Barclays CoE

Barclays is a British universal bank headquartered in London. The five business divisions are supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services (BX). BX has a large Global Capability Center (GCC) in India in three Indian cities.

Client/Employer

Barclays

Year

2022-2023

Category

Banking Global Capability Center

Type of Work

IT Sourcing Strategy

Cost Management

CoE Setup

Competitive Buying

Partners Ecosystem

Barclays Execution Services (BX) has established robust Technology, Operations, and Finance competencies within its India GCC, spanning Pune, Noida, and Chennai. The GCC hosts Centers of Excellence (CoEs) that represent nearly all critical functions, including COO, CIO, CTO, CFO, and CSO domains.

Barclays continuously seeks opportunities to leverage its global workforce to enhance efficiencies and drive improvements across the organization.

In 2022, BX took a strategic decision to set up a Vendor and Cost CoE in India. This initiative aimed to achieve dual objectives: providing functional leadership of the CoE from India and leveraging the country’s senior talent and expertise to meet Technology Cost rationalization goals. The CoE focuses on optimizing the outsourcing mix by engaging with Technology partners and consultants in India.

The Managing Partner at Concinnity was entrusted with establishing the Center of Excellence (CoE) in India, taking on the role of Director and senior member of the management team.

The newly appointed Director arrived in Pune in July 2022, relocating from Bangalore, and promptly began executing the mandate.

To align with organizational goals, existing team members in India and the UK participated in multiple "show-and-tell" sessions. These sessions were designed to review their current book of work, highlight key achievements from the past year, and invite suggestions for areas of improvement.

A detailed inventory of key contracts across categories, preferred and approved suppliers, was created. Additionally, a two-year Change and Run spend profile was compiled, segmented by suppliers, categories, and CIO/CTO/COO divisions.

One-on-one discussions with key stakeholders within BX and among partners were instrumental in understanding their expectations for the CoE.

A two-year plan was then developed to:

Effectively organize the work of the CoE.
Align people and non-people assets to support and execute this work.

The plan resulted in the creation of a comprehensive Service Catalogue, which clearly identified:

CoE Services to Continue
CoE Services to be Discontinued (Sunset Services)
CoE Services to be Introduced for Greater Impact (Impact Services)

The CoE implemented a phased approach, adhering to an agreed and well-communicated schedule to exit Sunset Services while rolling out new Impact Services. This transition was supported by extensive efforts, including months of training and repurposing existing team members, as well as hiring new talent with specialized skills and competencies tailored to the requirements of the Impact Services.

The establishment and maturation of the CoE in India advanced steadily throughout 2022 and 2023. During this time, the Director of the CoE in India and his team led a comprehensive refresh of the Preferred Supplier Panel for IT Workforce suppliers, overseeing approximately 5,200 IT consultants across India, the UK, the US, and the EU.

This initiative culminated in a refreshed supplier panel and updated contracts, featuring a three-year rate card lock-in starting in 2024.

Among its key contributions, the CoE delivered measurable impact and benefits by partnering with CIOs and CTOs to achieve:

Targeted reduction in spend on Time & Material staff augmentation work orders.
Increased adoption of Model Engagements that were outcomes-driven, resulting in a more strategic allocation of resources.
Enhanced internal and external benchmarking, enabling data-driven decision-making.
A robust governance process, including Challenge Clinics for all Technology contracts exceeding a predefined value, ensuring greater scrutiny and cost-effectiveness.
Improved ELP and consumption data, which informed more efficient renewals of licenses and subscriptions.