Research Report

Trends in Shared Services:

Unlocking the Full Potential

Introduction
Accenture began to study, design and build both
captive and outsourced shared services solutions
over 20 years ago. We have published several
research studies and numerous articles over the
years, each illuminating aspects of what has been
an interesting (if for some, challenging) journey.
Time and again we have seen one indisputable
outcomewhen done correctly, shared services
enables major multi-function transformation for
private and public sector organizations in every
region of the world.
2

Expectations of the shared services

model are high, and they should be.
For over two decades, shared services
organizations have enjoyed the
benefits of cost savings, efficiencies
and better service that shared services
masters have heralded. For the old
pros, globalization and multi-service
extensions continue to create rich
opportunities. But Accenture experience
and research finds that many private
and public sector organizations that
are enjoying the initial benefits have
only scratched the surface of what
is possible with shared services; they
have yet to use shared services to
contribute significantly to the
enterprises overall strategic objectives,
such as growth, global expansion
and competiveness. After 20 plus
years, shared services may be a
well-established operating model,
but its full potential has yet to
be unlocked.

This year, Accenture undertook a

research survey and a series of
interviews with shared services leaders
to delve deeper into the trends most
likely to affect our clients operations,
and to provide some insight into what
they will need to focus on to excel
in the future. We found plenty of
good news. For example, as we have
predicted over the last decade, the
shared services model increasingly
has been applied to higher-order
servicesthose services requiring
more skill and/or a need to be closer
to the end customer. As a result, the
shared services reporting relationship,
and the influence that goes with it,
has migrated increasingly toward the
C-suite. Today, the most progressive
shared services leaders are integral to
the leadership team of the enterprise
they serve.
So what is top of mind for shared
services leaders today? Our research
points to five topics on the agenda for
continued success and sustainability:

Process Excellence: Many shared

services organizations continue to
struggle with the fundamentals of
process excellence; those who excel
have put process excellence into
the context of overall business
optimization, taking apart each process
with the critical eye of an engineer
and optimizing every step. As part of
these efforts, they are making dramatic
improvements in efficiency and earning
new respect in their organizations.
Service Excellence: Shared services
organizations seeking to achieve high
performance recognize that, despite
continued advances in functionality, a
reliance on enabling technologies will
only get them so far. They are paying
close attention to readying their
service management framework (the
system around the system) to be able
to meet the demands associated with
assuming a more strategic role.

Continuous Improvement and

Value Marketing: Shared services
organizations that have achieved high
performance are not content with
their established processes and service
framework. No matter how well they
operate, they continue to look for
ways to improveboth in services they
currently provide and in new services
they would like to offer. Moreover, they
recognize that marketing the value
they bring to their key stakeholders is
critical to building the trust that leads
to new business opportunities for
their organizations.
Integrated Business Services: As
shared services continues to mature, we
find that those looking for new levels
of business value are boldly crossing

the expanse to integrated business

services. They are leaving the functionbased model of traditional shared
services behind, becoming
independent, end-to-end service
businesses with C-level leadership
and strategic importance on par with
other operating units. As they move
their services up the value chain, they
are bringing global flexibility, sourcing
agility and continuous innovation.
New Technologies Impacting a
Mature Model: Cloud computing
and social media are top technologies
on the minds of shared services
executives, but they are proceeding
with caution. Their enthusiasm for
potentially new flexible service
delivery options, broader access and
heightened collaboration is tempered
by uncertainty about potential
business disruption after they
have worked so hard to stabilize
their operations.

Our Methodology

Accenture engaged an independent

market research company to conduct
telephone surveys with over 100
individuals in 16 countries during April
2011. Over 50 percent of the organizations had annual revenues greater
than US$5 billion. In addition, 50
percent of the entities have had shared
services organizations operational for
three to five years. Although the titles
varied, all respondents had charge of
the management of shared services in

their organization. In addition,

Accenture personally conducted a
series of in-depth interviews from June
to July 2011 with a select group of
shared services leaders. The result from
these two exercises is the foundation
for this research report. All individual
and organization names have been
kept anonymous to guarantee
confidentiality of the responses.

In the sections that follow, we explore

these topics in more detail. We offer
practical insights based on our own
experience and our conversations with
leaders who have laid foundations in
these areas and already are emerging
ahead of their peers. What we know
for sure is that shared services
organizations looking to achieve high
performance cannot be complacent.
To remain relevant, shared services
organizations must continue to
evolve by improving and expanding
their influence on the overall
enterprise agenda.

