HGS acquires TekLink to amp data-led BPO value for enterprises

Labor arbitrage is dead. Savvy enterprises seek more value from their business process outsourcing (BPO) partners. In these challenging economic times, “more value” equates to a mix of cost savings, productivity, and, increasingly, more effective use of data to drive new forms of value. Data is the secret sauce to business success in our current uncertain world. Enterprise leaders are turning to service providers for their data and analytics services to help them harness the power of their data. Recognizing the importance of this trend, HGS recently acquired TekLink for $58.8 million to strengthen its position in the data and analytics space. TekLink is a financial planning and analytics (FP&A) service provider offering design, implementation, and application management services to help companies transform data into actionable insights.

Transforming business operations with the power of data and analytics

This acquisition is particularly relevant in today’s digital age, where data-driven decision making and financial planning are critical for businesses to succeed. Enterprises have moved from “data-aware” to “data-centric” decision making, highlighting the growing importance of data analytics in business operations. In HFS’ research shown in Exhibit 1, 75% of enterprise leaders want their “aspirational” BPO providers (aka BPO providers of the future) to use their data for their reporting and to create insights for driving decision making and new sources of value.

Exhibit 1: 75% of enterprise leaders want BPO providers to help them use their data for decision making insights and value creation

Sample: HFS Pulse Dashboard, 2022; 520 executives across Global 2000 enterprises
Source: HFS Research, 2023

Data-driven decision making and financial planning have become increasingly critical for businesses’ success in today’s digital age. By collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data, companies can make more informed decisions backed by empirical evidence, resulting in increased customer satisfaction, higher sales, and greater customer loyalty. Data analytics can also help optimize operations, reduce costs, and increase productivity, leading to significant savings and increased profitability. Additionally, data-driven financial planning can help businesses create more accurate financial projections and make informed decisions about budgeting, investment, and risk management, ultimately driving growth, profitability, and long-term success.

HFS recently published Behind every successful enterprise is data-driven finance, in which HFS surveyed 207 leaders worldwide to understand how the finance landscape is changing and how leaders embrace the journey to becoming data-driven. According to the report, finance is no longer just a cost center and should become a strategic partner and data drive. Most organizations are at the early stages of becoming data-driven, and they face challenges—mainly the lack of the right mix of talent, culture, and data.

HGS enhances its business process management capabilities with end-to-end data analytics

TekLink is a full-service planning and analytics service provider. It serves more than 60 clients, including Fortune 500 companies, from 12 verticals, including consumer products, retail, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and distribution, utilities, and high tech. Headquartered in Warrenville, Illinois, it has a presence in Europe and delivery centers in India. TekLink brings 275 resources and existing partnerships with Microsoft, SAP, Anaplan, and others.

HGS’ acquisition of TekLink demonstrates its commitment to expanding its capabilities to meet the growing enterprise demand for data analytics in the business process management industry. HGS is on a mission to drive “digital-led, people-driven customer experience (CX)” capabilities to its client base. It has steadily been amping its digital capabilities in automation, analytics, cloud, and its intellectual property (IP) solutions and accelerators to drive greater value and capabilities beyond its once-upon-a-time role as a butts-on-seats contact center company.

HFS sees the acquisition as a positive move strengthening HGS’ position in the data and analytics services market. The acquisition enables HGS to offer its clients enhanced end-to-end financial planning analytics services, from consulting to implementation and support. This FP&A focus touches on planning, forecasting, budgeting, and analytical activities supporting enterprises’ major business decisions. It’s a solid complement to its digital-led, people-driven mission and creates potential connectivity between front and back offices.

The Bottom Line: HGS positions itself to add more data-led value to its enterprise clients.

HGS acquired TekLink to help amplify the data-led capabilities it offers to enterprises. Enterprises should evaluate their BPO relationships and ensure they are adequately considering the role of data as a lever for unlocking new or additional value. If the data generated and consumed by your BPO partners is limited to reporting, you’re likely missing an opportunity.