Shared Services

Shared Services consolidates back office support services. These are delivered from centralised locations to provide lower costs, higher quality/reliability, standardisation and harmonisation of processes.

What should you expect from Shared Services?

  • Greater operational efficiency and cost reductionA Shared Services model can offer tremendous improvement in efficiency and significant cost reduction. Consolidating facilities and personnel into a single service organisation can help reduce net headcount, enable greater economies of scale, and decrease duplication of effort. In addition, a stronger focus on process improvement can lead to substantial year-over-year productivity gains after the initial creation.

Benefits of using BPG to facilitate your Shared Service Relationship?

  • We know what practices work really wellHaving optimised over 500 complex supplier relationships, we have deep expertise of trust building in relationships, proven processes and templates to make them successful, along with expertise in what actions you need to avoid to make sure your shared services relationship achieves your outcomes, quickly.

What BPG delivers

  • Maximum value in your relationshipWe help you make sure your requirements and expectations are internally agreed within your organisation, that your service requirements are clearly communicated to the Shared Services provider, simplifying the procurement and contracting process so you know ‘the art of the possible’ and engage with fit for purpose Shared Services providers to generate maximum value.

Why BPG’s process is so important

  • A stable relationship promotes innovationBPG’s ‘Optimise’ process will drive great behaviours between you and optimise your service innovation process at the same time as reducing your BAU costs.

Considerations of Shared Service Relationships

How do Shared Services work?

  • Becoming part of someone else’s shared service model for your service delivery needs the same detailed level of clarity over your business outcomes and objectives, along with pre-implementation due diligence, that you would have for any complex service delivery relationship.
  • Once implemented, you would monitor service performance as you would with any other supplier based service.
  • The difference is usually how the governance works. Many shared services are provided by related or ‘more friendly’ organisations (e.g. a local authority sharing its IT services with another local authority) that often do not have formal legal contracts together.
  • In this way, it is helpful to implement governance that promotes genuine ideas sharing, but most importantly, robust collaboration which, in turn, promotes strong commercial trust between each of the shared service partners.

What challenges typically arise?

When starting off in Shared Services you will anticipate operating in a collaborative and innovative environment. However, there are a number of practical considerations that need to be addressed; some of the challenges that typically arise include:

  • Internal resistance to change
  • Not measuring costs or service levels before a move to shared services
  • Not documenting processes and work streams pre-implementation
  • Not appointing a full-time head of client services early in the process
  • Not focusing sufficiently on the transition period
  • Not having a robust project plan clarifying employee resources
  • Maintaining grudges over misunderstandings early in the process
  • Becoming bogged down standardising technology and processes pre-implementation
  • Believing that “it’s already a centralised process: there’s nothing we should do”
  • Having no, or inadequate, risk management or monitoring processes
  • Omitting the “make versus buy” equation.

Foundations for Success

Having dealt with the optimisation of over 500 complex supplier/service relationships, our evidence is that whilst the list below is not exhaustive, implementing these key principles will assure you achieve a much better shared outcome:

  • Articulate your service expectations so it’s clear what your organisation can achieve that it could not before once the service is implemented
  • Share the vision on a collaborated basis
  • Baseline your existing service levels and costs pre-shared service implementation so you can measure progress
  • Clarity over your business case
  • Plan to have a clear governance process across the relationship(s) with the shared service provider(s)
  • Implement a suitable performance management structure
  • Change management operating governance
  • A clear target operating model that can be communicated to the shared service provider
  • Review all of the appropriate technology considerations
  • Implement outcome based SLAs
  • Always pilot test services in defined areas to assess implementation practicalities
  • Before you start the service delivery, structure a suitable exit and transition roadmap
  • Implement knowledge transfer processes
  • Structure a service and contract (or heads of terms) re-shaping process and on-going performance benchmarking to assess value for money against pre-defined baselines. 

Some examples of Shared Service Relationships we can support

  • IT Services
  • HR, Payroll and Human Capital
  • Inventory
  • Finance
  • Marketing Services
  • Environmental Recycling and Waste Collection
  • Customer Service/Contract Centres
  • Procurement Services
  • Legal and Professional Services
  • Accounting/Taxation Services

A few suppliers that can provide Shared Services that we have detailed knowledge of

  • Accenture
  • Access Healthcare
  • Acquire BPO
  • Aegis Ltd
  • AGS Health
  • Alight Solutions
  • Alorica
  • AMC Bridge
  • Artezio
  • Arvato
  • Auxis
  • Bell Integrator
  • Canon Business Process Services
  • CBRE
  • CGI
  • CGS
  • CieNET Technologies
  • Ciklum
  • Colliers International
  • Concentrix
  • Cushman & Wakefield
  • DATROSE
  • DHC
  • Donlen
  • ELEKS
  • Ellucian
  • Endava
  • EPAM Systems
  • EXL
  • Firstsource
  • Fischer
  • FPT Software
  • GeBBS Healthcare Solutions
  • Grupo ASSA
  • HCL Technologies Limited
  • Hexacta
  • HGS
  • IBA Group
  • ICL Services
  • IMS People
  • Indecomm Global Services
  • Infopulse
  • Innovecs
  • Intelenet Global Services
  • Intellias
  • IQVIA
  • iSoftstone
  • ISS
  • ITC Infotech
  • Itera
  • Itransition
  • JLL
  • Kelly Outsourcing and Consulting
  • Knoah Solutions
  • Kosbit
  • LeasePlan USA
  • LegalBase
  • LiquidHub
  • Logicalis
  • Luxoft
  • MAYKOR
  • MERA
  • Mindtree
  • Miratech
  • NEORIS
  • Newmark Knight Frank
  • Nexient
  • N-iX
  • NTT DATA Services
  • Onelink BPO
  • OneSource Virtual
  • Program-Ace
  • PSL Corp.
  • QuEST Global
  • QuisLex
  • QX Ltd
  • RR Donnelley Global Outsourcing
  • SCICOM (MSC) Berhad
  • SEBPO
  • Sigma Software
  • Sitel
  • Softengi
  • Softjourn
  • SoftServe
  • SS&C Technologies
  • Stefanini
  • Swiss Post Solutions
  • TEAM International Services
  • Teleperformance
  • TELUS International
  • TIVIT
  • TTEC
  • Vee Technologies
  • VirtusaPolaris
  • VXI Global Solutions
  • Wicresoft
  • Willis Towers Watson
  • WNS Global Services
  • Xoriant

Organisations that use Shared Services and are most admired over the last year

  • AkzoNobel
  • Ascension Ministry Service Center
  • Baker McKenzie
  • Becton Dickinson
  • Celestica
  • Cisco
  • Coca-Cola Business Services North America
  • Diageo
  • Discovery
  • Eli Lilly
  • Experian
  • HSBC Global Service Centre Malaysia
  • LinkedIn
  • Mondelez
  • PepsiCo
  • Procter & Gamble
  • Shangri-La Group
  • The Kellogg Company
  • The World Bank
  • Western Union

What stage are you at in your Shared Service Relationship?

New Relationship

You’re procuring or contracting and you need it to work really well.

Existing Relationship

You’re in a partnership that could be working better.

Broken Relationship

It’s gone wrong. You need help to exit a relationship early and safely transition to another.