Concentra, the business consulting and technology services firm, has revealed its top five business processes that provide the greatest opportunity for efficiency savings.

Processing purchase orders has come out on top as the most expensive and time-consuming business process. Concentra estimates enterprises with over 250 employees waste an average of £23,000 per year on this alone (based on average hourly account clerk wage of £25 [including overheads]). Across all businesses of this size in the UK, this represents £111,302,400 in wasted costs.

Concentra’s top five processes that businesses should target to make efficiency savings are:

1. Processing purchase requests

2. Administering staff joining and leaving the company

3. Dealing with holiday requests

4. Processing sickness forms

5. Approving expenses

“It’s often the everyday tasks, such as those related to HR and finance, that can take up the most time. But the range of technology available today means it doesn’t have to be like this. For example, cash-strapped companies can have some quick wins through easy to implement systems as a way of making processes more efficient, without breaking the bank,” commented Goetz Boué, director at Concentra.

In the current economic climate, where budgets are tight and business efficiency is key, Concentra is urging organisations to review their processes to see if they are being carried out in the most effective way possible.

Boué commented: “By streamlining daily activities and automating the workflow, significant reductions in total processing time can be made in a whole host of areas. For example, we’ve helped companies reduce purchase order processing time from nearly three quarters of an hour to just over 20 minutes. This then frees up the team’s time to work on the more strategic activities that deliver real value to the business.”

“Automated processes can use existing applications like Microsoft SharePoint to act as a central platform for managing processes. As well as being more efficient, this improves usage of the intranet itself, making it integral to the running of the business. This is a simple but effective way for a business to speed up its workflow whilst making a big impact on the day-to-day lives of its employees,” concluded Boué.

Source:  Top-Consultant

Ex-Microsoft executive to drive business growth in the industry.

Concentra, a UK-based business consulting and technology services company, has appointed John Godfrey as director of financial services to lead its thriving financial services practice. Godfrey joins the company in this newly created role from Microsoft, where he held a senior client facing position in Microsoft Consulting Services.

Godfrey started his career at the Bank of England and has worked across a wide range of sectors in the finance industry including retail banking, capital markets, insurance and mortgages. Throughout his career, Godfrey has been closely involved in helping businesses get value from technology, and has experience in developing online broker networks, Internet banks, web integration and business intelligence systems. Prior to Microsoft, Godfrey developed the Finance sector for Conchango, a specialist web, integration and BI consultancy, growing its finance sector revenues six-fold before its sale to EMC in 2008.

“With over 25 years experience in the finance industry, John is in a prime position to drive development in this key area of our business. John’s insight into industry trends along with his ability to form successful client relationships will really help our ambitious plans for growth in this dynamic sector,” said Rupert Morrison, MD at Concentra.

“I’m looking forward to using my finance and consultancy experience to drive Concentra forward in the finance sector. The company has seen some great results and having worked with its software, I am really excited by the benefits it can bring,” commented Godfrey.

Source: Top-Consultant