With the help of its trusted partner, the Watches of Switzerland Group also set up 麻豆原创 Integration Suite within only two weeks, enabling the company to incorporate insurance offers in their processes.

The Watches of Switzerland Group is a leading luxury watch retailer with a reputation for quality and exclusivity. With operations spanning the UK, U.S., and parts of Europe, its portfolio of brands has been a trusted name in luxury timepieces for decades. As the company expands its business and adapts to new market dynamics, Watches of Switzerland Group is transforming its technology infrastructure to prioritize scalability, efficiency, and streamlined operations across its global presence.

The journey to 麻豆原创 BTP as a partner-managed cloud model

At the beginning of the engagement, the English watch retailer relied on an enterprise architecture including legacy systems such as on-premise 麻豆原创 ECC 6.0 systems and middleware built in-house. Limited IT resources made scaling difficult to meet business demands for faster project delivery and modern integrations.

After purchasing 麻豆原创 BTP credits, the company faced internal skill gaps and competing priorities. Finally, the company wanted to adopt cloud-based technologies while remaining flexible about future ERP decisions, whether transitioning to 麻豆原创 S/4HANA or exploring alternative platforms.

Partnering with Bluestonex

Watches of Switzerland partnered with Bluestonex and transitioned to a 鈥� in this case 麻豆原创 BTP. Under this model, Bluestonex took over responsibility for managing 麻豆原创 BTP credits, resource allocation, and infrastructure support, allowing Watches of Switzerland Group to shift from an internal, self-managed approach to an expertly managed environment, always aligned with the retailer鈥檚 business objectives. Since moving to this model, Watches of Switzerland Group has:

• Increased 麻豆原创 BTP value: Freed from managing credits and technical configurations, the customer team can focus on business-critical projects
• Streamlined 麻豆原创 Fiori applications: All 麻豆原创 Fiori apps have been successfully migrated to the cloud, enhancing performance and improving the user experience
• Strengthened IT resilience: With Bluestonex acting as a strategic partner, Watches of Switzerland has built a foundation to support future growth and innovation
• Future-proofed infrastructure: The agnostic capabilities of 麻豆原创 BTP ensure that the integration framework remains relevant, regardless of the future ERP platform

Bluestonex Innovation Factory

With the foundational work completed, Watches of Switzerland decided to further expand its adoption of 麻豆原创 BTP services, integrating more business processes and scaling globally. But what were the core business processes? Where was the room or even need for improvement to deliver best-in-class customer services, be successful overall, and remain on top of things in the luxury retail segment?

鈥淭he partnership with Bluestonex is not just about technology,鈥� said Glenn Bamford, head of Business Systems at Watches of Switzerland Group. 鈥淭hey act as an extension of our team, bringing innovation and expertise that we lack internally. With their support, we鈥檝e been able to make strategic moves towards modernizing our systems while remaining agile for the future.鈥�

To understand business, user, and customer needs, thorough research can provide reliable answers and a solid foundation for innovation. So, along the , Bluestonex Innovation Factory team organized a user research journey visiting six representative Watches of Switzerland Group showrooms, shadowing employees and observing different processes in the context of purchasing, customer inquiries, deliveries, commissioning, and many more.

After visiting the different showrooms, one observation was that requirements could vary considerably from one to another, simply because of different locations and customer profiles. In some showrooms, it was mainly about selling middle-priced watches and attending several customers at a time; in others, it was about serving one customer with specific needs for a purchase of a very expensive and unique piece.

Incorporating insurance options with the help of 麻豆原创 Integration Suite

Despite all the differences, there is one requirement the researchers observed, that spanned across all customer engagements. That is the wish for an appropriate insurance option for the purchased watch. The Watches of Switzerland Group and Bluestonex decided to realize this integration of an insurance option in its service processes through 麻豆原创 Integration Suite.

