly staggering, is it? Even if we have 5M square feet under roof, we usually guess there should be something more effective given the effort/disruption that will be required.

This is why procurement organizations aren’t jumping all over themselves to run out and spend money for a series of projects that have no relation or connection to each other than:

1. the Vendor on a Purchase Order and,
2. most of the "solution" focuses on the movement of electrons.

If the discussion stops there, it usually stops despite the best intentions and lip service to “the environment”. People who buy a Bow-Flex© at 3 a.m. from an infomercial have good intentions and offer lots of verbal commitment. Both will experience the same results: Stasis (no change).

Without a clear vision, a roadmap, assigning resources (internal or external/hired) and constantly measuring progress; without the commitment to see it through – all of it is wasted energy and wasted effort. That’s why we believe there is room for discussion and new approaches on how we define “best practice” when it comes to the optimization of energy by enterprise organizations.

Today we’ll introduce one of our Benefit Points, an area where we differentiate ourselves by focusing on identifying and quantifying benefits to an organization – and how to distinguish Value from Cost. Today we introduce the 3-30-300 Rule. 

The 3-30-300 Rule

The 3-30-300 Rule works like this. The average domestic organization spends:

a.       $3.00 per square foot in Utilities

b.      $30.00 per square foot in Facilities (Rent, etc)

c.       $300 per square foot in Payroll

Using our 5% energy savings example above, the energy projects will deliver a savings of $.15 per square foot, BUT....there is a correlation between utility cost per square food and "Facility". 

1.  A properly designed and functioning "Energy Management System" may show that a planned capital purchase to expand cooling capacity is unneeded due to excess capacity already in the system.
2. Reducing the usage of the system reduces wear and tear, which reduces expenditures related to facilities.

The list of “projects” that will provide value to the organization is long - Daylight harvesting, replacing multiple RTUs with a centralized plant, generating onsite power, etc – all of these provide value outside of “reducing fixed costs”. And the exponential or multiplier relationship between utility cost and facility cost means that the $.15 savings could result in an additional $1.50 in value – whether through productivity gains, avoided capital expense projects, etc.

The next correlation – of Facilities to Payroll – involves efficiency of operations, the satisfaction of employees who decide to stay, who are healthier, who are happier and more productive. By connecting energy savings to sustainability and sustainability to corporate culture, and by truly following through with an effective strategy and policy that engages H.R., management and employees – the benefits that can be achieved could well exceed the $15/sq ft over time. That sort of positive and transformational change within an organization can lead to publicity, to engagement opportunities with customers, with the public. All of that…stemming from deciding to do more than change light bulbs.

When Telamon decided to enter the energy services space, we spent the “Time & Treasure” to design an enterprise-focuses solution that is:

1. Complete – Our end-to-end solution is ready to go and it was designed that way from the beginning. We don’t make commitments to our customers and then hope we can “figure it out” later. We do not present unnecessary risks to your credibility and capital. 
2. Standards-based Architecture – compatible with existing & legacy investments to reduce implementation AND integration costs
3.  Flexible – We customize around your needs and processes, not ours.

Transforming your business and culture is not an easy task. In our increasingly competitive global economy, I believe it is necessary and can make the difference as to whether a company survives or collapses. Telamon has a unique strength and advantage through the diversified services offered by the different business units. These services and solutions can be combined and customized, magnifying the original value proposition into something that is truly unique and distinguishes you from everyone else. It is part of our “One Telamon” vision and we would love to share that vision with you.  

-Mark Brown 

Sales Manager

Energy Solutions - Telamon Corporation

Telecom Solutions - How Secure Are We?

Once upon a time, when security was brought up it was in the context of physical security – our homes, ourselves, our business assets.  As we know, today the meaning of security has dramatically changed.

Without even knowing it, we, as individuals contribute confidential information to unintended people and databases through the internet.  Something as benign as ordering a book on Amazon, checking the results of a medical test or updating  our Facebook page unleashes an amazing amount of personal information about ourselves.  When this information falls into the wrong hands the effects can be devastating.  Recent events have been reported in various media regarding data breaches at Home Depot, Target, Citibank and several others.  Once investigated, the methods used are amazing.  Disgruntled employees deliberately collecting sensitive information and selling, others who unknowingly sabotage their employers by accepting a USB drive corrupted by virus, a  repair company whose computer had been hacked into through an email account and infected – the stories continue…..

