Xuong Business Services

Welcome to my third article in a series focused on insights, experience and practical advice on an operating model called Global Business Services (GBS). The GBS operating model is the latest step in the evolution of shared services (SS). To refresh your memory, SS is an operational model that’s been around for decades. It enables functional resources (i.e., HR, IT, Finance, etc.) to be leveraged across an entire organization, resulting in lower service costs. My first article discussed the evolution from traditional SS to GBS, the drivers for the change and the desired benefits. Article two highlighted that even though the transition to GBS continues, there seems to be a return on investment (ROI) shortfall with a number of implementations. The primary reasons for the ROI shortfall and some solutions to enhance success were also covered. This third article takes a “deep dive” on two key elements to ensure a successful GBS implementation: strategy and governance. Let’s get started.

When you talk to experts who guide companies through GBS transformations (and I have had the pleasure of working with many of them, such as Deloitte, Accenture, The Hackett Group, and others), or talk with GBS leaders who

Looking back, the emergence of business service management (BSM) seems inevitable. This new generation of tools helps IT organizations manage technology infrastructures within the context of the key services they provide for their customers. BSM tools are critical enablers for the increasingly popular process-focused IT Service Management (ITSM) approach.

What’s driving this evolution to BSM and its related IT management paradigms? Executive Consultant Troy DuMoulin of Pink Elephant, an ITIL events and consulting firm, explains, “The interest in ITIL, the evolution of legislation like SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002), and the interest in standards is symptomatic of something much more rudimentary. At the base of this growing focus on formalization and legislation is a growing awareness of exposure and dependency that the business has on IT. Before, IT was seen as an enabler, supportive but yet somehow separated from the business processes themselves. But now there is a realization that there is no true separation between the business process and the underlying IT services and systems.”

Information technology has become so vital to business today – so ubiquitous in every aspect – that most businesses literally cannot function without it anymore. Even simple manual tasks like

Internet Business Services are thriving. Every day there are more and more consumers logging on and now cost-effective to carry on business services via the internet.

To operate an Internet Business Service you will need less operating costs as you no longer require a brick and mortar store and you can now have specific niche businesses or items that would have failed if they had been in a traditional business setting. Best of all, Internet Business Services will allow you the freedom to be able to work from anywhere – the office, on the road, at home…anywhere!

That being said, not all Small Business Internet Services prosper. You can still sink a lot of money into your business and have it flop. There is homework involved for the Internet entrepreneur as you have to research the business you are considering as there is so much competition out there that it may be infeasible to try to go head to head with a company or in an industry you have no chance in turning a profit it.

Use concrete data to contribute as the basis of your Internet Business Services. Likely the main factor over all

Whether the economy is booming or facing a crunch, one factor plays a critical role in business: IT. In today’s business environment, almost all business activities are tied with the IT department. However, most of the departmental heads have no idea of the impact of complex technology on their respective business processes. Many a times, department heads have no means of identifying and preventing bottlenecks within applications so that end users are not affected. In today’s tough economy, Business Service Management can come to the rescue of many IT managers as well as departmental heads to ensure a smooth running of business processes.

The importance of knowing end to end performance is not only applicable for large enterprises, but smaller entities too. In fact, monitoring end to end performance of applications is more important for small businesses, considering that they function on a very tight margin. In order to stay on top of any performance issue and to effectively solve it, business owners need application monitoring tools through which they can monitor whether their business services are functioning properly. Such application monitoring would also inform them of any bottlenecks in advance and prevent any large scale impact

There is a perception, created by unscrupulous Internet marketing “Gurus”, that anybody can make a fortune by starting an Internet business. It takes wisdom, experience, patience and persistence to create an income generating Internet business following a solid business plan, just like any other business in the real world. Well, at least for us ordinary folk!

The good news is that being over 50, you have all of these qualities and you can start and maintain a profitable Internet business by enlisting an Internet business service that suits your requirements. Here is how I learned the hard way to find an ideal Internet business service

1. Research

Undoubtedly the backbone of any venture. To become an expert in research read, learn and practice everything a good search engine provides. Stick with a market leader and use all they have to offer and you wont need anything more. Good search engines offers many excellent and easy to use research services that are not well known as they do not as a rule market their capabilities aggressively. Go to their home page and read everything they have carefully.

2. Stick to what you know

Good

Outsourcing has become an increasingly popular aspect of modern businesses. With a bit of planning you can easily learn how to outsource your Business Services and reap the benefits that it holds for your company.

