SSON Shared Services Industry Report 2017

2017 State of THE
Shared
Services
Industry Report
Back to Basics
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Index
2017: Back to Basics 3
Survey respondents’ demographics 4
Part I: Back to Basics
What are shared services up against? 5
What are the most popular operating models? 6
What defines service performance? 8
What are the key success metrics? 11
How do SSOs charge for services? 13
How are annual efficiency targets set and measured? 15
How is automation changing the game plan? 16
PART II: How are shared services going to improve their performance?
Stretching end-to-end 18
Transactional work giving way to knowledge work 20
Rethinking the global footprint 22
Implementing more process automation 24
Recruiting and training for new skills 29
BPO: what role does it (still) play? 32
How are you redefining your shared services strategy for the future? 34
Closing Summary 35
Who is SSON…and how can we help you? 36
SSON Events Calendar 37
02 www.ssonetwork.com
2017 State of THE
Shared
Services
Industry Report
2017:
Back to basics
The past two years have been full of dramatic headlines foretelling the end of Shared
Services as we know it. A new “digital” workforce, we’ve been told, will be running
much of the show. Management will only be interested in data and the story it tells,
and the ‘services’ role of Shared Services will be automated away.
The reality, as you all know, is that the fundamentals of Shared Services – providing
cost-effective, reliable support to the business – still count.
So this year we are bucking the trend to lead with what you might call an antidote to
the craziness. We are not focusing on digital or robotics or virtual. Some of you, after
all, don’t have a single robot in your team yet, let alone an army. Robotics and digital
workflows are not part of your day-to-day reality. Which is why, for the next few years,
the fundamentals will remain key in guiding your SSC strategy. And that’s why it’s
important that this year’s survey provides the real, untainted answers that you need,
now, more than ever.
So this year we ask: How are you best serving your customers? How do you
measure your success? How do you charge for services? How do you resource most
effectively? How do you set efficiency targets?
The answers to these questions also shed light on how you are leveraging new
technology – and that is precisely the point. The framework for the customer/SSO
exchange remains one based on solid, reliable, cost-effective, service delivery. What
our survey shows is that today, this delivery is still predominantly about performance
and excellence – but resourcing is changing dramatically.
More than 400 Shared Services and Outsourcing practitioners took part in this year’s
survey, representing centers from across the globe, both single- and multifunctional,
in-country and Global. We thank each and every one of you that responded for
taking the time to play your part in this report.
Barbara Hodge
Editor
SSON
Survey respondents’ demographics
Where are the SSO

28% respondents located?
29%
24% Asia Australia
Europe South America
4% North America Africa
6%
9%
eAre
are the
they/how
Maturities
What
do of
stage
the are they/how
What
What
do Geographies
stage are the
ns/Regions
nt?
ine themselves:
They Represent?
they define themselves:
are they
they define
Servicing?
them
Where are they on the What stage are they/ What geographies
maturity spectrum? how do they define are they servicing?
themselves?
5% 5% 5%
16% 16% 16%

23% 25%
% 34% 23% 23%
43%
27% 27% 27
20%
29% 29% 32% 29%
23%
0 - 3 years Shifting to Mature Global

ions Do
Which
3 - 5 years Functions DoStabilizing What is their
Regional Wha
esent? 5Over
They
- 10 years
Represent?
10 years
Mature
New Launch
Operating Model?
Country
Operat
Trailblazer
Which functions do they represent? What is their operating model?
23% 8%
62% 28% 62% 21%

19% 19%
15% 5%
50% 33% 50%

47%
37%
F&A Procurement Multi Function SSO Outsourced

HR Data Analytics Single Function SSO Single Function GBS
IT Other Multi Function GBS
Sales & Marketing
What are shared services
up against?
ERP complexity is one of the issues that significantly limits the performance of
Shared Services and the much quoted ideal of “one ERP system” seems elusive –
so it was interesting to note that a full third of respondents do indeed benefit from
just such a landscape. The biggest segment of our respondents covered up to five
ERP systems, however.
The other challenge is geographical scope. While 1 in 4 centers still service
in country operations, nearly half cover a global customer base, with all the
complexity this implies in terms of language, time zone, and distance.
How many instances of ERP are you supporting via SSO/GBS?
1
35%
2-5
48%
6-10
10%
More than 10
7%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
What geographies are they servicing?
43% 32% 25%
Global Regional Country
What is
are the most popular
their
operating
Operating models?
Model?
Two-thirds of this year’s survey respondents describe their SSO model as
“multifunctional”. What is notable is that, despite the many discussions
around Global Business Services, true GBS implementations are still rare.
8%
What is their operating model?
21% Multi Function SSO
19%
Single Function SSO
5%
Single Function GBS
Outsourced
Multi Function GBS
47%
What we also noted, however, is that GBS models do correlate with maturity
(as measured in years). One third of the Shared Services at 10 years plus operate
as multifunctional GBS, compared to just 17% of new launches.
Single Single Multi Multi