All major communications companies and utilities have regular visits from the Department of Homeland Security to review the attempted breaches into their networks as identified by the FBI and other intelligence agencies.  Any successful cyber-attack to these entities infrastructure could have devastating effects on our nation.

So, how do we stay secure?  As an individual, we are regularly told to change our passwords or make them more difficult – how often do you do this?  As an employer/employee, we should be aware of simple things like anyone giving us a USB drive as a gift, someone we don’t recognize coming in behind us into a secure area, not leaving sensitive open on our desks or computers and, of course, changing our passwords often. 

Data breaches will always be with us – it’s how we as individuals and companies plan, prepare and react to them that matter. 

-Suzanne Beck
VP Business Development
Telecom Solutions - Telamon Corporation  

Energy Solutions - Big Project Updates

In this month’s message, we are pleased to announce two new clients to the Telamon Energy Solutions group. Closure Systems International (CSI) selected Telamon to do a lighting project for their warehouse facility in Crawfordsville Indiana.  CSI was converting an old warehouse into a production space and needed to improve the lighting in the facility. The Telamon team of Mark Brown and Mike Morley reduced their energy consumption by more than 50% by replacing 56 450Watt Metal Halide bulbs with 63 180Watt LED fixtures. All this had to happen within a 30-day window to get the production area up and running on time. Telamon Energy is also investigating other CSI facilities to assist them in further energy reduction. 

CSI Lighting Project.

The Telamon Energy Solutions group was also selected by the Clay Township Trustee’s office to do an energy audit and energy reduction of their office building and fire station.  By replacing over 300 65Watt floods with 14.5Watt LED bulbs they were able to reduce energy consumption by over 75%.  Additionally, Clay Township was able to reduce the high bay 32Watt light fixtures with 22Watt LED bulbs. This action reduced energy consumption by 30% but reduced maintenance to replace the bulbs every 8 years as compared to annually, therefore increasing their return in investment even further.  Mike Morley served as the designer and project manager.

The Energy Solutions team is excited to announce these two great new clients. 

-Bruce Breeden
Director of Business Development
Energy Solutions - Telamon Corporation 

Business Process Solutions - Trends & the Future of BPO

During a recent management activity, I was asked to put together trends in the BPO marketplace along with where the BPO space is headed. Thankfully, plenty is written on this subject on the internet and other BPO advisor presentations. Below is a snippet of my findings and I will provide more oversight on the graphical representation of the future of BPO. 

Trends in 2014

"Service providers are leveraging their domain expertise and use of tools and technologies to move from FTE or transaction based delivery models to that of a Managed Services Model (MSM)." (Govel, Outsourcing Trends 2014: New Ways to Outsource, Dec. 2013)

"The outsourcing industry is evolving from task oriented BPO services to a platform-centric and outcome-linked BPM (Business Process Management) model." (Govel, Outsourcing Trends 2014: New Ways to Outsource, Dec. 2013)

"In 2014, BPO engagements will be more strategically oriented, with clients looking for measurable business outcomes and value beyond cost reduction." (Vasudevan, In 2014, BPO Engagements Will be More Strategically Oriented, Dec. 2013)

"BPO providers love the big fish - Fortune 500 companies with scores of ousourceable FTEs and straightforward labor-arbitrage deals with attractive margins. But in a satured market, these plum deals are harder to come by. So, BPO is turning to the mid-market." (Datamark Incorporated whitepaper, 10 Business Process Outsourcing Trends to Watch For in 2014, Dec. 2013)

"Clients have repeatedly referenced the industry-focused vertical scope of F&A services as being of prime importance...Clients are increasingly educated and are looking beyond simple cost savings in their BPO engagements and into new areas of value. (Vasudevan, interview of Steve Rudderham of Accenture, The Biggest Trend that We See in F&A Outsourcing is the Move to Next-Generation BPO, Jan. 2014)

While the majority of the discussion above has happened in 2014, it is just now occurring.

The Future of BPO

Source:  A Smartsourcing Roadmap:  Challenges and Strategies, 2013, Dewan

The above "roadmap" highlights the original intent of what clients were looking for in BPO services, starting with flexibility in service offerings, immediate and long-term cost savings, and scalability as client's grow. As the roadmap moves from bottom-left to top-right, clients are demanding more sophistication and specialty expertise along with a new way of thinking for BPO's. 

As we move into 2015 and beyond, it will be interesting to see how BPO is perceived as a "must have" for world competition.  

-John Owen
VP of Sales
Business Process Solutions - Telamon Corporation