Process Excellence: Taking the Work Out

of the Work

Our research highlights the need for

renewed attention to driving process
excellence. Many organizations now
realize that before they can explore
a next-generation strategy, such
as integrated business services,
they may have to go back to their
foundationsand evaluate the
functional and/or regional processes
within their existing shared services
organizations. In Accentures 2009

study Achieving High Performance

through Shared Services: Lessons
from the Masters1, we found that a
vast number of shared services organizations had fallen short of realizing
their original business case benefits of
standardized policies, processes and
supporting systems. The intentions
may have been there, but without a
specific discipline within the shared
services organization that focused
on continued process excellence,
non-standard policies, processes and
systems started to creep back in.

Figure 1. Only 49% of respondents report having standardization across policies,

processes and supporting systems.
Which of the following best describe the level of standardization
in your shared services?
49%

Policies, processes and supporting

systems are standardized

26%

Policies are standardized but

no processes and supporting systems

25%

Policies and processes are standardized

but no supporting systems

This year, we continued to find that

levels of standardization vary widely
and for the most part, there is still vast
room for improvement. For example,
only 49 percent report having standardization across policies, processes
and supporting systems (see Figure 1).
It seems likely that at least some of
the struggle for standardization stems
from a variability in process ownership.
For example, although more than
three-quarters (78 percent) of our
survey respondents reported that they
now define processes at a global level,
48 percent of them still implement
processes locally. Likewise, less than
half (42 percent) of all respondents

report housing process ownership

at a global level (see Figure 2).
Without buy-in to global process
ownership, organizations still risk
having multiple process owners
making changes independently. This
situation will continue to make
genuine standardization a challenge
and have real implications for shared
services organizations as they look to
position themselves to assume a more
strategic role in the business.
Those who struggle with this
fundamental aspect of achieving high
performance in shared services should
be interested to learn how a master
develops the necessary level of process
discipline. We interviewed a shared
services leader in the consumer
products industry whose operation
employs 1,000 people and has a track
record of success that includes a 60
percent cost reduction over the last 10
years. The leader is an engineer with
manufacturing floor experience, and

he brings a level of process excellence

discipline to finance, human resources
and other support services that would
make a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt
proud. He explained his organizations
approach this way:
We view each process from the
perspective of an industrial engineer.
Our organization scrutinizes every
process, with a focus on managing
and eventually eliminating exceptions.
The goal is to break every process into
discrete pieces that optimize individual
skill sets. This takes out the complexity
and removes the need for jack-ofall-trade types that cant excel at the
same level for every activity. Also, it
gives us the scale benefit that shared
services was designed to deliver, but
too often has underachieved.
The leaders organization also uses
technology to take the work out of
the work, and employs specialists and
metrics to achieve higher efficiency
and higher associate morale. While
other elements of success certainly are
in placeincluding C-level support,
comprehensive change management
and a relentless focus on valueit is
the organizations continued focus on
process excellence that stands out.
This continued focus on process
excellence does not mean that the
front-office customer service mentality
is sidelined or that linkages and handoffs to the core operating units are
ignored. In fact, quite the opposite.
Understanding all clients (both internal
and external) and why they call for
service can uncover root operational

Figure 2. The trend toward global process management and ownership is gaining
momentum slowly.
How does your organization manage processes and
services globally?
30%

48%

22%

Processes are
defined and
implemented
globally

Processes are
defined globally
but implemented
regionally (can be
customized at the
regional level)

Processes are
defined and
implemented
regionally

issues with serious impact on the

bottom line. As one leader describes,
Higher productivity (efficiency) is a
byproduct of excellent servicenot the
other way around.
In fact, having a service-oriented
mindset, where the shared services
organization has a culture of wanting
to make things better for its clients,
can lead to improvements that stretch
far beyond what many would consider
a typical shared services mandate.
This significant value-add essentially
translates into a substantial increase in
customer service.
For example, the leader of a shared
services organization that had achieved
high performance described the

How would you describe process ownership?

