Stefano Garbarini
Application Management and Business Process Outsourcing Services Lead at Armundia Group
How do you live this important period of business evolution in Armundia?
Definitely in a positive and proactive way. I think it’s a very important, almost historic moment for the company. And I’m pleased that we give continuity to a managerial area like ours by growing it internally rather than outsourcing skills on the talent market. I don’t deny that this is also an emotional period of time for me. This challenge, with the appropriate support, will push everyone upwards in the company, in line with the company’s increasingly ambitious goals.
What does your Business Unit do? What are the goals for 2023?
The business unit I’m responsible for – Application Management and BPO Services – provides strategic services across the board to all clients, and other internal business units, by leveraging skills and experience. We regularly carry out Application Management services on our platforms, after ending the design phase, to optimise performance and improve efficiency. At the same time, we provide Data Quality and Business Process Outsourcing services with a partner-like approach. On one hand we ensure operational support and strategic advice on specific existing processes. On the other hand, we routinely carry out pre-analysis activity to assess the possibility of redesigning the processes themselves and, if necessary, we propose to optimise strategies to the client. By doing this, we bring exponential innovation to the sector, which is sustainable because it is scalable and implementable step by step, with a 360° vision of strategic processes and operations. The primary objective of my BU for the current year is to aim for a solid positioning in the BPO area for both the banking and insurance sectors. We already have several teams on this strategic activity, engaging with leading Italian banking groups.
Which is the value of the Armundia Group you identify the most with, and which you will pass on to your team?
A fundamental value that I have always regarded highly in Armundia is that of the centrality of people. Nowadays, “smart” technologies tend to undermine the value of human creativity; being part of a tech company like Armundia Group that really focuses on people as a distinctive business factor, and on their training as a competitive factor, is a strong motivation for everyone to constantly learn, get involved, and take on challenges with responsibility, courage, and team spirit.
Name three of your own qualities you would like to share with your team.
The experience of many years, to be passed on to younger collaborators. Empathy, towards everyone, internally to the group but also externally: this is a personal feature that I always aim to carry forward. And collaboration, because you don’t go anywhere alone. My previous experiences have really taught me that only via fruitful collaboration we can achieve important results.
The digital evolution for the banking and insurance sector. Where are we at, in your opinion?
With the pandemic, a new era started as people want to “do” without “having to go”. From this point of view, digital transformation technologies and processes have indicated new paths, new service models trends, and new opportunities.Most banking institutions have taken up the challenge, not only to increase efficiency and redesign business strategies, but also to improve the customer experience and increase customer inclusion, engaging with new hard-to-reach targets such as young people. In this race to the future, however, we must not forget other clients categories, such as the elderly, for whom we need to develop simple, intuitive and direct processes, balancing the right mix between physical and digital. There is still a lot to do for the bank of the future, but certainly a 360°, rational, inclusive, and sustainable banking innovation is a goal to aim for.
Let’s talk about sustainability, then.
I believe that a sustainable digital evolution must aim for the highest possible digitisation point with the best level of human contact, optimising all essential resources.It is a real transition towards new balances, without skewing in one direction or another, and without leaving behind any subject involved. Banks often find themselves with complex core banking infrastructures that, in many cases, are dated and heavy. These platforms sometimes don’t communicate with each other. They are non-interoperable and not always natively digital, therefore obsolete and in constant need to be updated. This results in high management and high maintenance costs, burdening of processes, proliferation of projects, and senseless waste of resources. The digital evolution from a sustainable point of view, conveyed by a BPO approach like ours, can be an intelligent way to enable innovation to progress gradually albeit quickly.