Utilities BPO: Services Overview

Utility companies around the world are looking for ways to respond to industry and market changes, while addressing the evolving needs of their customers. In response, new business models and technologies are emerging for power generation, transmission and distribution, retail and customer operations.

These innovations, however, create a number of challenges. Common issues include:

• Financial constraints. Economic uncertainties in the global markets combined with volatile commodity prices are putting pressure on margins and profitability.

• Rising consumer expectations. Meeting consumer needs is challenging for utilities that are not evolving at the same pace as consumer expectations.

• Environmental and regulatory pressure. The push toward a low-carbon economy and environmental conservation is profoundly affecting how utilities operate but also the products and services they offer.

• Lack of scale. Because they are location-specific, utilities can battle to achieve scale and thus have fewer resources to invest in infrastructure in technology, and fewer levers to reduce costs while improving service and customer satisfaction.

Accenture Utilities Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Services delivers cost-effective outsourcing for front-and back-office functions. With an emphasis on end-to-end solutions, Accenture helps utilities address today’s immediate needs and position for high performance over the long term.

Accenture provides its clients with an integrated combination of management consulting, technology and outsourcing services. As a truly global organization with delivery centers around the world, Accenture is a recognized leading provider of outsourcing services, ranking No. 1 for four consecutive years (2008- 2011) on the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) Global Outsourcing 100 list.

We specifically created Accenture Utilities BPO Services to address the unique needs of the global utilities industry. Accenture Utilities BPO Services has more than 5,000 employees operating today in more than 10 countries across North America, Europe and Asia. Accenture provides business process outsourcing and application outsourcing services to more than 40 regulated utilities and competitive retail energy clients worldwide.

Accenture Utilities BPO Services creates value across the utility organization. For example, our outsourcing services help utilities:

• Deliver consistent and predictable customer service with highly standardized processes.

• Focus on improving key performance indicators, such as cost-to-serve and customer satisfaction.

• Improve operational performance with established operating models and IT/application support.

Contact us to find out how Accenture Utility BPO Services can help your organization achieve high performance.

Utility companies can select individual or bundled complementary solutions, among them:

• Meter-to-cash business process outsourcing. Fully integrated retail and customer operations across the front and back office, including a contact center, billing and payments, debt collection and field service operations.

• Capacity services BPO. Back-office exception processing on a flexible and interim basis, allowing clients to scale up and down and meet changing staffing demands quickly.

• Operations support services BPO. Support functions that enable successful retail and/or customer operations, including quality and performance management, learning and knowledge management, workforce management, and reporting and service performance management.

• Customer application outsourcing. Implementing and operating customer information and billing systems, including break/fix and enhancements, as well as the development of new applications.

Learn more about our Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services.