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Bots in the Back Office

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1© 2015 KPMG LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership and the U.S. member firm of the KPMG network of independent member
firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. NDPPS 500515
Bots in the Back
Office
Business Process Outsourcing
(BPO) Withers as Robotic
Process Automation (RPA)
Grows Up
2© 2015 KPMG LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership and the U.S. member firm of the KPMG network of independent member
firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. NDPPS 500515
CONTENTS The Outsourcing Dilemma
The concept of labor arbitrage as the primary
value lever of business process outsourcing
(BPO) is dying. The geographic discussion is
giving way to automation. There is no “next
India” or “next Philippines.”
Although BPO may once have been your
most profitable strategy, today the costs have
reached a point where the benefits of moving
labor time zones away simply don’t equal the
hardships. And the economics and
performance of technology is becoming a
viable alternative to low cost human labor.
Labor arbitrage is, by definition, temporary.
For one, wage inflation overseas eventually
makes the cost-savings of cheap offshore
labor almost impossible to sustain, even with
the shrewdest workforce management.
What’s more, while the labor cost curve will
always escalate, inevitable performance
problems driven by turnover and attrition
mean that it might not always equate to an
increase in productivity.
The Outsourcing Dilemma 2
Market Trends 3
The Digital Workforce 4
Sustainable Labor Alternative 5
Applied RPA 6
What’s Next? 7
Contact 8
3© 2015 KPMG LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership and the U.S. member firm of the KPMG network of independent member
firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. NDPPS 500515
Market trends and our own research reflect this reality. KPMG LLP’s quarterly survey of outsourcing buyers, advisors, and service providers reveals
that demand for third-party services dropped in 2015 [1] . Meanwhile, the size of outsourcing deals in India is dramatically decreasing, [2] and in the
four quarters preceding June 2015, India’s largest information technology service providers lost roughly 100,000 people. [3]
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[1] KPMG Sourcing Advisory Global 1Q2015 Pulse Survey (KPMG, April 27, 2015)
[2] “The Seven Signs of India’s Outsourcing Apocalypse” (WSJ.com, July 13, 2015)
[3] “Infosys, Wipro & TCS lose over 100,000 people in last four quarters as automation kicks in” (Economic Times, July 29, 2015)
40% – 75%15%-30%
LABOR ARBITRAGE
CHARACTERISTICS
LABOR AUTOMATION
CHARACTERISTICS
cost take out for relevant functionscost take out
Model is scalable to the extent
that you can scale labor
Custom/ complex, legacy:
“Your mess for less”
Access to low cost labor
Necessary to provide
continuous value
Revenue/ profit
correlated to people
Model is scalable and is
largely independent of labor growth
Transformative-
new way of doing business
Access to “rocket scientists”
who can codify manual processes
Revenue/ profit NOT
correlated to people
Revenue growth
50%
Market Trends
4© 2015 KPMG LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership and the U.S. member firm of the KPMG network of independent member
firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. NDPPS 500515
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[4] “Can Robots Replace People?” (Business Standard, April 27, 2015)
[5] “2014 Future of the Internet” (Pew Research Center, August 6, 2014)
[6] “How Robotics is Changing the Face of Business Process Outsourcing” (Robohub, January 7, 2015)
[7] McKinsey Global Institute – “Disruptive technologies: Advances that will transform life, business and the global economy.” May 2013
The Digital Workforce
Rising global labor costs are causing BPO to become unsustainable at the same time as
technologies are advancing and converging in such a way that they can not only augment work, but
replace workers.
More and more companies are gaining traction with cognitive and automation platforms–machines
with rapidly advancing capabilities for understanding, learning, communicating, and problem-solving.
Robotic process automation (RPA)—this convergence of low-cost, easy-to-implement process
automation, coupled with machine learning, data analytics, and cognitive innovations—is creating a
new class of digital labor.
