Service Delivery Management solutions for professional services firms
Professional services firms operate in an increasingly crowded marketplace. The Internet and other structures supporting globalization make it easier for clients to "comparison shop" the offerings of firms, whether they are located across town or across the world. To stand out in such a market, professional services firms must call on service delivery solutions that promote speed, precision, and added service value, so that firms do more than just meet client expectations—they exceed them.
Microsoft Service Delivery Management (SDM) solutions use Microsoft's integrated infrastructure, along with a wide range of solutions from Microsoft's partner ecosystem. These SDM solutions enable your people to collaborate effectively to delivery high-quality client service with greater efficiency, speed, and risk control.
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Business challenge
Service delivery management is becoming an increasingly complex proposition for professional services firms, as they seek ways to provide their people with fast, robust tools that allow them to collaborate effectively, to control and manage both content and risk, and to exceed client expectations in both the quality and timeliness of deliverables. Challenges in the service delivery management area fall into three major categories:
| • | Growth of content: The "information explosion" is overwhelming both the people and the tools that support service delivery. Time spent searching for, sifting through, and organizing information reduces a professional's ability to fine-tune advice offered to clients, as well as to ensure the quality of final deliverables. |
| • | Rising value expectations: Firms are finding it increasingly difficult to deliver quality, timely service in ways that are both efficient and profitable, due to a lack of effective tools for workflow, collaboration, and content management. |
| • | Risk management and compliance: Firms are facing heightened risks of litigation and damaged reputation stemming from delivery of flawed advice or noncompliance with governmental or industry regulations. Many firms have inadequate controls over the liabilities they can incur from service-related decisions and documents. |
Solutions
Microsoft SDM solutions are built on an integrated technology infrastructure that serves the needs of increasingly global professional services firms. Because the specifics of service delivery can differ from state to state or country to country due to differences in local regulations and business practices, firms need an integrated information technology platform that creates the foundation for an agile business. They also need tools that allow their people to respond quickly to changing needs, growing the firm's capabilities in new business areas as opportunities arise.
The platform, along with applications from Microsoft partners, addresses service delivery in four strategic areas:
| • | Client Acceptance: Providing a basis for people to quickly and accurately judge whether new work can be accepted and whether it fits the firm's focus, guidelines and regulatory policies. |
| • | Proposal Management: Enabling an informed selection of project teams, so Request for Proposal (RFP) responses can be prepared with maximum quality and minimum turnaround time, using integrated workflow and automation tools to improve consistency and reduce overall costs. |
| • | Team Workspaces: Creating online workspaces that keep team members current and improve service consistency and quality. These workspaces also include coordination of employee schedules and expectations, with tools that improve project initiation, team coordination, time tracking, and project performance. In addition, people gain one consolidated view into client projects through integration of relevant project information, with the ability to define and standardize on firm- and practice-specific content navigation and management methods. |
| • | Content Creation, Control and Management: Expediting document generation from templates and improving content security; simplifying file storage, access, management, and archiving in compliance with firm policy and regulation. |
Case studies
Read these case studies to learn how professional services firms have benefited from SDM solutions offered by Microsoft and its partners:
RSM McGladrey
This services firm switched to a Microsoft collaboration solution and cut costs and improved productivity.
Golder Associates
This engineering consulting group increased efficiency with a global collaboration solution.
Accenture
Accenture simplified IT and reduced costs with a single technology platform.
Blank Rome
This legal firm invested in a service quality client extranet and collaboration tools.
Business benefits
SDM solutions using Microsoft's integrated infrastructure provide people with the tools they need to improve content management, promote workflow efficiency, and minimize and manage risk while improving compliance. Specific benefits include the ability to:
Have quick and easy ways to access and share data
Microsoft's integrated infrastructure gives firms numerous content management tools designed to help people access, synthesize, and control the information that they and their clients need to make intelligent, informed decisions. Features include integrated search across desktop, various document repositories, unstructured web content, and structured back-office data; and ability to take content offline, edit or collaborate with others, and synchronize when online again.
Enforce standards and best practices in the service delivery process
Compliance and risk management are enabled through better control of who has access to data and information; more effective application of document retention policy; and clear audit trails to hold professionals accountable for their situational judgment.
Promote workflow efficiency
Tools for team collaboration in virtual workspaces can be combined with those that lower the overall costs of service delivery thanks to standardized and interoperable features and applications. Integrated real-time communication and collaboration capabilities accelerate problem sharing and resolution.
Match teams and skills to client projects and better coordinate all aspects of client engagements
Built-in searches of people, skills and client relationships support formation of strong client service teams; template-based engagement management tools improve project initiation, team coordination, and project performance. Expectations are defined from the outset, work schedules are universally understood, and people can integrate their individual work projects towards completion of the final overall deliverable.
Overview
Technology
