Microsoft Corporation and Bancolombia Group Teams Win First Global Excellence in Outsourcing (GEO) Awards from IAOP
INDIAN WELLS, Calif., Feb. 22 – Microsoft Corp. and Bancolombia Group are the first organizations with teams to win the Global Excellence in Outsourcing (GEO) award from the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals® (IAOP®).
Microsoft’s Finance & Procurement Global BPO team has been awarded the new honor for innovation. Bancolombia Group’s Outsourcing Strategy Management Department Unit is the recipient of the GEO in the best practices category.
Both teams were honored at a luncheon ceremony today attended by hundreds of outsourcing professionals during IAOP’s 2011 annual conference, The Outsourcing World Summit® here.
IAOP started the award program to distinguish outsourcing professional teams at customer organizations who have advanced the field’s best practices, created innovative solutions and delivered great results for their companies.
“As outsourcing increasingly becomes a strategic, corporate-wide program it’s more and more often teams of outsourcing professionals who are creating the results their companies need,” said IAOP Chairman Michael Corbett. “We salute the GEO winners on their accomplishments that raise the bar for all of us.”
One-Stop Controller’s Shop
Microsoft won in the innovation category for developing a new tool called “Controller Workspace,” a portal that uses Microsoft SharePoint technology to increase the efficiency of Microsoft’s finance staff and enable them to focus on value-added activities.
The solution integrates internal and outsourced activities into a seamless one-stop shop for everything the controller needs to do the job. This includes providing clear, up-to the-minute data on regulatory compliance and status of the monthly close; the ability to assign tasks; and manage profit and loss approvals, Sarbanes Oxley compliance and audit issues.
Team members winning the award include: Alan Byrne, director, finance operations, service delivery lead – Europe, Americas; Srini Krishna, director, finance operations, global vendor management; Henric Häggquist, senior director of finance operations global BPO management; and Rod Winters, general manager, finance operations.
Model Outsourcing Bank
Colombia’s largest bank, Bancolombia, uses outsourcing services in numerous departments, including treasury and international trade, tax processing, payments, network auditing, operational processing, bank security, real estate, logistics and mortgages, involving about 6,000 employees.
The result was the development of the “Bancolombia Outsourcing Model,” which engages executives from across the organization in a consistent, highly-effective process for identifying, evaluating and agreeing to new outsourcing initiatives.
“This model has been a consistent method for implementing, operating and evaluating outsourcing relationships, which is directly aligned with methods for managing and evaluating business processes,” said Luisa F. Toro, manager.
Bancolombia Group was recognized for its national and regional benchmarking in the financial sector and other sectors that it has shared with business advisors and consultants.
The company also trains members of its Strategy Outsourcing Management Department with its best practices and measures the organizational climate through a best practice study “Great Place to Work” every two years.
The members honored with the GEO were: Natalia Gil, initiatives analyst; Diego A. Giraldo, ITO analyst; Maria C. Alzate, governance analyst; Catalina Lopera, BPO analyst; Ma Isabel Orozco, department auxiliary I; Luis F. Arias, department auxiliary I; and Toro.
About IAOP
The International Association of Outsourcing Professionals® (IAOP®) is the global, standard-setting organization and advocate for the outsourcing profession. With more than 110,000 members and affiliates worldwide, IAOP helps companies increase their outsourcing success rate, improve their outsourcing ROI, and expand the opportunities for outsourcing across their businesses. Visit www.iaop.org
Media Contact:
Kimberly Maneeley
+1.845.452.0600, extension 104
kim.maneeley@iaop.org
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