ABN AMRO

	Harvey Nash’s drive to deliver, combined with professionalism and effective account management, is very well perceived within ABN AMRO and has created a very positive relationship. Our vendor performance evaluation system shows that their responses to the bank’s requirements and the quality of resumes that they submit exceed expectations, within our highly competitive e-market place
	Hans Cremer, director procurement professional services, ABN AMRO Bank

BANKING ON SUCCESS

In 2003 the use of external professional services, provided by over 500 suppliers, was one of the biggest costs for ABN AMRO. The procurement process for contracting professionals was ambiguous, with no clear role specifications or cost structures, a situation which created operational and financial risks.

ABN AMRO wanted to introduce structures and processes to reduce these associated risk and costs, while maintaining the service it received from suppliers. In April 2004 ABN AMRO identified professional services as a key area of improvement, as part of their Global Procurement Program. It established a procurement desk for professional services in The Netherlands, in order to implement and manage operational procurement processes, including a Procurement-to- Pay service and the selection of a limited number of preferred suppliers.

As a result of the process by the Global Procurement Program, Harvey Nash was engaged as a preferred vendor.

The procurement desk focuses on supply, demand and performance management. ABN AMRO developed a comprehensive sourcing process that operates within tight timescales – it now only takes five working days from a recruitment request to candidate interview. The procurement system means all activities are monitored, which enables sophisticated performance evaluation of preferred suppliers.

Flexible resourcing solutions have allowed ABN AMRO to improve efficiency and increase performance. Hans Cremer, director procurement professional services, believes that permanent and interim recruitment will come together in the future to create further efficiencies. He also believes that Harvey Nash is well placed to fulfil these future permanent and interim staffing needs.