In many applications, these technologies are showing they can do the work of humans, only faster,
better, and cheaper. The vast majority of 1,896 experts who responded to a study by the Pew
Research Center believe that robots and digital agents—which cost approximately one-third the
price of an offshore full-time employees [4]—will displace significant numbers of workers by 2025
[5].
In fact, traditional outsourced business processes are perfect candidates for RPA. And the laborers
who support them—such as the millions of call center workers employed globally—are firmly in the
cross-hairs. Any human job which involves largely transactional, low-end, repeatable tasks has a
limited lifespan, because the payoff of transitioning from labor- to tech-centric models is enormous.
This category of the workforce is massive. The global BPO sector is currently valued above $300
billion, and in India alone, more than 3 million people are employed doing BPO work [6]. But as
technology develops in capability and sophistication, BPO workers occupy only the first train car off
the edge of a cliff. Behind them are potentially 100 million global knowledge workers who could be
impacted by RPA by 2025 [7].
Indeed, RPA has become far more advantageous than employees for even higher-level, knowledge
work. Once you move processes from people to technology, you have little to no incremental costs
and you can scale rapidly without adding costs. What’s more, “smart machines,” which learn and
adapt 24/7, are not only 100 percent accurate, but they will continually improve upon the process
they are tasked to do, whereas people will only do so with continual investment in recruiting and
training.
100 Million
The number of global knowledge
workers who could be impacted by
RPA by 2025.
Increasing influence of platform-
centric cloud service providers
Five factors driving the end of BPO
The Internet of Things making devices
smarter and reducing the need for
human intervention
Expanding capabilities of robotic
technologies
Escalating labor costs in emerging
markets
The shrinking talent pool due to
global demographic trends
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2
3
4
5
5© 2015 KPMG LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership and the U.S. member firm of the KPMG network of independent member
firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. NDPPS 500515
The end of BPO and the rise of RPA are incredibly disruptive forces, upending industries, markets, and, potentially, whole societies. But they also present
powerful opportunities for forward-looking, transformative enterprises to drive long-term value.
By changing their thinking and their models around outsourcing and technology capabilities, many innovative companies and service providers are shifting
away from labor altogether–and seeing their productivity and profitability increase as a result.
As its headcount plummeted, Tata Consultancy Services has experienced a $3 billion productivity gain. A pilot of the Infosys Automation Platform saw a
37 percent productivity improvement and 17 percent people savings. And Wipro’s in-house artificial intelligence automation platform, Holmes, redeployed
approximately 1,000 employees to gain greater efficiency [8].
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[8] “Infosys, Wipro & TCS lose over 100,000 people in last four quarters as automation kicks in” (Economic Times, July 29, 2015)
A Sustainable Labor Alternative
02
03
01
Rules
Engine
Screen
Scraping
Work Flow
Machine
Learning
Large-scale
Processing
Adaptive
Alteration
Artificial
Intelligence
“Big Data”
Analytics
Natural
Language
Processing
Processing of
Unstructured
Data and Base
Knowledge
[ Class 1 ]
[ Class 2 ]
[ Class 3 ]
6© 2015 KPMG LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership and the U.S. member firm of the KPMG network of independent member
firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. NDPPS 500515
It’s not only service providers who see these changes coming. Unexpected
new BPO entrants are also reevaluating their entire business and operating
models through a digital lens.
While traditional service providers increase their investment in RPA [9],
cloud providers like ServiceNow, Salesforce, and Amazon are creating a
new type of service–networked platforms that enable enterprises to
operate their business processes virtually, with a much-reduced headcount
and very low implementation costs. These companies have achieved
roughly the same market cap as India’s largest outsourcers, with only a
fraction of the employees.
All of these forces point to a new,“uber-ized” future for BPO. No longer
will skilled resources sit in a brick-and-mortar building waiting for the phone
to ring. Very soon, the majority of organizations will tap into automated,
digitized, on-demand expertise to help run their core business processes.
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Radically New Business Models
Applied RPA
These firms are embracing RPA in order
to move away from outsourcing deals
and create operating models that bypass
the back office completely.
