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Both companies provide healthcare benefits. They are committed to helping their employees become healthier. This increases productivity, reduces absenteeism and of course slashes insurance costs. Horizon Software is fully insured but still reduces costs.

These companies wanted to find a wellness program that everyone could do. Serendipitously both discovered Walkingspree, a specialized wellness provider offering employee wellness and health programs to corporations.

“People are getting the idea they should become leaner and fit so they don’t become a patient in the medical system,” explains Walkingspree co-founder and CEO Hiran Perera.

Hanson Mold

Hanson Mold, located in St. Joseph, Michigan, completed health risk assessments and biometric screenings on all its employees and spouses; the picture wasn’t pretty. “We wanted to take the next step to health,” recalls James Todd, HR director. But every program he looked at just worked for a short time. He wanted a program that his employees could stick with.

He found Walkingspree on the Web. “I knew this was exactly what we needed,” he reports. “Not everyone can run. But everybody can walk,” he notes.

The company investment was about $10,000 for a pedometer for every participant, the monthly fees for the personalized Web sites and the rewards to keep team members motivated. The company even provides the new batteries on the pedometer after six months of use.

Walkingspree personalized a Web site for Hanson Mold, which tracks the steps of each participant and the HR manager can access. But the rest of the site is password protected. Participants can monitor their steps, food intake, chart their weight loss and record their blood pressure and cholesterol. The Web site also has a wealth of information to peruse.

Most people became interested when he walked around the plant wearing the Walkingspree pedometer. “It’s pretty high tech,” he notes.

But the big selling point was that spouses could sign up, too. In September 2011 the company signed up 80 participants: 50 team members and 30 spouses.

Today many participants walk around the plant during the lunch break for at least 30 minutes. In the winter they walk inside the plant.

The company hosts challenges. The January challenge was to walk around Lake Michigan (figuratively, not literally.) Currently they are in the midst of a race to Reno. The big challenge will come in May with a contest called “Get Your Kicks on Route 66.” The goal is for teams to walk enough steps to go from Los Angeles to Chicago. Walkingspree will post a virtual map on its website so teams can chart their progress.

Today Hanson Mold has one employee averaging over 40,000 steps a day. (That’s a lot!)

Todd says the goal is to have participants lower their blood pressure, lose weight and get their diabetes under control. “We want to become healthier than the national average,” he says.

The company has also enjoyed unintended benefits. “We now have more camaraderie in the plant. Walking has really brought people together,” he reports.

Horizon Software

Office manager Julie Denmon says she stumbled upon Walkingspree by accident.

The Georgia company has an annual users conference. Denmon was visiting Lake Lanier Islands Resort when she noticed the senior sales manager of the resort had a pedometer on his hip. “I thought that was cool,” she says, so she inquired. After researching Walkingspree, she pitched it to her boss, the director of HR.

Last August, 84 of the company’s140 employees joined the program. To keep interest high, the company ordered a special trophy. Every Monday morning the person who walked the most steps the week before gets to snatch the trophy from last week winner’s desk. Denmon also created a prize closet with health-related gifts.

A similar-sized software company in Chicago challenged them in March. Alas, they lost the “Chicago Smack Down,” so they had to send the Windy City walkers some Georgia pralines. “We lost by a mere 2,037 steps,” she reports.

The company itself, though, won too because 10 people increased their steps100 percent. One woman increased her steps by 330 percent during the contest.

The company has won in other ways, too. One manager now holds his weekly staff meeting with the team walking around the building instead of sitting in a conference room. Now people walk to talk to their peers instead of sending emails.

The company occupies two floors of an office building. Denmon printed T-shirts that said, “Avoid the elevator.” Now most people take the steps. She says she actually met people she had never known on the other floor going down the stairs.

Walkingspree is a cloud-based provider

Perera says the Web sites and applications reside in the cloud using Amazon servers. Because it is a SaaS application, the company now has international clients. It is currently setting up an international competition for a U.S. law firm with 35 international locations.

Six years ago Perera wanted to start a wellness program for consumers on the Internet. Many of his consumers asked if he could provide a corporate solution, too. “We had a change of strategy to serve the demand of our corporate clients and they love the security of our SaaS application,” he says.

“The customer sent us a letter telling us whoever designed our invoices should be fired. We realized we weren’t the experts. We had to do something because our customers expected us to be easy to do business with,” recalls Brian Good, director of outsourced relationships.

Customer satisfaction, however, was only one reason the company raced to outsource. PUMA, which develops footwear, apparel and accessories, also wanted to:

• Move to electronic invoicing using email.
• Personalize the invoices.
• Save money (natch). The goal: reduce costs by 25 percent.

