The side benefits of Shared Services Centers

7 April 2010:

When establishing a Shared Services Center or deciding to outsource a given process, the expectations are often articulated and put forward in what is called the business case. However, what we often see in practice is that companies are actually harvesting from results that reach far further than what is already predicted upfront
in the business case.

In practice, in what we refer to as the progressive perspective, companies are increasingly harvesting from other areas that are not necessarily described and articulated in the business case. The areas that we refer to in the progressive perspectives are the cost of transparency, knowing the real costof the process itself, which was not necessarily
known upfront. It can also be in the increased flexibility that companies are gaining through outsourcing or Shared Services, and let’s not forget that the exercise itself typically also increases the management and leadership skills of people who have been involved in the transformation process.