42%

Global process
owners

47%

Regional process
owners

Local process owners

8%
3%

significant role his shared services

organization played in uncovering
and solving serious issues with
pricing data management:
The data existed in multiple
business unit and customer systems.
It was inconsistent and there was no
visibility into what was right or wrong.
This was costing the company. Then
shared services took over the process
and exposed all the hidden issues;
they corrected inaccuracies, reduced
exceptions and had a positive impact
on revenue. Shared services brought
focus and discipline to an area that
did not have strong governance and
ownership. The value we have
contributed has been exceptional
through the same proven model of
segmentation, measurement, root
cause analysis and process clarity.

No standard
centralized process
ownership

the customer. For shared services

organizations that have already
become high performance businesses,
it also means they will be asked to
take on more and more, executing
these new processes using the same
segmentation and optimization
techniques they have honed while
delivering first-generation services.

An approach such as this one, which

puts shared services process excellence
into the context of overall business
optimization, builds trust with
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Service Excellence: Building the System

Around the System

As modern enterprise resource

planning and enabling systems become
more robust, the temptation to turn to
technology to answer the demands for
progress will be great. Yet our research
shows that leaders already recognize
an over-reliance on technology
solutions will only take them so far.
Certainly, the standardization that is so
central to achieving high performance
in shared services will increasingly be
built right into the technology used by
shared services organizations. We found
considerable evidence of this trend in
our research; for example, 92 percent
of respondents stated that they have
already implemented call scripts, and
one-third (33 percent) claim to have
automated all call scripts (see Figure 3).
The advances we see todaysuch as
data governance applications that are
tailored for centralized maintenance,
for examplestrengthen the alreadystrong business case for technology
that has demonstrated reductions in
labor cost through automation. As
one executive at a high-tech company
described the benefits of increased
standardization through technology,
The customer service experience has
been improved, cash flow has been
improved, and all processes that touch
and use master data are running more
smoothly and at a lower cost due to
the elimination of exceptions and the
related manual resolutions.

Still, the progressive leaders in our

survey have said that relying on
enterprise resource planning and
enabling technology only delivers part
of the solution. Even industry-leading
technology will not prevent a shared
services organization from failing
to meet expectations. There needs
to be a system around the system
that includes the people, discipline in
procedures, communications,
service expectations, performance
measurement and key cross-functional
processes, such as continuous
improvement and client relationship
management. Its this broader shared
services system around the system
which Accenture calls the service
management frameworkthat sets
shared services organizations that have
achieved high performance apart from
those with a sub-optimized centralized
service delivery model.

report having a service catalog with

formal sign off, only 32 percent have
both formal sign off and two-way
responsibilities (of both the shared
services organization and the operating
unit) clearly defined (see Figure 4).

The service management framework

is the keystone, ensuring that shared
services delivers as promised and
achieves the benefits so often articulated
in our interviewsexceptional service,
consistent delivery, managed risk, and
operating unit trust and partnership. As
one shared services leader described,
The service management framework
is never fully appreciated until it is
not there or it is not working correctly.
Then the downside of lacking this
structure becomes very clear as shared
services gets a bad reputation.

The stakes are high for getting the

service management framework right,
as it is a foundational element of
shared services mastery. Laying this
groundwork, and gaining experience
and comfort with it throughout
the organization before evolving to
integrated business services,
dramatically increases the likelihood
of successfully moving up the value
chain. Without it, operational challenges
will be magnified as the scope and
scale of the organization expands.

Our research shows that many

shared services organizations still
have room to grow in developing all
the elements of a robust service
management framework; for example,
while 76 percent of all respondents
8

Interestingly, our research also shows

some marked geographical differences in
service excellence. While 83 percent
of the respondents from the AsiaPacific region and 75 percent of the
respondents from North America
responded that they measure and
report service levels to clients, in
Europe and Latin American countries,
only 55 percent say they report service
levels to clients. This point is key, as
a successful service management
framework is defined by collaboration:
it recognizes the criticality of
transparency, joint responsibility and
ownership for business outcomes.

