Amazing results or just OK? Analysts assess service providers for retail banks

The authors report that Amdocs stands out for our ability to accelerate digital transformation for retail banks. HFS also noted that clients appreciate our delivery strength, tech skills, and track record of impacting the customer experience at banks. A deeper dive into the report provides a fascinating view into the results of banks’ investment in service providers like Amdocs.

HFS report authors built their insights into 21 top service providers from interviews and briefings with banking leaders, survey data, and interviews with providers’ tech partners. The HFS analysts and researchers based their service provider assessments on four dimensions:

• Why: Providers’ value proposition to retail banks, focusing on why banks chose the specific provider
• What: Breadth and depth of services, including delivery capabilities
• How: Go-to-market strategy and approach for delivering the promised value
• So what: Impact on value measures, such as revenue, growth, and other outcomes

All four factors matter, but one stands out: So what. Service providers deliver services—no one wonders about that. But do they deliver impact? Let’s look more closely at how the report answers that question.

Satisfaction vs. impact

Retail banks report generally high satisfaction levels with 21 service providers. Asked to rate their service providers on 11 basic factors—like quality, geographic coverage, and expertise—banks reported high satisfaction levels. Would you then assume that banks were equally satisfied with the outcomes delivered by service providers? If you assumed that, you’d be wrong.

Satisfaction levels for outcomes were measurably lower. The report doesn’t delve deeply into why that’s the case, but it offers a significant clue. Other data points reveal banks are increasingly focused on near-term functional digital transformation, with 72% looking for measurable outcomes through cost reduction, speed, and efficiency. In contrast, just 14% seek what might be considered the more “big bang” (and harder to measure) approaches to transformation. Have retail banks soured on big projects that risk disappointing returns?

At Amdocs, we’ve listened to banking leaders, too. They tell us they’ve already invested heavily in digital transformation projects. Many of those projects advance successfully, but then never deliver on expected value. It’s not that the projects fail. Instead, they generate so-so impact after months—or years—of pain. The promise of transformation remains out of reach. These banks come to us seeking faster transformation with more measurable impact.

Keys to unlocking value for banks

It can seem that “transformation” is as much hype as substance. The need to transform is very real, but the “so what” can end up looking like an endless investment in keeping up. Yet, banks want big changes to propel them ahead. They’re right to expect amazing results. We’ve found that leaning into key principles can help orient undertakings to realize transformative goals:

• Pull the right levers: Review existing investments to identify and eliminate issues hampering success. It’s often possible to turn mediocre initiatives into spectacular successes quickly by removing roadblocks.
• Focus on outcomes: Expect teams to lose sight of objectives as they work through challenges. Establish practices that regularly reorient the team to agreed-upon goals.
• Go beyond the norm: Stop trying to keep up. Plan to lead the market instead. One way to do that is to use research to identify customers’ true needs and motivations. Use the results to drive product innovation.

Amdocs: A disruptor speeding transformation

The HFS report names Amdocs as a disruptor in the service provider marketplace. According to the researchers, disruptors are distinguished by their “ability to drive functional optimization outcomes through cost reduction, speed, and efficiency.” That rings true. Our banking experts help clients realize their goals, unlocking value in the process.

This can take the form of removing obstacles that have limited results from prior initiatives. Examples include using automation and artificial intelligence (AI) to simplify the complexities of cloud adoption and compliance. Or enabling product innovation across lines of business by quickly bridging core banking systems. The idea is to help retail banks realize outsized results fast. Measurable success builds transformation momentum. As the HFS report notes, our clients go from a few cloud workloads to thousands. And our clients’ customers find that formerly sluggish digital experiences are as much as 90% faster.

Get the HFS report now

Curious about what else the researchers and analysts at HFS have to say about service providers to retail banks? Download the report now. You’ll learn how HFS assessed 21 service providers, and get high-level insights into each. As you review the report, you’ll see how your peers in retail banking spend on providers, and explore data showing how they pick service providers. And you can find out more about how Amdocs is disrupting the market with an accelerated approach to digital transformation. Read the report.