In just two weeks, the insurance integration went live as scheduled, allowing the Watches of Switzerland Group to meet crucial business demands without sacrificing quality or functionality. With 麻豆原创 Integration Suite, Watches of Switzerland Group is now positioned to continue modernizing its technology stack in alignment with its strategic vision. This scalable solution can evolve with their future needs, including a potential transition to 麻豆原创 S/4HANA.

鈥淭his project demonstrates the value of Bluestonex as a strategic partner,鈥� Bamford said. 鈥淣ot only did they execute the integration under intense time pressure, but they also provided critical expertise. 麻豆原创 Integration Suite, deployed with Bluestonex鈥檚 support, paves the way for greater flexibility and scalability as we move forward with our digital transformation.鈥�

During the annual 麻豆原创 BTP strategy day held in the Bluestonex AppHaus Shropshire, Watches of Switzerland Group identified concrete business objectives and how technology could be harnessed to accomplish these goals, both for them and for Bluestonex as its partner. With the proven hands-on methods to prioritize and align different solutions to these goals the joint team was able to map goals to short-term and medium-term actions.

Looking back, Bluestonex Commercial Director Richard Henry said: 鈥淥ur partnership with Watches of Switzerland was born from our 麻豆原创 AppHaus DNA, as well as the focus on providing value-driven user experience in 麻豆原创 BTP applications. As a niche 麻豆原创 partner, we could provide the right skill set, along a human-centered approach to innovation and support the Watches of Switzerland Group in its digital strategy with 麻豆原创.鈥�

After realizing the value of 麻豆原创 Integration Suite, Watches of Switzerland Group and Bluestonex are now looking for further integration projects right across the business. The group鈥檚 flexible and secure cloud-first approach enables it to adapt to changing markets and continue to deliver the best possible customer service.

The way ahead

One area where both teams are equally eager to progress is in artificial intelligence (AI). The Bluestonex team always looks for business use cases that could be improved with the help of capabilities. Also, the Watches of Switzerland Group鈥檚 team is keen to understand how to unlock the use of AI in its organization. Bluestonex showcased several solutions, including its document processes application, which was developed as part of the Next Level Programme in just 10 days, as well as the integration of 麻豆原创鈥檚 generative AI copilot Joule for its flagship product , a data governance tool.

For all the opportunities 麻豆原创 Business AI holds in stock, customer and partner are currently planning for a first to identify use cases that could be improved with the help of AI. As said above, it is all about thorough research and a trustful collaboration to stay future-ready and a leader in luxury retail.

Imke Vierjahn is communications lead for 麻豆原创 AppHaus Network.

鈥淥ur CEO wants us to think and act like a digital company,鈥� said Dariush Shoja, vice president and corporate CIO at Sun Life. 鈥淯sing , we are digitizing and modernizing finance.鈥澛�

Shoja spoke during a session at the event in Boston, Massachusetts, where he showcased the company鈥檚 digital transformation that modernized the company鈥檚 finance platform.

Digital Closes Gap Between Generative AI Promise and Reality

Shoja immediately struck a responsive chord from the audience in the room who chuckled when he jokingly asked if anyone鈥檚 nightly dreams during college revolved around a career in finance. Drawing from his company鈥檚 experience with digital transformation, he acknowledged the industry鈥檚 change management challenges.

鈥淲hen we鈥檙e talking about finance in the context of digitization, it鈥檚 not just about automation or systems. It鈥檚 a paradigm and culture shift,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou need to start at the top with the CEO, CFO, and everyone on down to support the change. Organizations aiming to become digital and adopt state-of-the-art technologies like generative AI should focus on getting buy-in for the journey.鈥�

Modern Financial Services Platforms Are Cloud-Based

Coming from earlier sessions in the day that touted the incredible promise of technology advancements like generative AI, Shoja was also candid about overcoming the reality that professionals in the financial services industry face.