For example, one shared services leader

described how his large-scale shared
services organization has had a history
of taking on too many client requests
while lacking the right tools and

Figure 3. Technology advances will allow for increasing levels of standardization to

be built into critical shared services processes.
Are call scripts used to manage consistency and quality?
33%

39%
92% of organizations
have call scripts

20%

8%

All call scripts are

automated within the call
management software

Only complex call scripts

are automated within the
call management software

Written call scripts are available

but no automated scripts available
in the call management software
No call scripts available

Figure 4. Shared services organizations still have room to grow in developing all the
elements of a robust service management framework.
Do you have a catalog of services to manage expectations
regarding scope, mutual responsibilities and demand?
32%

76% have an
inventory of services
that is formally
signed off

Inventory of services that is

formally signed off as well as joint
responsibilities (two ways) defined

44%

Inventory of services
that is formally signed off

15%

Inventory of services
that is not formally signed off

9%

No catalog of services, but

service level agreements exist

the ability to manage resources

appropriately. His shared services
organization is now undergoing a
major reset for new servicesdialing
back to the role of boutique provider
that serves a small number of clients
while working to get major issues
related to standardization, expectation
management and recognition of
the value provided resolved before
expanding service delivery to a larger
scale. A key element of the reset will
be clearly defining the relationship
and obligations between the parties to
deliver an agreed outcome.
Another shared services leader
described how her shared services
organization has excelled at
instituting standardization and has
built considerable leverage and scale
as a result. Now, however, her
organizations strategy has shifted its
focus from pure standardization efforts
to becoming more service-oriented
and adding a higher level of value. She
said, Once we demonstrated that we
were able to handle the basics, then
we could talk about how we could
add value. As an example, our Global
Service Desk is evolving from Whats
your ticket number? to How can I
assist you with your issue? In order
for that evolution to occur, we need to
rewrite scripts and processes, and the
technology also needs to catch
up from where we were to where
were going.
The challenge for this shared services
organization now is to enable some
flexibility within its business model
without jeopardizing the benefits
that it has achieved through its
standardization efforts. The overall
organization is now going through a
transformation that relies on a service
management framework to help set
expectations with its clients. The
changes to its IT systems, processes
and people wont happen overnight.
But the final result should transform
the shared services organization from
merely a service provider to a proactive
business partner.
9

Continuous Improvement and Value Marketing:

Raising the Bar Internally and Externally

Continuous Improvement
When we think about the evolution
of any shared services organization
regardless of maturity, expansion into
innovative services or commitment to
integrated business servicesit will
never look the same as it does today.
The general value proposition of the
shared services model in the here-andnow is easy to understand, but it will
be continuous improvement that drives
the models ability to progress and
evolve. As one shared services leader
expressed, The key to maintaining
momentum after implementation is
continuous improvement and a

10

performance management-oriented
mindset. Any new initiative must be
undertaken with a strong quality
focus, backed by higher return on
investment and an improvement in
customer satisfaction.
Leading shared services organizations
recognize that their ability to
continually improve is inextricability
linked to their perceived value and,
ultimately, their viability. Perhaps it
is not surprising, then, that so many
are investing so much in continuous
improvementand then publicizing
their successes, loudly and clearly.

In our research, 42 percent of all

respondents reported spending 10
percent or more of their annual
operating budget on continuous
improvement initiatives (see Figure 5).
They take a range of approaches.
Some shared services organizations
have continuous improvement teams
that focus on the next-generation
projects, while others have a cadre
of specialists who drive incremental
improvement every day. Approximately
one in four (23 percent) have established
a formalized, Lean/Six Sigma/Kaizen
approach that draws on established

Figure 5. Shared services organizations are making considerable investments in

continuous improvement initiatives.
What percentage of your annual operating budget is dedicated to
continuous improvement?
Greater than 15%

8%
42% of organizations
will dedicate 10%
and more of their
operating budget
to continuous
improvement

10 to 15%

34%

Where do they get their continuous

improvement ideas? Our study shows
that ideas are generated fairly equally
from clients, employees, internal
management and outside experts. And
each source has different incentives
to advance the agenda of the shared
services organization and the
performance of the enterprise being
servedfrom mandates, to internal
recognition, to monetary reward.

5 to 10%

43%
58% of organizations
will dedicate between
0% and 10% of their
operating budget
to continuous
improvement

Less than 5%

15%

Figure 6. Traditional transactional functions still dominate shared

services provision.
What typical services are being delivered through shared services today?
(multiple mentions)
IT (i.e., application management)

75%
Finance

58%
Client facing services (i.e., billing, collections)

51%
HR

50%
Procurement

41%
Logistics/materials management (i.e., procurement, inventory management)

39%

practices, such as instituting endto-end process metrics so as not to

optimize within a silo, and visual
management, which provides readily
visible metrics to clarify each days
goals and give timely feedback
on performance.

