Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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Despite the clear value that virtual Under a multi-year arrangement with virtual reality events, and provide
solutions brought to P&G’s product P&G, approximately 60 resources from break/fix application support in
development and merchandising efforts, Accenture Business Process Outsourcing onshore locations.
GBS felt it could do an even better job of worked closely with GBS to transition—
delivering these services. Under the and now manage—P&G’s virtual Working closely with GBS professionals,
existing virtual solutions program, solutions’ content delivery and facilities the Accenture team kicked off the
delivery responsibilities were dispersed services. Accenture’s scope of services transition in June 2009 with a small
among many providers. P&G resources, has included: pilot project that documented process
for example, served as delivery flows and role descriptions, tested major
• Providing
high-end project
managers, in charge of planning and integration points and hand-offs,
management.
orchestrating the virtualized consumer confirmed assumptions and service level
• Transitioning the operations of existing agreements, assessed the feasibility of
research initiatives. Other providers and
virtual reality facilities to Accenture’s moving virtual reality work offshore,
contractors were brought on board to
global team. and identified productivity and
create the virtual experiences; manage
the virtual studios; and design, build • Overseeing the design, development technology improvement opportunities.
and maintain the applications that and operations of new virtual reality The transition of services from legacy
underpinned the virtual experience. This facilities and 3-D store environments in providers began in August 2009 and was
fragmented approach to virtual service key P&G locations. carried out in phases, by geography, over
delivery, while successful, was making • Creating, integrating, delivering and a period of six months. Accenture began
it increasingly difficult for GBS to storing virtual reality content. offering full service delivery in February
control costs, build capacity and quickly 2010. At that time, the team also began
• Providingvirtual reality software and
introduce new innovations that resonate initiating continuous improvement
platform development, break/fix and
with the users. activities and learning processes for all
maintenance services.
virtual reality roles.
• Managing third-party facility and
How Accenture helped technology vendors involved in
GBS wanted to establish a strategic “ At the end of the day, we are
service delivery.
relationship with an outsourcing all about creating products
provider that could manage its end- To carry out these activities, Accenture and experiences that delight
to-end virtual solutions delivery. By has applied a hybrid on/offshore delivery our consumers. Virtual
bringing all these responsibilities model. While most team members
are located onsite in Cincinnati, Ohio,
solutions help us to do
together under the direction of one
service provider, GBS believed it could and in the Accenture Delivery Centers just that. By successfully
improve its solution delivery quality and in Mumbai, India, other Accenture transitioning—and now
capacity, grow its use of virtual reality professionals—including regional service managing—our virtual services
capabilities and technologies, improve management and studio operations end-to-end, Accenture has
efficiencies and reduce costs. Equally resources—are providing support from
key locations around the world, including
become an innovation partner
important, outsourcing would free up
P&G resources to focus on innovation. In Geneva, Buenos Aires, Warsaw, London, and an integral contributor to
this way, the outsourcing arrangement Frankfurt. Within this global team, P&G’s long-term success.”
would support two of GBS’s goals— Accenture professionals have assumed
enabling P&G employees to work at their several key roles, including: Bernard Eloy
best and strengthening customer and • Program managers, who oversee GBS Virtualization Associate
consumer relationships. the end-to-end development of new Director
virtual reality facilities, monitor the
When it came to selecting an outsourcing virtual reality market at P&G, and
provider, delivery expertise was one drive continuous improvements in
of the most important criteria. Others facility development
included deep skills in virtual reality,
• Delivery managers, who are responsible
large-scale visualization and interactivity,
for overall project management and
collaboration and data visualization. GBS
planning, monitoring and closing all
turned to Accenture for several reasons.
virtual reality events
Accenture had the global scale P&G
required. It was a leader in the managed • Integrator
assistants, based in Mumbai,
services business. It had a proven record who execute the virtual reality projects
of business process outsourcing at P&G. and manage project plans
And, through the Accenture Technology • Studio operators, who manage the
Labs, it had positioned itself as an early operations of the hardware and software
pioneer in virtual reality and large-scale components of the virtual reality studio
visualization solutions. facilities, support the delivery of key
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High performance delivered • Strengthen connections to consumers was not progressing as smoothly as
by providing the right products at the desired, Accenture quickly crafted a
GBS has a unique approach to
right times and in the right location comprehensive intervention plan to
business partnerships. It collaborates
• Significantlyreduce time-to-market adjust its facility-development processes
with its strategic partners like
cycles by identifying potential issues and place the project back on track.