There are a lot of quality freelance provider companies worldwide that provide a variety of Business Services. With adequate planning and management you can easily find a suitable provider to take over your work. So what exactly does it take to successfully outsource your business?

Two of the most important aspects when you want to successfully learn how to outsource your Business Services are:

1. Project Planning
2. Project Management

When you have decided how to outsource your business services you need to spend some time on these points to ensure that you receive value for your money and successfully grow your business.

Project Planning

For any project to be successful you need to plan accordingly. You need to assess your needs and know what you expect from your provider. In order for your project to be a success you need to be able to provide your provider company with adequate information and training and ensure that they are suitably

There is absolutely no doubt that a lot of people know that a lot of money can be made on the internet. Do you know that you can make good money by providing business service online? Online business service covers a wide variety of jobs and thankfully, a lot of these jobs are pretty easy to learn and execute.

There are a lot of small and medium sized online businesses that do not have marketing coordinator in-house and there are lots of businesses that also do not have an offline marketing coordinator as well. These two fields are quite profitable – but, let’s focus on online marketing. Marketing on the internet usually consists of a lot of things ranging from design of websites to providing search engine optimization service. A lot of small and medium sized business owners are often looking for this online business service (SEO service) in order to help them get much needed exposure or to simply generate a lot of traffic for their website(s). Designing a professional website sure requires a lot of skill which makes it a little bit complicated, but providing internet marketing and search engine optimization service is quite simple

If you’re a small business owner considering outsourcing your bookkeeping, keep in mind that bookkeeping business services include much more than just keeping track of your finances. If you hook up with a true professional service they can become much more than an accounting service, they can become important partners helping you optimize not only your cash flow but planning your financial strategies. Here’s a short list of benefits and services you can expect from a full service bookkeeper.

1. Time

Actually this may be the most productive benefit of all the services an outsourced bookkeeper can provide. By taking over the responsibility of accounting, the bookkeeper service effectively gives you more time to do what you do best and that’s run the business. Accounting is an absolutely necessary part of a business but it is not a profit center and it plays no part in driving sales and revenue. Any time you devote to that function is time taken from engaging in an activity that can generate sales or profit.

2. Financial forecasting

Using your firm’s financial history an experienced bookkeeping service can develop financial models that will allow you to play “what

If you’re looking for more home based business services to help you quickly and efficiently build your business, then you are going to want to read this article from top to bottom. In it, I am going to show you how to stop throwing money away, and how certain types of home based business services are not “serving” you or your business…and are basically serving only to drain your bank account.

Most people when they look for home based business services, end up spending their money for business card services, vehicle magnets and related things. So the very first thing I want you to do, is to stop throwing your money away by constantly putting your money into things which, from a long-term perspective, aren’t going to benefit you or your business.

Although these types of techniques can build a business, the process is painstakingly slow and full of constant rejection. Think about the numbers associated with utilizing these techniques and this type of home based business services.

Even if you used these home based business services and they garnered you 10 calls and 1-2 closes a week (translating to you recruiting 7-8 people per

While running a business, there are many essential services that are required on a day to day basis. Business services are an important element of any business that ensures its survival. For small business that struggle to hire full time staff, outsourcing these services to freelance providers could be the ideal answer. If you decide to get freelancers for your business services needs, there is no doubt they would turn out to be reliable and a necessary part for your business processes.

Once the company has found reliable freelancers, results will become obvious that the business will start to develop and grow into successful entity. There are many freelance websites which offer opportunities for both businesses and the freelancers to find each other and work together. One can find a lot of different business services offered by freelancers and it is these diverse resources that businesses will be able to leverage and improve their current situations.

Whether it is accounting services, financial services, IT services or any other required service by the business, one can find experienced freelancers for all business service requirements. Once you get freelancers for your business you will find out how reliable,

Running a business can be one of the most rewarding and satisfying ventures one can partake in life. However, running a business can also be an extremely demanding, and at times, stressful career move. Luckily there are a wide range of business services that can help to take some of the weight off of your shoulders and allow you to focus on the core elements of your business.

