High-Tech Consumer Product Company

K&B Consulting comes in and helps businesses transform their implementation and negotiation processes. This client was in the middle of an ERP (S4) implementation and bringing in a new CIO. They had minimal vendor management and no program status tracking in place, so everything was off track. They turned to K&B for help improving their entire strategy.

We first conducted a 30-day program assessment, getting to know the vendor and client capabilities. Based on the assessment, we initiated a mini-RFP to replace the incumbent vendor, identified internal roles that needed more resources, and improved the program structure with our K&B program and project managers.

The results were massive. We negotiated a $3.5 million cost reduction for the client and scored them a $2 million credit from an existing vendor, which helped fund incumbent-specific roles, and updated performance expectations and other contract terms. K&B also stepped in to ensure that the program was managed properly, delivered on time, and aligned with the budget.

Corralling Vendor Sprawl to Save $50 Million Annually

A global automaker with a base run rate of $160M per year across critical AMS/ADS and infrastructure vendors struggled with underperforming and overpriced IT vendors. K&B executed strategic sourcing and service delivery management to help the company transform its delivery model and recognize significant savings that ultimately added up to >$250M.

K&B started with a comprehensive VMO assessment to understand the state of the client’s systems, then conducted multiple RFPs and developed a holistic strategy and sourcing model to improve vendor management capabilities through processes, standards, templates, and coaching.

By transitioning from primarily a staff augmentation model (in which the managers were managing the individual contractors at their offices) to a globally managed services model with three key vendors, the automaker gained upgraded service levels, improved governance, enhanced quality of deliverables, and a structure of performance metrics that guide future outcomes.

Ultimately, this wasn’t just a success story but a blueprint for organizations looking to rein in vendor sprawl and unfavorable SLAs. Read the full case study to dive deeper into the strategic maneuvers that overhauled service quality, governance, and performance metrics to catapult this global giant into an agile framework that revolutionized its vendor outsourcing and management to the tune of $50M saved annually.

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Consumer Product Company

K&B Consulting worked with a client that struggled to execute projects and implement the right model and budget. With the help of our experienced consultants, the company significantly improved its processes and saved millions of dollars over just a few years.

We evaluated their base ops expenses and transformed their budget, reinvesting in project capabilities and improving cost efficiency. The client was able to implement a more durable operating model that was a much more solid foundation than their previous strategy. The model included clearly defined roles and responsibilities, 14 core processes that were outlined and implemented, and an integrated international team.

With our help, they grew their internal HC from 92 to 180 in two and a half years and opened a second location. We saved $22 million for this client over three years by making these key changes and helping them transform their processes to enable successful project execution.

High-Tech Company

Our team made major impacts for a company struggling with a backlog of projects and a poor vendor management strategy. After assessing client capabilities and current processes, we created goals to split work between Base Ops and Dev Ops and transition to a more optimal and consolidated vendor outsourcing strategy that includes more clearly defined design criteria for offshoring roles. We created the goal to have 70% offshore/nearshore with key MSPs, 65% offshore/nearshore overall, and 85%­–­90% with key MSPs.

K&B also stepped in to improve the company’s management style, moving to a more collaborative managed services approach where the accountability for delivery resides with the vendor as long as they meet service levels and other performance measurements. We suggested they move from primarily T&M and SOW-based models to a fixed/flex model with 90 forecasts and charters with individual ITx groups to manage a present capacity of vendor resources and prioritize the work.

We also helped the client improve its skill set by defining rate by skill and developing critical skill depth and scalability through vendor consolidation and a better resource pyramid for distributing knowledge and capability. Measurements were also improved with clearly defined transactional measures of service levels, KPIs, and system availability, as well as better-defined planned work and deliverable details. Additionally, we assisted the client in establishing new and improved resource and financial management processes.