Designing & Building an MSP Solution with a Difference

Resolution Plc asked us to build a Managed Service (MSP) capable of supporting the rapid transformation programme needed to join three organisations, supply all their highly qualified interim staffing requirements AND realise significant cost savings.

Building insurance businesses through mergers and acquisitions, Resolution Plc previously founded the Pearl Group. In this case, they acquired a UK based insurance businesses Friends Provident, AXA Sun Life and BUPA Health Insurance. The merger formed Friends Life.

The Challenge

Our key driver was to manage the delivery of three tiers of interim staff needed to ensure the success and timely delivery of the transformation. Those were Managed Contractors, specifying & sourcing skilled IT & Business Change Interim Staff, and identifying and replacing Consultants supplied by “the Big Four”, with independent contractors.

We also implemented standard commercial terms and one bill invoicing. We also managed the on-boarding service for all new starters, including the ordering of all IT equipment, reducing management downtime, and ensuring the Contractors' productivity from their very first day.

We also committed to sourcing in excess of 90% of the total number of staff hired, keeping the usage of tier two suppliers to a minimum, shortening the time to hire, as well as driving even greater cost savings.

The Solution

We successfully sourced, managed and on-boarded a contactor population of over 400, peaking at over 500, for the duration of the transformation programme.

Overall, we significantly reduced Resolution’s reliance on consultancy staff supplied by “the Big Four”, which tends to be commonplace on these types of programmes.

The cost savings directly attributed to staffing was estimated to be over £40 million, saving £11 million on the Solvency II programme alone.

We also exceeded our KPI to source 90% of the population, reaching fulfilment rates of 98%.

Success of this project has led to other projects for Opus for Resolution, including their subsequent and first US acquisition – the $630 million purchase of Lincoln Benefit Life from All State.