Avis Budget Group – Leading Resolutions

Avis Budget Group (ABG) is a leading global provider of car and truck rental solutions, headquartered in the US. Founded in 1946, ABG now has more than 11,000 locations in approximately 180 countries and more than 1 million members worldwide.

The Challenge

ABG were looking to transform their digital technology infrastructure capability and transition services across EMEA, with a significant proportion of the IT services outsourced to TCS.

Having led the development of the Vision, Strategy and Target Operating Model, we were subsequently engaged to lead and support the delivery of this complex change programme, building on our broad and intimate knowledge of working with Avis across a multitude of disciplines and geographies.

The Solution

Cognisant of peaks in demand, we adopted a 2-stage approach to transition services to TCS:

Digital Workplace services for Rental Stations and HQs, data centre services and build services (4 months)
Service desk, service management practice and application services and support (5 months)

We constructed the business case and transition plan, reaffirming the retained organisation and high level TOM, defining the services to be provided by TCS and outlining the costs and benefits of cutover options.

From an early stage, and throughout the programme, we liaised closely with HR, planning and drafting the HR announcements and managing the day by day announcements and follow ups, keeping in mind at all times the need for confidentiality and sensitivity.

We led the 2 outsource stages:

Digital Workplace/EUC
Stage 2 – Service Desk, Service Management and Application Services and Support

Key activities included:

Ensured the contractual and HR aspects of outsourcing the Digital Workplace/EUC team based in UK, Poland and German, were completed

Much of the Data Centre work had already been outsourced. We mentored the DC Lead to address performance issues, get a Service Improvement Plan in place and drive out a way of working aligned to how EUC and the Service Desk would be run post transition

Drove the stand-up of the 20 man Build team, supporting the interview process, developing reports to measure how the team were adding value and managing downtime, forecast, planning etc. and helping to develop improvements to the resourcing and planning processes

Dealt with the redundancy and HR implications of outsourcing the service desk and service management practice, which employed 75 people

Created the business case to outsource enterprise and non-enterprise applications, including the associated cost savings and redundancies (15 onshore and 20 offshore)

The Results

The outsource programme was successful, with all deliverables completed on plan, on time and on budget.

At the point of handover to the BAU team, there were no outstanding actions or issues, with full knowledge transfer and documented processes ensuring a smooth transition.

The service desk backlog dropped by 75% from 2,300 tickets to 580 within a month of go live.