The first service is chartered accountancy. A huge part of your business is going to be dealing with the financial aspects of its day to day operations. Many feel employing the services of an accountant to be a bit of a waste of money. This is usually because they have some understanding of what is needed and required and feel that they will be more than capable of keeping on top of all their accounts and book keeping. Although this may be fine for small businesses or start ups, as a business grows, so does the amount of accountancy work. Another point to make is that hiring an accountant is not as expensive as many would be lead to believe. So for a small yearly fee, you could rest

More Americans than ever before are starting up a business of their own, making a real difference to the state of the nation at a local and a national level. However all too often, even with the best intentions and the best work ethic, insurmountable challenges can be faced. One option which offers the freedom of running your own business, with the support of a network, is a business service franchise.

There are a great many reasons as to why this is such a great option for entrepreneurs in the country. As economic strength returns to the US and greater confidence is found by organizations in the country, they will require professional services. Operating in a local area, a franchised company can often provide a more bespoke service and faster turnaround.

One such business sector that is well positioned to help local economies pick up is in digital printing. With local companies starting to require all manner of stationery and other printed materials, entrepreneurs have a great opportunity to stake a claim in the sector.

A successful local print shop can quickly become an integral part of the local business community, but it is essential

Why should businesses bother about business service management (BSM)? The efficient management of business services can lead to better customer service relationships, improved inter-departmental communication and engagement and increased productivity. All of this can contribute to cost reductions as well.

Business services may often seem to be at cross-purposes with what IT has to offer and there is an impression that management initiatives are hard to meet. But BSM not only bridges this gap, it helps businesses bring together the factors needed for efficient growth, such as the health of your IT system, the status of applications, effective monitoring of applications, managing networks, managing virtual networks, and consumption and management of data storage systems, etc.

Business service management directives may be placed above directives of IT service management. BSM application is also seen applied in Information Technology or Information Communications Technology; BSM also helps identify and define business objectives such that they are easier for IT to follow and provide for. Without this definition which is the hallmark of BSM, it is difficult for the IT to align with the larger business vision.

BSM is also vital in times of virtual networking and Cloud-based systems.

For those who have not read my previous post, “Moving from Shared Services to Global Business Services,” let me provide a quick summary. Shared Services (SS) is an operating model that has been around for decades. It enables function-specific resources (i.e., HR, IT, Finance, etc.) to be leveraged across an entire organization, resulting in lower costs with agreed-upon customer-service levels. Around the time of the 2008/2009 recession, greater demands were placed on the SS operating model and what evolved was Global Business Services (GBS). The GBS operating model offers better efficiency, wider geographic reach, and broader scope coverage, to handle greater regulatory scrutiny for the same or even lower costs. However, there are some obstacles to overcome to ensure the full value of the GBS operating model is achieved… which is the focus of this post.

State of GBS

Multiple surveys and commentary have been published indicating the widespread and increasing trend of companies moving from SS to the GBS operating model. An annual survey by the Shared Services and Outsourcing Network (SSON), one of the largest communities of shared services and outsourcing professionals, stated that nearly 70% of the respondents operate as a GBS or

With so many people having lost their jobs in recent months, home businesses in the service industry has become a rapidly growing trend. As regular 9 to 5 positions are becoming harder to find, having a home business service is increasing in popularity. It is becoming more and more attractive as the start up cost and overhead is very low when compared to a brick and mortar service business.

If you have been thinking about using your talent to start a home business service, and you feel that you are ready to commit to providing a home business service, then read these tips to help you get started.in the right direction.

First I would like to clarify what a home business service actually is.

A home business service is performing a service or task that will help other people with tasks they either don’t want to perform or are unable to perform on their own. A service business supplies the solution to a need and can include anything from walking a dog to figuring out a clients taxes. Virtual assistants have become a very popular service that is provided from home.

I’m not going

What are the various business services that I should consider?
Business services include a whole host of services including client refreshments, postal services, copy services, meeting rooms and training rooms, telephone handsets and call packages, wireless internet access, purchasing discounts and others.

The decision to opt for services are governed by your business needs. The trade-off is between engaging your own resources versus seasoned professionals of the service providers. The decision is between taking a longer time to get started versus getting started right away with the available and well oiled administrative services.

Can business services be customized as per my needs?
The range of customization of business services offered depends upon the service office provider. It could be an off-the-shelf package that offers little or no customization or it could be pick-and-choose from the boutique of services provided.

At a short notice the service options can be individually scaled to your changing needs and expanded to include the items and services that are most important to you.

As an example, the services of a business centre can be tailored to very specific needs. As an alternative to the full-service office, various combinations of