They recognize that cloud-based RPA
technology is a game-changer in price to
performance, enabling companies to
deliver services in a significantly more
responsive, targeted, scalable, cost-
effective, and “labor-light” manner.
Watson, IBM’s
cognitive system, is
expert at harnessing
data, gleaning insights,
and making fast,
confident decisions.
Organizations are using
Watson to help doctors
evaluate treatment
options and insurance
agents assist
customers.
Amelia, IPsoft’s
cognitive knowledge
worker, interfaces on
human terms.
Deployed almost
instantly in the cloud,
organizations hire her
as a super-productive
call center operator
tasked with responding
to customer questions
and service requests.
Holmes is Wipro’s
artificial intelligence
platform, designed
initially for the
enterprise IT space. It
helps automate
industry-specific
business processes,
such as managing help
desk tickets,
categorizing issues,
assigning tasks, and
automating resolutions.
ignio, Tata Consultancy
Services’ neural
automation platform,
optimizes enterprise IT
operations. ignio can
run a wide variety of IT
processes
autonomously, while
its “what if” modeling
capability assists CIOs
in scenario planning.
RPA
Investment
Priority-
3Q15
“RPA will be a game-changer in our service delivery models and creating
higher levels of client value”
*(Numbers may not total 100 percent due to rounding)
Service Providers:
Investment Priority for Robotic Process Automation
RPA
Investment
Priority-
2015
8
%
8
%
15% 15% 54%
7
%
29% 29% 15% 21%
Low/ None Moderate High/ Significant
[9] “KPMG Sourcing Advisory Global 1Q2015 Pulse Survey (KPMG, April 27, 2015)
IBM IPsoft WIPRO
Tata
Consultancy
7© 2015 KPMG LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership and the U.S. member firm of the KPMG network of independent member
firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. NDPPS 500515
What’s Next?
If BPO is withering while RPA grows up, where do you go from here? As you begin to lay the groundwork for RPA in your business, here are three key
areas of consideration.
Reframe your strategy and business model. Embracing RPA is not just about taking out cost. It’s about creating—or protecting—your advantage.
Rather than squeezing another nickel out of a linear, people-centric processes, your core objective should be to leverage emerging RPA platforms
to digitize business processes, eliminate manual activities, and drive greater cost efficiency, responsiveness, and productivity. To transform
strategically and sustainably, leverage comprehensive digital strategy and a deep understanding of what social, political, or regulatory barriers to
adoption stand in your way.
Reevaluate outsourcing contracts. Look forward. What do you expect from your outsourcing relationships in this new, digitized world? If you’re a
buyer of outsourcing, ask your provider what they’re bringing to the table in terms of automation. If you’re a service provider, think about how you
can digitize your business process knowledge, and talk to your clients about ways to collaborate.
Redeploy your resources. With RPA, you will eliminate a lot of manual activities and free up skilled labor. How will you manage widespread
workforce change? Think about how you can use those displaced employees to do something else for your business. Could those resources take
on higher value roles, becoming experts who resolve issues that technology cannot? For example, will you need to train more engineers and
coders to develop and maintain the technologies that now do the manual tasks of your business?
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8© 2015 KPMG LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership and the U.S. member firm of the KPMG network of independent member
firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. NDPPS 500515
Meet the Author Contact KPMG
Cliff Justice
Principal
U.S. Leader
Shared Services and Outsourcing Advisory
T: 713-319-2781
E: cjustice@kpmg.com
Cliff Justice is the leader of KPMG’s U.S. Shared Services and
Outsourcing Advisory practice. For more than 25 years, he has led
large-scale programs that help Global 500 companies gain greater
value from their global services and business operations, and
structure and manage their sourcing deals, acquisitions, and
integrations. Cliff leads KPMG’s innovation efforts around
disruptive technologies such as robotics, cognitive automation,
and artificial intelligence, and advises enterprises on how to apply
them to transform their business operations.
www.kpmg.com/us/cognitiveautomation
To discover more of KPMG insights on
cognitive automation, robotic innovations,
and the digital workforce, please visit