Value Marketing
We talked to a number of leaders who
treat continuous improvement as a
formal process with the same level
of significance as a client-facing
business service domain. They are
easily funding the continuous
improvement investments they make
with the value they bring every day.
As one leader explained, We have
worked hard to demonstrate a deep
understanding of the business strategy
first, and then to demonstrate shared
services ability to support it. As a
result, our credibility and reputation
has increased over time and it has
become much easierto the point
where we are being asked to take on
more now, versus having to go chase
business in the past.
Not all shared services organizations
are so fortunate. Given shared services
success over the past 20 years, the
obvious progression would seem to be
toward higher-order service expansion.
However, our research shows that for
many organizations, the traditional
transaction-heavy functions continue
to dominate the shared services
landscape. As shown in Figure 6, we
found that the top services provided
continue to be in IT (75 percent) and
finance (58 percent).
11

Many organizations clearly would

like to be doing more; as Figure 7
shows, within five years, nearly half
of all respondents envision their
organizations delivering value-add
and/or atypical services (49 percent
and 48 percent respectively).
So why havent shared services
organizations been able to provide
more value-add or atypical services
to date? At the heart of the issue may
be a traditional resistance to change
among executives at the operating
units served. In our interviews with
shared services leaders we frequently
heard that, although their shared
services organizations had demonstrated
process excellence and delivered lower
costs every year, they continued to
have to fight the perception that the
shared services organizations were
merely transaction factories.
It can almost seem a constraint
caused by their success; some shared
services organizations have proven
themselves so excellent at what they
do, that they have been typecast
into the transaction role. To avoid this
stereotype, shared services organizations
must look for ways to constantly
evolveand more importantly, be able
to tell their evolution story effectively.
Our research uncovered a number of
progressive shared services organizations that are succeeding quite well at
marketing the value they bring.
For example, we spoke to one
experienced practitioner in the travel
industry who has embraced value
marketing as one of the key tools
that will enable his shared services
organization to provide higher-order
services as it continues its journey to
integrated business services. He found
that the regular client communications
that showed how well his organization
was performing against service level
agreements had become usual and
expectedwith little impact on
perception. When he thought

12

Figure 7. Nearly half of all respondents expect to be providing value-add and/or

atypical services within five years.
Please indicate what type of services you plan to provide in five years:
(multiple mentions)
76%

49%

Typical services
(e.g., finance, HR,
procurement)

48%

Value-add services
(e.g., data analytics,
research)

about what his organization had

accomplished over a decade of service
delivery evolution (including a track
record of not writing off a single
accounting discrepancy in 10 years
and clear year-over-year cost
reductions through execution
excellence), he sought to elevate
these successes to the level of
attention they deserved.
The leader undertook a program of
value marketing: proclaiming all the
extra value that his organization
has provided in a quarterly client
newsletter. For example, his organization
found that some online travel brokers
who charge in advance were keeping
the money when a traveler canceled
their plans. Through centralized
processes and systems, plus a proven
ability to analyze complex issues, his
shared services organization had the
ability to recover that revenue. In the
past, such a value-add service would
never have been given proper credit.
Now however, with his progressive

Atypical services
(e.g., communications,
treasury, legal)

communications program focused on

marketing the value delivered, this
shared services leader has established
credibility among his clients. His
clients see his organization in a
new light and that has enabled his
organization to cross the threshold
from traditional to value-add
services, such as M&A analysis and
data analytics. His success illustrates
the power of self-promotion for shared
services organizations ready to step
out of the shadows and into the
strategic prominence of integrated
business services.

Integrated Business Services

Integrated business servicesthe

logical extension of the proven and
pragmatic shared services
transformations that began over 20
years agoappears finally to have
arrived on the scene. Integrated
business services are independent
service businesses that leverage
the global geographic footprint of
the organization (and any of its
outsourcing partners) to deliver
consistent, high-quality services
at a competitive cost while
maintaining proximity to the
customer where required.

Operating units and government

agencies have already shown they
can do more together than they can
apart for individual functions; with
integrated business services they are
now applying that same logic across
functions to begin providing one-stop
service for entire processes. Integrated
business services simplified, one-stopservice-based nature dramatically
enhances service because it allows
customers to resolve business issues
without having to navigate the
organizational complexities of a
traditional multi-function shared
services model.