Billtrust, the outsourcing provider PUMA selected in a sole sourcing, got the company’s two brands–PUMA and Tretorn–up and running in just 90 days. And it was just in time. Six months later PUMA purchased Cobra Golf, another athletic goods manufacturer. Billtrust was able to take over the new acquisition’s invoicing in less than 60 days, integrating the new company in record time.

“A lot of our customers acquire companies,” says Mitch Rose, VP Marketing, Billtrust. “So it’s a relatively simple project for us. That’s a big advantage of outsourcing.”

Today Cobra PUMA Golf has 10,000 active clients. Tretorn has 500 active clients, and PUMA has 2,500. Billtrust can send up to 5,000 invoices for PUMA a day with no issues.

Benefits

PUMA, which “starts with sport and ends in fashion,” now no longer has to wait for the United States Postal Service (USPS) to deliver its invoices or its money. “It was taking a long time to get their bills to the customers,” observes Rose. The USPS “keeps raising rates and cutting service,” he reports. “For that reason, PUMA needed to embrace online technology,” the Billtrust executive continues.

Another drag on delivery was that PUMA was mailing its invoices from its corporate headquarters in Massachusetts. “But PUMA sells its products all over the world,” says Rose.

Billtrust now mails PUMA’s bills from eight facilities, depending on the recipient’s ZIP or country code. The service provider mails the bills for Florida customers from Florida, for example. “This speeds up getting the bills to the customers,” Rose continues.

The quicker turnaround cut 10 days from days sales outstanding (DSO) in the first six months, Good reports. “Our customers don’t want to pay us faster. It’s just easier to pay us now,” he explains.

PUMA employees in the finance department no longer spend their time making copies of invoices for customers who misplaced them, because now the customers can just log into the personalized portal and find the errant invoice themselves. “Instead, our team is making collection calls,” which is more valuable work, says Good.

The Billtrust solution also has a collection tool. PUMA can click on a button that automatically sends copies of the relevant invoices as well as the collection letter. “Billtrust took this suggestion and built it for us,” says the PUMA executive.

Now PUMA has the ability to add marketing messages to the invoices. Good says today PUMA customers are constantly learning about its new products through its invoices. “Employees at our smaller customers do more than one job. Many people paying the invoices are also part of the buying team or even the owners. The marketing message is creating an unexpected tail wind,” Good explains.

How the process works

As soon as a product leaves the warehouse, PUMA automatically SFTPs the information to Billtrust. The service provider then sends an invoice to the customer—ranging from mega buyers like Footlocker to small mom and pop retailers—in the form they prefer. The menu includes fax, email or snail mail.

Every customer can log into the PUMA payment portal. The portal has an online payment tool; customers can pay by credit card or ACH. Each invoice has its own URL and password.  Customers can see which invoices remain open. They can print them if they need a hard copy. Historical records are available, too, up to one year back.

The initial customer challenge was to switch customers from paper to electronic invoicing. There wasn’t a race to change. So Billtrust started making calls to increase conversion. The conversation rate went from 30 percent to 40 percent in a month, Good reports. Rose says the final goal is 70 percent. “Electronic invoices are the future of billing,” he says.

The initial internal challenge was IT-related. PUMA’s IT department had to send Billtrust an open balance file every day. “We really needed IT’s support,” Good says.

Why this relationship works

Rose says a key characteristic is that PUMA has “a leader with vision. Brian understood where PUMA was and where he wanted to go.” Rose praises him and PUMA’s IT team “for getting us the assets we needed” and being able to work as a team, regardless of who was the employer. “Brian had the requisite cross-functional skills,” he adds.

Rose says the PUMA relationship presents a paradigm for process transformation. “We set clearly defined goals, then exceeded them,” he notes.

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1. Cognizant lowers annual guidance (5/7/12) reviving Macro concerns.

2. IBM holds its analyst day in NY (5/9/12). Takeaways: business is on track for 2015 plan, customer touch points are expanding to include CMOs, & technology driven productivity & improvements are driving demand. We like the Buffet “Buy”.

3. Virtusa reported solid results proving the doubters wrong and driving the stock up 17% (5/9/12). There is no way to avoid a macro economic issue, but VRTU may be better positioned as it is scaling up (working on larger engagements).

4. Forrester & Infosys debate visa concerns (5/9/12). Stephanie Moore, Forrester analyst, stated that Infosys’ visa issues are a concern for her clients, while INFY claims it hasn’t heard any concern. Expect more about visa’s as we get closer to the Jay Palmer trial.

