Katharina Grimme
CSC and Deutsche Bank team up for EIPP
CSC and Deutsche Bank have signed a partnership agreement for the provision of an electronic invoice presentment and payment system (EIPP). The online-based system automates landscape, invoice management, dispute resolution, accounts payable/receivable and treasury forecasting within a single integrated process.The solution is already operational and joint sales efforts are under way, with an initial focus on the German market. The first customer is due to go live in June 2006, and the partners claim that several other contracts have already been awarded. Comment: This type of partnership between customer and service provider illustrates the direction in which several IT service providers are moving: a collaborative business model, which combines industry-specific skills (provided by the industry player) with process optimisation and systems integration capabilities (provided by the IT service provider) in order to deliver an innovative solution in a specialised area. In this case, the partnership combines the banking know-how of Deutsche Bank with the technology expertise of CSC to provide cost and quality improvements to a non-differentiating, back-office component of the financial supply chain. The solution comprises several modules, including electronic invoice creation, invoice dispatch to the debtor, intelligent (online) workflow solutions for invoice approval and/or dispute resolution, and helpdesk services. This combination of modules covers the entire invoicing process centrally for any location worldwide, and is able to handle a wide range of differing invoice formats (as specified by the creditor/debtor) as well as meeting the regulatory specifications required by different countries.CSC and Deutsche Bank claim to be able to reduce invoicing costs by 30-50%. With estimated average costs of €9-13 per invoice for both creditors and debtors, this solution offers significant cost savings, especially for companies that send/receive large numbers of invoices in a variety of geographies. Contracts can be as short as 12 months, with only a short timeframe needed for implementation, thus presenting a low risk for clients and near-immediate realisation of cost savings. Key targets for this solution are the numerous corporate clients of Deutsche Bank, but CSC is also addressing its existing customer base, as well as new clients.We have seen similar client/vendor co-operations; for example, Atos Origin's joint-venture with Euronext for IT infrastructure outsourcing for stock exchanges (see EuroView Daily, 2 May), or T-Systems' joint venture with HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt for securities processing, which has already resulted in a major deal with Hypovereinsbank (see EuroView Daily, 21 May). It is these types of collaboration that provide specialised, business-oriented IT solutions and thus premium services to clients. The challenges of such collaborations lie in the realignment of interests of the partners and the agreement on the sharing of investments, risks and rewards.In this case, the partners did not form a joint venture, but signed a co-operation agreement lasting a minimum of three years, with both partners having made "significant' investments and providing dedicated teams, thus signalling a long-term commitment to clients. Under the agreement, Deutsche Bank acts as the contractor for newly-won clients, with CSC delivering the required service modules. While we believe this is a compelling proposition, the viability and long-term success of this partnership will only be proved by way of client wins and profitability.
