BBC deploys artist and contributor payments system developed in Genero, managed by Xansa
Outsourced finance and accounting deal will release funds for creative programming
London, England – September 3, 2007 — A brand new artist and contributor payments system, written from scratch in Genero for the BBC, has now been fully deployed, reports Four Js partner Xansa.
Xansa, the outsourcing and technology company, won preferred supplier status with the BBC for outsourced finance and accounting (F&A) services last October following a competitive bid against Capita, Infosys BPO and the current incumbent EDS.
The new contract, signed in November 2006, called for Xansa to take over responsibility for the services in July 2007.
The new artist and contributor payments system was the result of a concerted effort to combine the benefits of several disparate applications.
“The BBC made the decision to consolidate a host of payment and contract management systems written in a variety of development environments,” said Bryn Jenkins, Four Js COO. “After much research, Genero was selected for its ability to do ‘more with less’ from a list including Delphi, Eclipse and Visual Studio.”
Working closely with BBC Finance, Xansa will deliver finance and accounting services across the BBC, including purchasing and sales transaction processing, artist and contributor payments, financial management and project accounting, payroll processing and expenses.
As prime contractor Xansa will also be working with Siemens Business Services to provide infrastructure, applications support and customer service facilities.
The contract, worth around £85m over 10 years, will be one of the most prominent F&A deals let to date and will save the BBC in excess of £200m over the life time of the contract, equivalent to 1.5 million licence fees. This will be a major contribution to the BBC’s strategy to minimise the cost of its support services and release more money into their creative output.
Zarin Patel, BBC Group Finance Director, had this to say about the announcement:
“I congratulate Xansa on winning this major contract. The BBC will benefit from Xansa’s proven expertise in managing outsourced Finance and Accounting Services, and we look forward to developing a close relationship with them.”
“I believe this is an excellent deal for the BBC, and I am confident that Xansa will help us further to transform our finance and business processes. By moving our transaction processing to India we are demonstrating that we are prepared to take bold and imaginative decisions that offer the licence-fee payer great value for money, while still maintaining the highest quality of service delivery.”
Alistair Cox, Xansa’s Chief Executive, confirmed the importance of this win:
“We are delighted that Xansa has been selected as the preferred partner to deliver F&A services across the BBC. Our expert technology and back office services allows our clients to do more with their own business and we are confident that we will, as the UK leader in F&A services, enable the BBC to minimise its administrative costs and to free up funds to invest in its core business of creative programming.
“We are particularly pleased to be the BBC’s first offshore business process outsourcing partner. This comes on the back of our recent prestigious award from the National Outsourcing Association for Offshoring Operation of the Year and is another terrific endorsement of our leading offshore position and capability. We very much look forward to working with the BBC.”
About Xansa
Xansa is an international business process and IT services company creating and delivering process and technology solutions that significantly improve its clients’ business performance. Through strong relationships, commercial innovation and its integrated Indian delivery capability, Xansa drives real and long-term cost reductions, performance improvements and new ways of working tailored to each client. Its services are Business and Technology Consulting, IT Implementation, IT Outsourcing and Business Process Outsourcing. Employing around 6000 people in the UK and across three process and technology centres in India – Delhi, Pune and Chennai – the FTSE 250 Company is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the codeXAN.L.