The emergence of integrated business

services is bringing a long-envisioned
hub-and-spoke model to genuine
fruition. In integrated business
services, the global or enterprise-wide
hub(s) performs routine activities in
a standardized manner in very few
cost competitive locations. Then the
regional business services centers
(the spokes) leverage existing regional
shared services organizations and
talent to move up the value chain,
taking on higher-order services that
require more specialized skills (which,
in turn, opens up new opportunities
for employees to move up the career

13

ladder as well). Finally, locally

deployed business service professionals
provide and maintain customer and
market intimacy.
Integrated business services
organizations broad responsibility for
end-to-end business services gives
them a new vantage point, which
enables them to bring whole new
levels of strategic value to the
organization. For example, pioneering
integrated business services
organizations in consumer goods
and services companies are now
providing support for their enterprise
sales and marketing organizations
through trade promotion management,
consumer contact, digital marketing
and merchandising initiatives, and
consumer and merchandise analytics.
Similarly, each industry will have its
own specific value-add opportunities,
such as records management in health
and public service, fraud prevention
and monitoring in financial services,
or load forecasting and analysis in
electric and gas utilities.
With integrated business services,
customers consume services in a more
straightforward way than the
collection of functional activities
shared services historically has
provided. As a result, the integrated
business services organization typically
develops a new understanding and
cohesion with their operating unit
customers. Progressive shared services
leaders have their sights set on such
an outcome. As one executive
explained, The integrated business
services framework is universal. It
provides a true north that crosses
continents. It is proven to work and
there is no reason that it cant be
implemented globally.

14

Figure 8. Shared services organizations are more often reporting to organizational

levels higher than functional leaders.
To whom does the shared services organization report?
17%

16%

CEO

President

59%
26%

COO,
VP of Operations

41%

Functional leader
(CFO, CIO,CHRO, etc.)

Certainly, our survey respondents seem

intent on trying: 90 percent reported
that they had added additional
geographies/markets to the scope of
their shared services, typically within
the first three years of starting
operations. Because integrated
business services organizations take
on a more strategic position in the
enterprise-wide operating model than
traditional shared services, it also
makes sense that as shared services
migrate toward integrated business
services, reporting relationships should
elevate to higher-level executives than
ever before. Our research reveals the
trend happening. As shown in Figure 8,
shared services organizations
are less likely now to report to a
functional leader (41 percent) than
they are to C-level leadership (59
percent). As a point of reference, in
2009, when we released our Achieving
High Performance through Shared
Services: Lessons from the Masters

report, 8 percent of the shared services

organizations that participated in our
research reported to a CEO. Today, that
number is 17 percent.
The elevation of leadership role is
encouraging; however, effectively
moving to integrated business services
also demands a level of standardization
that stems from a shift to end-to-end
process ownership and governance at
a more global level. As described in
the earlier process excellence section,
this move has been somewhat slow in
coming. Our research indicates that
while shared services organizations
clearly desire (and are beginning
to structure themselves to pursue)
the benefits of integrated business
services, many still find it a challenge
to achieve the benefits in a predictable
and efficient way. In fact, Accenture
experience has been that few

Figure 9. The decision to outsource usually is made within three to four years of
starting up a shared services organization.
If you have outsourced services, at what point did you make this decision?
9%

69%

At start-up

25%

One to two years after

start-up

35%

Three to four years after

start-up

12%

Five to six years after start-up

8%

Six to 10 years after start-up

5%
6%

Greater than 10 years after start-up

organizations actually enjoy a true

integrated business services capability.
If, as we expect, integrated business
services increasingly becomes the
norm for shared services, the necessary
changes to global process definition,
implementation and ownership will
have to follow suit.
Accentures experience also leads us to
conclude that as integrated business
services matures, those who are
successful will benefit not only from
global scale, leveraging of cost-effective
locations and effective use of resources
(both people and technology), but will
also have a structure to effectively
manage outsourcing arrangements
around the world. As service
organizations take on increasingly

No outsourcing used

complex activities, local and regional

service delivery will become a
requirement. At the same time, the
availability of highly qualified talent
in low-cost locations will make it
increasingly attractive to maximize
the use of outsourcing providers.
Some of these arrangements will
likely get creative. According to a
recent news brief in Bloomberg
Businessweek2, a growing trend toward
homesourcing (a combination of
outsourcing and telecommuting) is set
to explode. Our research found that 80
percent of respondents already propose
flexible work arrangementsmainly
working from home. By enabling
homesourcing, previously untapped
highly skilled labor pools may suddenly
become viable staffing options for
shared services organizations focusing
on innovative and value-add services.

