We design, implement and operate outsourced functions for insurance and financial services organisations, from the initial business case through to scaled, optimised operations running year after year.
Outsourcing decisions are among the most consequential an organisation can make. They reshape cost structures, operating models and workforce composition, and they are very difficult to reverse. Yet most of this work is led by firms whose people have designed outsourcing strategies without ever having to operate them.
The result is strategies that look coherent on paper but unravel in execution. Location decisions that ignore operational reality. Supplier selections that prioritise commercial terms over delivery capability. Migrations managed as projects rather than as the complex, live operational transitions they actually are.
IDG has built, scaled and run outsourced operations in UK, Indian and South African BPO markets. We have managed operations at scale, navigated multi geography workload migration, and dealt with the failures outsourcing strategies encounter when they meet reality. We bring that experience to every engagement, as experts who know what they are recommending, and as delivery partners who stay until it works.
We can engage at any stage, from strategy design to live operational management.
We assess the outsourcing opportunity, evaluate geography and supplier options, and build the investment case for board approval. Our location assessments draw on direct experience of operating in UK, Indian and South African markets, not desk research. We tell you where the value is and what it would actually cost to unlock it.
We lead the RFP, due diligence, negotiation and contracting process, then programme manage the implementation. We establish the operating model, mobilise the delivery team, migrate processes and manage the transition in a live operational environment. We do not hand over a design and leave. We stay until it works.
For organisations with existing arrangements that are underperforming, or where the operation has scaled beyond its original design. We assess current performance against market benchmarks, identify the levers for improvement, and drive the changes required to get the operation performing as it should, with ongoing commercial and operational oversight of supplier relationships.
The board wants a credible business case. You need an assessment of geography, supplier and operating model options, from people who have actually built and run what they are recommending.
Quality is below expectation. Cost is above it. The relationship with the supplier has drifted. You need an independent assessment of what is wrong and a clear plan to fix it or replace it.
What worked at 50 FTE is not working at 500. The original operating model, governance and commercial framework are showing their limits. The operation needs redesigning around its current reality.
Workload migration is running behind and risks are multiplying. The programme team is too close to the problem to apply independent challenge. You need someone who has managed this complexity before.
An organisation with no prior offshoring experience engaged IDG to design and deliver an end-to-end outsourcing strategy, from initial business case through to a scaled, multi geography operation.
A FTSE-listed UK insurer saw a major opportunity to reduce cost and build resilience through offshoring, but had no previous experience of designing or operating offshore and no internal capability to navigate the decision.
Building an offshore operation from scratch is a complex, multi year undertaking. Risks compound at each stage, and the strategy had to be designed for scale from day one while executing with discipline.
We researched geographies, suppliers, processes and legal constructs to build a board approved investment case, mobilised a delivery team to establish the first location, then evolved the model as the operation scaled to 2,000 FTE across four locations in India and South Africa.
A global manufacturer engaged IDG to design, pilot and scale a new outsourced Technology Hub, streamlining a fragmented operating model while making a measurable social impact.
A fragmented technology function across multiple locations needed consolidating into a single outsourced Centre of Excellence, with a strong desire to create social impact through employment and training.
The location decision required local labour market intelligence and the right technical skills, while the social impact mandate added an ecosystem of training partners, technology firms and local government to the commercial model.
We ran contemporary local research to select Cape Town, designed the outsourced operating model and built the full partner ecosystem, mobilising 100 roles in Phase 1 with a planned end state of 250+.
A global commercial lines insurer engaged IDG to orchestrate the full optimisation of customer-facing and back-office operations, building resilience through dual-site capability while improving experience and efficiency.
The insurer wanted to improve customer experience, reduce cost and build dual-site resilience across UK and EU centres, all in a live trading environment that could not be disrupted.
Three compounding risks: an untested change model, transformation running concurrently with peak trading, and a complex multi country migration with significant interdependencies.
We programme managed the full change, coordinating a complex array of deliverables to optimise, right size and right shore operations with no disruption to live trading.
The expertise IDG provided meant we could execute our transformation at pace whilst substantially derisking the programme.— Senior Executive, Global Commercial Lines Insurer
Not ready for a full programme? Start with an independent, four week assessment of a live BPO or outsourcing arrangement: benchmarked cost position, risk rated contract assessment, an operational performance review of the transformation you were promised, and a prioritised action plan.
Not a consultant's review. A practitioner's review, led by people who have written the status reports your provider is sending you.
Talk to us about your outsourcing challenge, whether you are at ideation or in recovery.
Talk to us