Since 2002, Mahindra Integrated Business Solutions (MIBS) has been an internal department of Mahindra & Mahindra catering to M&M and some group companies, largely under the Automotive Division with activities mostly restricted to payroll processing and bill processing.

In an effort to leverage the efficiencies created while serving the group and with the growth of the Business Process Management Outsourcing industry, it was thought prudent to carve out a separate entity that could serve the needs of not only the Mahindra Group but also that of companies outside the group. Further, in doing so a cost centre could well be converted into a profit centre. It was with this intent that the erstwhile internal service centre handling Bill Processing and Payroll Processing for some of the M&M entities was legally and organizationally carved out as a separate entity in 2011 and christened as Mahindra BPO Pvt Ltd (MBPO) with 100% shareholding held by Mahindra Holdings.

The Dilemma

The mandate was twofold – one was to rope in the complete gamut of F&A services within the group, and the other was to offer these services to companies outside the group within the Indian geography, to start with. There were two rules by which the execution had to be operated:

Rule #1 Mahindra Group follow a federated structure thereby giving freedom to the individual businesses to deal with the Business Services entity – in other words each company and business was free to choose what to outsource and whether they wanted to outsource it to MBPO in the first place.

When you are in a situation that cannot get worse, it gives you
the courage to think differently, stretch beyond your own
assessment and take uncalculated risks.

Rule #2 No investment was to be granted to the entity – the formula given was “first earn and then spend”. While there were successes in this uphill task from 2012 to 2014, they were significantly limited. Businesses were not willing to outsource anything unless capability was demonstrated. However for developing capability, investment in people, process and technology was required, which was not available.

The Breakthrough

Collaborations were formed with senior professionals with the objective of establishing practices across all identified domains. The senior professionals were designated as “Chief Business Officers” with an end-to-end P&L responsibility of the segment they were leading.

Hence, our lack of demonstrated case studies in the specific segments was more than made-up by people who had “Been There, Done That”. As an obvious low hanging fruit, the Mahindra Group was the first to be tried for new solutions since MBPO already had existing relations. A significant step taken during this period was the change of the name from Mahindra BPO to Mahindra Integrated Business Solutions (MIBS) signifying a shift from being not just a BPO company but actually a business solutions provider and that would partner with the client organizations across domains to deliver outcomes of significant value. During the last two years MIBS has grown significantly both within and outside the group.

To begin with, MIBS was moved into an upgraded premise in the data centre of the group. This ensured seamless connectivity, which is key to the business. The floor and building design required compliance with norms that would clear any Due-Diligence checks on infrastructure, technology and operations. Handling the technology was the difficult part since the collaborations model meant not everyone was an employee of MIBS. Access procedure and firewalls had to be strong to support multiple credentials on a non-MIBS device yet provide seamless access to the individuals. This challenge helped MIBS lay a strong but flexible technology platform with scalability convenience.

The Challenges

Meetings were easy to get but business was not. Conversations with clients were positive but answers to the obvious question was tough – “what will MIBS give us that our current partners do not or cannot?” With limited existing processes to showcase or case studies to back up, it was a challenge to convince clients on execution capabilities though they were convinced on the skill sets of the MIBS key team members, basis their credentials and past experience. “Concept selling” was working, but creating its own set of problems.

As they say, when you are in a situation that cannot get worse, it gives you the courage to think differently, stretch beyond your own assessment and take uncalculated risks. MIBS did the same.

We decided to openly ask clients their problem statements which they or their current partners were unable to resolve. Some clients were open to share this with us with obviously two conditions – if we succeed then it’s a mutual win, if we don’t succeed then we can’t do business again. Solution designing was a challenge but we were able to provide feasible solutions which the clients were ready to accept provided we were able to deliver the same. We decided to stretch our necks further and participate with them in the outcome which gave the clients fair amount of confidence to at-least invest in a pilot with us with flexible commercial considerations.

The Gain

The first year in this new avatar was the most exciting journey with having no new clients in the first half to creating a world class eco system of partnerships resulting in significant sign-ups in the second half of the year.

With multiple case studies, plenty of diverse solutions, many impossible tasks made possible, client testimonials and a strong sales pipeline, MIBS entered the second year with a bang. The Board was impressed with the start and the group embraced the new solutions of MIBS with all eagerness in spite of having to follow a federal structure of decision making and compliances to be adhered in all group company transactions. This confidence helped MIBS diversify into various other facets of business such as Advisory, Project Management, Analytics, etc. which are considered higher level engagements in comparison to Transaction Processing where we started from.

Most importantly, we are a team of entrepreneurs with the
experience of having built it with minimal support and now we are
hungry for business, and are confident of achieving the impossible.

With clients by our side, revenue streams steadily opening up, MIBS started investing in infrastructure, people, process and technology with clear segregation of the skill-sets that would rest within MIBS and the skill-sets for which we would use partners. The primary client SLA rests with MIBS and would be in control of Compliance, Risk and Quality of delivery. This helped MIBS extend its model further.

Today MIBS consciously looks for people with unique ideas, helps nurture these ideas by creating a synergy with existing solutions to convert it to a unique service offering to the client and if possible open up new markets. MIBS encourages entrepreneurship.

Most importantly, we are a team of entrepreneurs with the experience of having built it with minimal support and now we are hungry for business, and are confident of achieving the impossible.

The Reign

From a small payroll and bill processing shop a few years ago, MIBS has transformed into a strong Business Solutions company with Advisory, Project Management and Transaction Services, having its own capabilities - in terms of contact centre, back office, HRSS, payroll, employee benefits, F&A, digitization, staffing, recruitments, L&D, in the domestic markets with over 75 clients from 20+ industries within and outside the Group, 500+ people and a 50% y-o-y growth.

MIBS is poised to race ahead in the years to come. The start was with a belief but a fogged mind, the challenges were known and unknown, there were many setbacks, there were days of disillusionment, there were differences of opinion but what this journey did to MIBS is nothing compared to what it did to its people. From being people who could not do anything beyond what was being done for years in the past, there emerged unknown talents, a new found confidence, a strong bonding, ability to accept challenges and ability to take calculated risks which is desired by every organization but difficult to achieve and sustain. We are confident and hopeful that MIBS would be at least five times its size in the next three years.

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