of dealing with fluctuations in wage

arbitrage. Shared services is shared
services, no matter who is getting paid
to operate a given function or service
in a given geography. From the clients
perspective, all that should matter
is that their service expectations are
satisfied. As the need to tap into new
locations becomes apparent because
of these issues, shared services
organizations could potentially set up
shop quickly by using a homesourced
(either captive or outsourced) workforce
and circumventing the traditional
brick-and-mortar infrastructure.
Our study does show outsourcing
gaining ground and being leveraged
in many geographies where it makes
economic sense. Shared services
organizations that take this route
seem to come to it rather quickly;
our research shows typically within
the three to four years after a
shared services program start-up
(see Figure 9).
Managing these multiple sourcing
arrangements consistently is a
challenge for most organizations.
Again, regardless of the entity
providing the serviceincluding thirdparty providersthe global process
owners must manage the entirety of
the end-to-end process. Organizations
that are successfully using integrated
business services to drive high
performance already have experience
managing globally and can help by
applying the same level of discipline
consistently across all service delivery
partners. Their ability to maintain
this level of service delivery rigor
will become increasingly important
to their clients as the drive for
global optimization of low-cost
locations continues.

Such flexible options may solve some

of the difficulties associated with
obtaining local language skills, and
15

New Technologies Impacting a

Mature Business Model

Cloud Computing
As shared services leaders look to the
future, new technologies are clearly
on their mind. When asked about the
advances they expect to have the
largest impact on the future of their
shared services organizations, cloud
computing technology rises to the top
(42 percent).
The interest likely comes down to
some old familiar themesaccess,
cost and scalability. Cloud computing
technologies easily provide anytime/
anywhere access to applications,
platforms and infrastructure. Shared
services can leverage this accessibility
via multiple sourcing options from
offshore to near shore to any shore.
As clients continue to grow in their
needs for services, cloud computing
provides a platform for shared services
to scale to business needs quickly,
yet still manage its risk mitigation
responsibilities in a cost-effective,
virtual manner.

Social Media
Social media also has the attention
of the shared services leaders we
surveyed. Ninety percent of all survey
respondents expect social media to
have an impact on their business in
the future (see Figure 10). Despite
the explosive importance of social
media, however, many shared services
leaders are taking a wait-and-see
approach. Many fear employees will
overuse social media for personal
reasons, resulting in a loss of focus and
productivity. They know they need a
point of view and an approach going
forward, but they are still observing
and learning. As one executive stated,
Were still wrestling with where it is
appropriate and helpful.
Although our interviewees mentioned
increased collaboration (both internally
among shared services organization
employees and externally, with clients)
as a potential benefit, they are still
uncertain exactly what positive
business impact social media will have
on a shared services organization.
Accenture believes social media can
constructively impact the shared
services organization from knowledge
management to customer service
and other business areas in between.

16

If objectives are clearly defined and

correctly implemented, it can improve
collaborative engagement within
shared services organizations, resulting
in the ability to draw upon the
entire organization for continuous
improvement while giving employees a
sense of ownership and satisfaction. It
will allow the shared services organization
to leverage its collective knowledge
in providing up-to-the-minute best
thinking, acting as a growing virtual
encyclopedia and an invaluable tool for
knowledge management.

Figure 10. Shared services leaders almost unanimously agree that social media will
have an impact on their business, although they are less certain of how.
What impact do you believe social media will have on your workforce?
(multiple mentions)
Expect an impact
from social media

90%

Increase internal
collaboration and
improve productivity

57%

Increase collaboration
with clients and
service excellence

56%

Increase shared
services employee
job satisfaction

Do not expect
an impact from
social media

43%

10%

Figure 11. Shared services organizations currently approach knowledge

management in a myriad of ways.
How would you best describe your approach to knowledge management?
(single answer)
Common collaboration tools used
to manage knowledge assets