5. Igate (N/R) holds its first analyst day (5/10/12). Takeaways: Banking & Financial Service didn’t fully utilize their budgets in 1Q, demand has picked up, but still feeling squeamish about 2012. IGTE will invest anything above the present margin profile, pipeline is good (2.5x revs), & IGTE has purged its client list. It will be interesting to see how the new entity & iTOPS plays out.

6. 5 Outsourcing Trends according to CI0.com (5/10/12): 1) smaller deal sizes with the # of deals increasing, 2) new pricing models, 3) multi-sourcing, 4) increased focus on security & cloudsourcing. All are clear signs that the business is maturing.

7. Business Standards reported that Ashok Vemuri of Infosys has resigned (5/11/12). Ashok is the head of manufacturing recently moved from BFSI and a board member. Infosys didn’t comment on the speculation.

8. Just wondering: how much of the recent disappointing results are attributed due to maturity vs. demand.

9. Busy week next week as we are meeting with: WNS, CTSH, G, VIT, & WIT. Please see your Janney Salesperson for details.

10. Congratulations Boston Celtics. Proof that even the older athletes can turn it up once in awhile.

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Joseph D. Foresi
617-557-2972
jforesi@janney.com

IT services was in focus this week.

Back to Market Analysis home

Joseph D. Foresi
617-557-2972
jforesi@janney.com

Back to Market Analysis home

Joseph D. Foresi,  Analyst/Research
617-557-2972
jforesi@janney.com

Our Thoughts:

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Joseph D. Foresi
617-557-2972
jforesi@janney.com

Back to Market Analysis home

Joseph D. Foresi
617-557-2972
jforesi@janney.com

According to HP Distinguished Technologist  E.G. Nadhan, companies should consider those same types of not-so-extreme makeovers for their  “houses of IT” – transforming the environment to accommodate what’s needed today, as well as leaving room for future expansion.

If the name sounds familiar, Nadhan, who is the chief architect for HP’s Applications Process and Tools Framework, is also the mastermind behind the concept of applities, featured in a recent Outsourcing Center article.

Applities, an acronym for Application Personality Types, is HP’s way of segmenting applications by their personality types for more effective management. Nadhan identified the five major types (no doubt, your organization may have others – there’s one in every crowd):

• The Big Kahuna – a central application with a commanding presence, used by everyone and pretty darn critical to business. In other words, he’s the Master and he knows it.
• The Lone Star – the old, reliable app who does his job really well, like a rate calculation engine for financial companies.  He is the best at what he does but does not make a big deal about it.
• The Crowd Pleaser – everyone’s favorite because she’s fun to work with, like a great search application. She is awesome and attractive, and she knows it.
• The Generalist – the app with standardized functionality that plays well with others, can morph to fit into any group within the company and can adapt to his surroundings without a lot of fuss. He knows what he needs to be.
• The Problem Child – that unpredictable, buggy, out-of-control app that never seems to mature.  He knows what bugs you the most.

“Understanding these applications is just one part of the equation. To be successful, you have to create an environment in which each of these applities feels at home,” Nadhan said. “The application and the infrastructure are not pieces of two different worlds, any more than the electronic components and the housing of a washing machine are independent entities.  Like the washer, applications and their infrastructure must be approached as one, integrated unit.”

In other words, in a data center you have a lot of personality types living under one roof.

The question is how can you remodel your infrastructure to create a little more harmony and efficiency in your “House of IT” without tearing everything out and starting from scratch?

We asked Nadhan for his thoughts on developing a blueprint.

Renovate to Increase Efficiency

“The first step is to look at what’s working – what you don’t have to change,” Nadhan said. “For example, the network is like a home’s plumbing and electricity. Transform, as needed, the applicable portions so that it can effectively deal with the new loads. Keep the portions that work well. The goal is transforming the environment for better functionality, not totally recreating it.”

Do you have enough storage space or are those closets currently overflowing? You could add more storage or take advantage of new, online and archive options that eliminate the clutter without requiring extra square footage.

Now assess the appliances. Using a mainframe is like running a 20-year-old A/C unit. It costs more to run and doesn’t cool as efficiently as a newer model. In other words, look at areas where modernization can bring greater gains – and reduce expenses in the long run.

And how about the thermostats? Yes, you can stay with the existing manual models, but why not consider programmable thermostats that reduce and increase temperatures based on specific life patterns? Wouldn’t your energy efficiencies counterbalance the initial investment?

“Essentially, those thermostats are analogous to data center automation. In the “House of IT”, you have to look at the efficiencies you can gain from strategically placed automation,” Nadhan said. “We work with our customers to automate where it makes the most sense. The idea here is to continually uncover ways to maximize returns. How can we make the house of IT more efficient?”

Creating a Space that Makes Everyone Feel at Home

Now comes the hard part. How are we going to create an environment that works well for all of the applications – each of which has its own persona?