鈥淗istorically there hasn鈥檛 been a significant amount of investment to update finance systems that are aging or nearing end of life. However, we saw the opportunity and made the right investment to modernize,鈥� said Shoja. 鈥淥ne of the key enablers of growth is moving to the cloud. Digitization is creating the foundation for our future as we modernize our platforms.鈥�

Connected Data Drives Informed Decisions

One of the objectives of Sun Life鈥檚 platform modernization was to connect previously disparate data between geographies and business units. With operations in regions worldwide, including North America, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, along with an expanding product portfolio, managing data was paramount to effective financial management that fuels customer satisfaction and company growth.

鈥淲e have to build, evaluate, and run complex actuarial policy models that meet evolving regulatory mandates worldwide and corporate profitability objectives,鈥� said Shoja. 鈥淕oing to the cloud has provided efficiencies through consistent operations across every geography. Moving from manual spreadsheets to automated dashboards provides finance with faster access to insightful analytics from larger and more complex data sets. People can easily drill down to find the information they need to make the right optimal decisions.鈥�

Out-of-the-Box Digital Thinking

Like every organization that鈥檚 managing millions of transactions, data standardization and integration was extremely important to create Sun Life鈥檚 modern global platform.

鈥淓ven though our systems were only about 15 years old, eliminating technical debt was key to our transformation,鈥� said Shoja. 鈥淲e replaced traditional ways of thinking with out-of-the-box strategies, using modern native tools in the cloud platform to gain efficiencies. For example, when we want to pay a claim, the system automatically generates all relevant journal entries. We鈥檝e strategically aligned technology with finance teams.鈥�

AI Can Save Valuable Time for Financial Services

Shoja saw numerous solid use cases for generative AI, traditional AI, and machine learning in the financial services industry. AI could quickly find data gaps, speed up time-sensitive quarterly close, expedite the accrual management, and simplify reporting. Sun Life has created a team that鈥檚 focused on AI use cases in finance and other areas. The company is also relying on partners to bring the full value of AI capabilities into the business.

鈥淟arge language models may not be feasible for organizations to build on our own. Instead, AI can be built into digital solutions,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s 麻豆原创 is doing, we need partners to provide AI solutions and make it part of their package.鈥�

That鈥檚 how I think about supplier management. To cope with pandemic restrictions, inflationary costs, and simple availability issues, insurance companies have been broadening their supplier pool. If your current suppliers can鈥檛 deliver, you find another one that can. Seems straightforward, right?

But adding new suppliers increases the complexity of managing your vendor base. A larger, more diverse pool of vendors makes it more difficult to gain visibility into the performance of any one provider 鈥� or all of them.

For many companies, adding more suppliers makes planning more inconsistent. It can also complicate their ability to mitigate supplier risk and compliance.

Supplier Performance Is Undermanaged

When I talk to insurance industry executives, the outcome is clear: too many companies still struggle to adequately manage vendor performance.

In a recent , nearly half of respondents say that gaining visibility into vendor performance is challenging. Even though 67% say they use procurement technology for supplier management, 41% continue to experience supplier performance issues.

And that might be an understatement. In the same survey, 39% of insurance executives say that most procurement processes are still manual. That tells me that many insurers may not be fully aware of their vendor performance issues.

Digital Solutions Elevate the Role of Supplier Management

What should insurance companies do to overcome these challenges? It鈥檚 time to move beyond manual procurement and embrace innovative new technologies.

A comprehensive vendor management program, supported by digital technology, can help you determine how good your vendors really are. By identifying shortfalls and collaborating to improve outcomes, you can get more service and value from each supplier.

can help you monitor and analyze vendors鈥� reliability, quality, and performance. By embracing these technologies, you can gain real-time insight into supplier performance. In an economy where everything changes by the minute, this insight can help you improve control and increase your competitive advantage.

Manage Vendor Performance with Digital Business Networks

One of the most popular ways to modernize vendor management is to use a digital business network. By connecting insurance companies with a multitude of vendors, large networks simplify the adoption of modern vendor management strategies.

let you access a diverse collection of new suppliers with the click of a mouse. You can streamline order requests and fulfillment while simplifying collaboration between insurers and vendors.