36%

Formal process with dedicated

knowledge manager but no tools
available to manage knowledge assets

32%

Loosely defined process

and toolset

16%

Function-specific tools used

to manage knowledge assets
No knowledge
management capabilities

Currently, knowledge management

approaches vary widely among shared
services organizations (see Figure 11).
Using social media tools may allow
shared services organizations with
a weakness in this area to exploit
an approach that already has a high
degree of familiarity and ease of use
for the employee. By encouraging
the use of social media in this way,
the shared services organization
can continue to foster a common,
shared culture within the shared
services organization, regardless of
employee location.
Accenture believes social media
will also alter shared services
organizations relationships with their
clients (both internally and externally)
in very positive ways. A key example is
the customer service area. Per our 2010
thought leadership piece The Evolution
of Customer Service: Harnessing the
Potential of Social Media, Social media
can help companies improve customer
issue resolution and reduce cost while
building loyalty and advocacy among
its most knowledgeable customers. To
tap the enormous potential of social
media for improving the customer
service experience, companies need
a clear strategy and long-term plan
for using social media channels in
ways that create value while avoiding
inadvertently doing harm to their
reputation. Indeed, while integrating
social media into customer service
does involve some risk, not using this
increasingly popular channel is risky
as well."3

14%
2%

17

The Future of Shared Services: What Will

the Next Decade Bring?

Shared services has come a long way

since it first broke ground, and we
believe changes of similar scale are on
the horizon. The future shared services
model will look very different than it
does today. For example, in line with
the growing prominence of the
hub-and-spoke model of integrated
business services, we may see more
rather than fewer shared services
nodes in the network. Shared services
may even become ubiquitous as
organizations begin to see that those
who expand shared services scope
and strategic value through integrated
business services leapfrog ahead of
their competition.

18

Regional nodes will be smaller

than we have seen traditionally,
closer to their customers and more
skill-based. They will accommodate
time zones, languages and regulations,
while working seamlessly with hubs
providing routine and procedure-driven
activities (which can now be located
anywhere, thanks to technology and
the cloud). For some, this future
view is already a reality in the making,
with shared services becoming a
platform for new heights of
organizational performance.
One shared services leader we
interviewed expressed that he was
still seeking the lights-out model
that was promised over a decade ago,
where everything is so automated and
exception-free, that the traditional
shared services organization becomes
much less prominent. We do not
envision such a lights-out future
for shared servicesat least not any
time soon. For while we have seen
that shared services staffing has
shrunk significantly over the last
10 years for traditional transaction
processes, our study this year also
shows that there is a new generation
of atypical and value-add services
that will increasingly be delivered,
with the same proven discipline. Once
the service management framework,
or the system around the system, is
working smoothly, we believe shared
services operators will be confident in
delivering a host of different types of
business services.

The shared services model has

staying power. We already see many
shared services leaders making very
interesting incremental investments
to apply the shared services model
to more innovative and value-add
services. And we believe these services
will have become, in fact, much more
commonplace by the time we conduct
our next shared services study.
We will watch the future unfold with
interest, for we are confident that as
the shared services model continues to
evolve, it will continue to deliver value
beyond expectations for those with the
vision to see beyond the business case.
And we believe thatas it has always
been since shared services inception
the gap between what is and what can
be will continue to be bridged by the
innovative spirit of pioneering shared
services leaders.

Notes
1 http://www.accenture.com/us-en/
Pages/insight-achieving-high-perfor
mance-through-shared-services summary.aspx
2 http://www.businessweek.com/tech
nology/homesourcing.htm
3 http://www.accenture.com/us-en/
Pages/insight-harnessing-potential social-media-summary.aspx

19

For more information on how

Accenture can help your organization
achieve high performance through
shared services, now and tomorrow,
please contact us at
fpm.service.line@accenture.com.

Copyright 2011 Accenture

All rights reserved.
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High Performance Delivered
are trademarks of Accenture.
This document is produced by Accenture
as general information on the subject.
It is not intended to provide advice
on your specific circumstances. If you
require advice or further details on
any matters referred to, please contact
your Accenture representative.

About Accenture
Accenture is a global management
consulting, technology services
and outsourcing company, with
approximately 236,000 people serving
clients in more than 120 countries.
Combining unparalleled experience,
comprehensive capabilities across
all industries and business functions,
and extensive research on the worlds
most successful companies, Accenture
collaborates with clients to help them
become high-performance businesses
and governments. The company
generated net revenues of US$25.5
billion for the fiscal year ended
August 31, 2011. Its home page is
www.accenture.com.