“In the same way we’d ensure that the various personalities in a family have accommodations that meet their needs, the data center environment has to make each of the applities ‘feel at home’ as well,” Nadhan said. “The nature of the infrastructure that houses each applity has to adapt and align with that applity to maximize the synergies and ensure seamless management of the overall IT environment.”

So, what does an IT home makeover look like from an applity perspective?

The Big Kahuna

The Big Kahuna requires a globally distributed and centrally managed infrastructure that ensures he functions well and meets all service levels. This applity could easily require a full wing – complete with a master suite, a master bath, a kitchenette and living area – often crowding out those other, less expansive applications.

But, what if The Big Kahuna is so big that there’s not enough space in the structure to house him? What if he’s using so many resources that there’s not an ounce of wiggle room left for everybody else? HP has the answer: give this applity his own, updated space in a mobile home – or POD – out back.

“The POD, or Performance Optimized Datacenter, is a self-contained, temperature-controlled unit that enables companies to modernize and increase data center capacity in only six weeks, instead of months or years. Essentially, the legacy infrastructure stays as is, while the POD is modernized,” Nadhan said. “A number of our clients are using the POD as a back up, but it’s also a viable solution to accommodate large applications in an overcrowded house of IT very quickly.”

The Lone Star

The Lone Star is at the other end of the infrastructure needs spectrum. This applity is very accommodating, yet always efficient. He doesn’t need a room, let alone a bed, to function – just provide a blanket and a couch and he will be fine. The Lone Star is best served with an appliance where the infrastructure housing the application can maximize the efficiency of the application. But, he doesn’t need much.

The Generalist

The Generalist is also very adapting and has a pre-defined, templated configuration that is used across multiple enterprises. That gives you a lot of options in remodeling. If space is at a premium or the remodeling budget is running short, this very predictable applity is an ideal candidate for outsourcing.  Send him to a host family; put him up in a hotel – he’s going to function just as well, as long as you keep things consistent. Whether he resides in the house or in a remote location, the Generalist is going to keep on producing.

“For The Generalist, the configuration itself is not important, but making that configuration consistent across the enterprises, or ‘houses,’ is,” Nadhan explained.

The Crowd Pleaser

The Crowd Pleaser thrives on interaction, so you want this applity to be housed in the middle of activity where she has easy access to all the other residents – as well as the living room and the kitchen.

“Crowd Pleasers operate best in infrastructures that support a high volume of transactions with disparate platforms in a relatively open environment,” Nadhan said. “They need easy access to the support infrastructure of applications and systems so these applities can continuously grow to make everyone happy.”

The Problem Child

Finally, we come to The Problem Child, the hard-to-manage, tough-to-please applity. As you might guess, no matter what you create or what amenities you include, this applity probably won’t be happy with whatever you provide him. Everything changes on a whim. What works for this applity one day may not the next. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to put The Problem Child in permanent time out.

Problem Child applities need to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis based upon the environment specific to your enterprise as well as the genre of challenges posed.

It’s also critical to create an environment that prevents the Problem Child from doing a great deal of harm. You can lock the Child in his self-contained room, but that’s not enough to prevent the mischief. Security measures, like a web cam, smoke detectors and extra protections are critical for risk management – and preventing this applity from tearing down the house you so painstakingly built.

“Securing your ‘House of IT’ at all layers is critical,” Nadhan explained. “You don’t want to create the ideal environment and then put everything at risk. “

Choosing the Right Infrastructure Remodeler

Clearly, creating the right IT infrastructure for your wide berth of applications, with room for future expansion, is not a do-it-yourself project for most. That’s where the HP strategists, architects and technologists shine by delivering the company’s end-to-end services.

“At HP, we can help our customers profile applications using applities, then create the right infrastructure to ensure they gain the maximum benefits and the highest performance from those applications,” Nadhan said. “Our end-to-end services incorporate modernization, automation and layered security to enable our clients to achieve their goals, with the capability to expand in the future.”

HP Professionals work alongside their clients to:

• Profile each application.
• Assess each application for optimization opportunities.
• Transform an existing environment into one that enables greater efficiency though automation and modernization.
• Create a business case for investment consideration.
• Define a program for change that enables customers to realize their vision.
• Apply innovative measures to streamline application management.

For remodeling without the pain, choose an architect who can create perfect harmony in the all-important “House of IT”. HP has a team of expert consultants who are highly skilled, available and ready to build you the kind of environment that ensures every type of application is welcomed home. At HP, we are all about delivering and managing solutions including the right applications on the right infrastructure that effectively enable our customers’ business processes while realizing tangible business value.

For more information visit HP Applications Management Services.