Procurement decision-makers gain new insights into delivery times, product and service quality, costs, and service-level agreement compliance. The data helps identify performance gaps and identify cost savings opportunities.

You can manage more vendor relationships at the same time throughout their engagement. And when problems arise, you can quickly pivot to another vendor that can meet your needs.

Improve Business Outcomes by Digitalizing Procurement

Digital business networks and other technologies deliver quantifiable value. In the , 60% of respondents that have embraced digital transformation say they improved supplier collaboration. Nearly as many, 57%, report enhanced supplier performance management.

In a difficult economy such as this one, those benefits can make the difference between lackluster performance and real competitive success. By working with reliable suppliers that deliver what you need when you need it, you can give customers a more engaging, satisfying experience.

And because happier customers generally lead to a better bottom line, digital business networks sound like the best solution to pop up in a long time.

Explore the .

Toni Tomic is global head of Insurance at 麻豆原创.

However, insurance companies that rely on this staffing approach find that the external workforce becomes a huge part of overall spend. Often, they overlook tools to help manage this workforce.

In fact, a recent found that insurance companies now spend 40% of their workforce budget on external labor. And nearly three-quarters of companies say that these workers are important to their ability to meet market demand or operate at full capacity.

The external workforce is a key lever in enabling business performance. It is important to meet market demands, improve the customer experience, and reduce risk. With these facts in mind, it鈥檚 easy to see why managing the external workforce should be a priority.

Increase Insight into Your External Workforce

Companies often use traditional procure-to-pay systems to help streamline external workforce management. Yet many insurance companies still don鈥檛 have the insight they need to get top value from their spend.

For example, found that just 34% of companies use procurement technology for contingent workforce management. Some of the respondents use this technology to manage their service providers, but only 20% were able to track and manage their engagement from statement of work to purchase order to invoicing.

Companies also lack insight into fundamental issues such as who is doing the work, the contract terms of each engagement, and the responsibilities of each worker. The challenge is that digital security breaches present risks to the organization, as external workers can take advantage of their digital access if they are not onboarded and offboarded properly.

The research highlighted several other issues that can compromise the value of the external workforce. Nearly half of respondents reported compliance issues and more than 40% reported quality issues regarding resources and projects with external workers. In addition, 44% reported unauthorized spend with contingent workers.

Standardize and Streamline External Workforce Management

What鈥檚 the best way for insurance companies to manage each external workforce engagement so that they get the value they pay for 鈥� and the best possible business results?

Advanced digital solutions for external workforce management can help.

With these solutions, managers can standardize worker onboarding and offboarding processes. They can quickly and intuitively grant access to systems and assets 鈥� and disconnect that access when a worker鈥檚 contract expires. And the technology helps ensure that workers have the right certifications. This is a great way to reduce risk.

Best-in-class solutions let you use any type of proof of service 鈥� such as timesheets, milestones, and deliverables 鈥� on a recurring due date or price-per-unit basis. This feature helps you align payment with the value provided.

You can tailor workflows based on category of service or work provided. For example, you might want to include tiered vendors in the requisition process or require approvals needed for invoicing to ensure your company鈥檚 organizational guidelines can be easily followed.

Increase Bottom-Line Business Value

Other features let you monitor supplier KPIs, such as response time, cycle time, and hire rates. With this insight, you can facilitate reviews and negotiations with suppliers.

Improving your external workforce management processes can also help you provide a better experience for candidates and workers. Intuitive workforce management solutions can make your company more attractive to younger workers who prefer to interact with you using digital technologies. They allow you to manage who is working for you, where workers are located, what they are doing, how much you are paying them, and what access they have to your systems and facilities.

What鈥檚 more, the right procurement technology can help you generate significant cost savings. Modern tools generate reports that enable immediate visibility into contingent workforce and services procurement spend. Analytics features can help you identify opportunities to further operationalize your procurement processes and create new cost efficiencies.

You鈥檝e developed a valuable external workforce. Now, advanced technologies can help it boost your business鈥� bottom line.

Toni Tomic is global head of Insurance at 麻豆原创.