Accenture to create solutions and
and opportunities earlier in the Within a matter of months, Accenture’s
joint value for P&G and, ultimately,
design process quality of service rating jumped from
for P&G’s customers around the
93 to 99 percent. Quality of delivery
world. And it leverages its best with • Create and/or manage 60 three-
climbed from 91 to 98 percent. And
its partners’ best to create lasting dimensional stores for merchandisers and
its customer satisfaction scores rose
competitive advantage. 20 virtual solution centers—more than
from 3.2 to 3.6 out of a scale of 1-5.
any other consumer products company
By teaming with Accenture, GBS is Today, the service is stabilized and
• Introduce globally consistent virtual GBS’s virtual solutions services are
able to take advantage of the synergy
that comes from working closely services that meet the needs of GBS’s contributing significantly to P&G’s
with a leader in virtual solutions internal customers ability to quickly develop and package
delivery. As just one example, • Strengthen its relationship with products that consumers want to buy.
Accenture and GBS established the retailers, resulting in stronger
partnerships focused on the consumer Industry experts agree that P&G’s virtual
Innovation Council, which meets
solutions are an important reason the
regularly to explore new virtual reality • Improve its ability to make informed
consumer goods giant stands out from its
technologies and understand how packaging and shelf placement decisions
peers. Professor Raymond Burk, Indiana
they might be applied within the P&G quicker and more cost effectively
University, Pioneer in the area of virtual
environment. Both Accenture and • Reduce its “speed-to-shelf” time by shopping, has noted “P&G’s expertise in
P&G harvest and share innovative up to 50 percent for select products. using VR for internal decision making,
ideas from within the team and “If you do virtually in days or hours consumer research and customer
across their respective organizations. what used to take weeks, then not collaboration is truly thought-leading in
The Innovation Council then only will you go to market faster, but the CPG industry.” This statement is
prioritizes those ideas and launches you can afford to do a few more test- supported by the fact that P&G was
pilots to test the concepts. Several and-redesign cycles with more input recognized as a 2009 Computerworld
pilots have already been initiated to from consumers and retailers,” explains Honors Laureate and, more recently, as a
improve service delivery within GBS’s Filippo Passerini, president, Global 2010 CIO Award winner for its
virtual solutions program. Business Services and CIO."1 leading-edge virtualization capability.
The relationship GBS has forged • Freeup valuable employee work time,
which allows for additional capacity to Accenture’s experience and ongoing High
with Accenture is also noteworthy
focus on innovation and delivering Performance Business research has
because it advances GBS’s philosophy
products that touch and improve demonstrated that leading companies
of supporting P&G’s purpose, which
consumers’ lives. can effectively extend their capabilities
is to touch and improve consumers’
by transitioning certain functions to
lives, now and for generations to • Support its sustainability objectives by
third-party providers, freeing their
come. According to Bernard Eloy, digitizing the process and reducing the
employees up to focus on capabilities
GBS Virtualization Associate Director, need for physical mock ups.
that help differentiate the company
“Within GBS we partner to create a
While the transition of services to from the competition. GBS is but one
win-win. We want a relationship that
Accenture was successful, it was not example. By having Accenture assume
extends beyond that of a supplier but
always easy. The greatest challenge responsibility for the management and
a true partner, one who understands
arose in the delivery of virtual reality delivery of its virtual solutions, GBS
our business needs and works with us
stores, which P&G created to provide has optimized P&G’s virtualization
to grow our services.”
retail buyers the experience of actually capabilities and enabled the consumer
This collaborative GBS and Accenture being in their own stores, viewing P&G goods giant to enhance product design
relationship has produced a number products on their own shelves. When and placement, drive more revenue and
of benefits and enabled P&G to: the build-out of these 3-D environments improve shoppers’ in-store experiences.
1As quoted in “Brand owners turn to innovative new technology,” Warc News. 26 July 2010.
(http://www.warc.com/News/TopNews.asp?ID=27020)
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About Accenture
Accenture is a global management
consulting, technology services
and outsourcing company, with
approximately 211,000 people
serving clients in more than 120
countries. Combining unparalleled
experience, comprehensive
capabilities across all industries and
business functions, and extensive
research on the world’s most
successful companies, Accenture
collaborates with clients to help
them become high-performance
businesses and governments. The
company generated net revenues of
US$21.6 billion for the fiscal year
ended Aug. 31, 2010. Its home page
is www.accenture.com