Support partnership is delivering performance and resilience benefits
Challenges
The company’s Global Treasury Center runs Wallstreet Suite as its core treasury management system. This powerful system has the extensive functionality required to meet the needs of the most complex global treasury operations. But they were not getting the most from its Wallstreet Suite Implementation due to a lack of the right in-house expertise. The company’s Treasurer, explains: “It takes experts with a high level of technical skill and financial knowledge to properly configure and manage such a specialized system. After our in-house certified Wallstreet Suite consultants moved on from the company, we were struggling every time we needed to introduce a change or fix an issue. We were simply not getting the performance levels we needed. It was very frustrating.” The Treasurer soon realized the team could not rely on the existing limited in-house knowledge of their core treasury system. But with experts hard to recruit, expensive to train and difficult to keep, she decided that a more robust and strategic solution was required.
SkySparc really stood out. It was clear they had the expertise, the experience and the knowledge we needed. I knew they would deliver.
The company’s Treasurer
Solution
So she began the search for the right outsourcing partner for the team’s on-going support needs, and after a full RFP process, SkySparc was selected as the company’s strategic outsourcing partner for treasury management system support. Says the Treasurer: “SkySparc really stood out. It was clear they had the expertise, the experience and the knowledge we needed. I knew they would deliver.”
Initially, SkySparc’s consultants were on-site at the client, working to fix outstanding issues and stabilize the system. They accomplished this quickly and professionally, says the Treasurer, delivering immediate value. “SkySparc’s people were able to easily fix issues we had struggled with for months. Not only did they work very hard, they were also highly knowledgeable, understanding both our financial and technical requirements thoroughly,” she says.
Once the system was stabilized, the company moved to a largely remote support model for its business-as-usual operations. SkySparc monitors the system daily throughout the company’s business hours and so is able to pick up developing issues very quickly and fix them before they become problems. In addition, specific support or change requests are sent direct to the team at SkySparc’s Expert Center where they are dealt with quickly and efficiently.
Partnering with SkySparc for support means my team can concentrate on our core treasury roles. I wish I’d made the decision to outsource much earlier.
The company’s Treasurer
Results
SkySparc’s support philosophy is to provide a personalized response that is focused on the particular needs of the client’s business, with support embedded across the client’s user groups and functions as appropriate. This personalized approach means there is always the option for SkySparc to be onsite if needed, and the flexibility to meet other requests that may arise.
It is an approach that has delivered for the telecom company: On the cost side, they have saved the direct costs for two FTEs by outsourcing. But more importantly, with this model, the team is no longer reliant on just one or two individuals, but instead has access to SkySparc’s firm-wide financial and technical expertise for all its support needs and for advice and planning. “This adds to our resilience, and means I and my team can stop worrying about support issues and concentrate on managing treasury for our business,” says the company’s Treasurer. “I wish I’d made the decision to outsource support to SkySparc much earlier,” she concludes.