Function Function Function Function
SSO GBS SSO GBS Outsourced Total
0 - 3 years 24% 7% 46% 17% 5% 38%
3 -5 years 25% 6% 52% 11% 6% 22%
5 - 10 years 18% 4% 46% 21% 12% 19%
Over 10 years 14% 2% 41% 33% 10% 21%
What are the most popular
operating models? continued...
The vast majority of these Shared Services are staffed by inhouse or captive
resources. A mere 1 out of 12 centers is mainly BPO driven, and although hybrid
partnerships are somewhat more common, they still lag inhouse resourced models.
How have you resourced this model?
58% 12% 30%
All inhouse / Mainly BPO-driven Hybrid

captive (inhouse plus BPO)
When we compare operating models to resourcing strategies, a more granular

picture emerges whereby mature multifunctional centers are staffed mainly
inhouse (albeit GBS models tend to use more hybrid models). Single function
Shared Services [non-GBS] show the least reliance on outsource partnering.
All inhouse / Mainly BPO Hybrid

captive driven (Inhouse plus BPO) Total
Single Function SSO 74% 8% 18% 21%

Single Function GBS 47% 20% 33% 5%
Multi Function SSO 62% 9% 29% 46%
Multi Function GBS 54% 7% 39% 20%
Outsourced – 48% 43% 8%
What defines service
performance?
A fundamental element of Shared Services is meeting customer requirements,
or delivering service excellence. We wanted to find out, therefore, how Shared
Services Centers are defining their performance [a.k.a. customer service].
A large segment still lists “meeting SLAs” as their core metric, but an interesting
development is the equal ranking given to “collaborative partnerships,”
acknowledging the trend towards customer-centric services.
What did not rate highly is also significant: Cost, perhaps given low hanging fruit
already reaped; but also Quality, and Analytics Insights, where we might have
expected to see more appreciation for their impact on performance.
What defines the service performance [customer service]

of your shared services?
38%
Meeting
36%
service level
agreements Partnership,
based on
collaborative
teamwork
that allows for
adjustments
along the way
10%
Consistent
customer
6% 6%
experience Lowest- Helping
across all
channels
cost service
provision
customers make
better business
4%
(omnichannel) decisions Lowest error
through data rate/rework
analytics
performance? continued...
Eight of 10 centers are still relying on continuous improvement and process
excellence to drive performance. Automation and teamwork also feature strongly
but digitalization is not yet recognized as a performance enabler, indicating that
SSOs have some catching up to do compared with front-office operations.
How are you driving service performance?
Collaborative
teamwork and training
56%
Implementing
automation /technology
54%
Analytics and
decision support 26%
Digitalization
10%
Continuous
improvement/process
excellence 80%
Through customer
feedback/surveys 31%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Given the continued popularity of process excellence as the number one

performance driver, we also wanted to understand how Shared Services Centers
were driving towards it. Standardization emerged as the leading strategy, trailed by
continuous improvement (see next page chart).
Again, we see a surprising lack of recognition or initiatives regarding workflow
automation or digitalization. Only outsourced models showed any recognition of
workflow automation as significantly supporting process excellence.
In addition, only “trailblazers” listed end-to-end process management as a
significant driver of performance.
performance? continued...
How are you ensuring process excellence?
Response
Answer Options Percent
Prioritizing process standardization
45%
and centralization
Prioritizing workflow automation 10%
Prioritizing process digitalization 5%
Prioritizing continuous improvement
23%
/lean/6 Sigma strategies
Prioritizing end-to-end process
16%
management
Other (please specify) 1%
Why is workflow automation Why is end-to-end process

not more popular? management not more popular?
Only outsourced or multi Trailblazers show a definite
functional GBS show higher preference for E2E strategies
recognition of its value
5%
42% 29%
7%
22%
9% 6%
13%
14% 22%
Outsourced Trailblazer
Multi Function GBS New Launch
Multi Function SSO Mature
Single Function GBS Shifting to Mature
Single Function SSO Stabilizing
What are the key success metrics?
The majority of centers are still focusing on productivity-based metrics, i.e. time-
based metrics, to qualify their performance. This tendency is particularly significant
in outsourced arrangements. However, we also see a strong showing for value-
based – i.e., quality – metrics.
Across all Shared Services models, “work absorbed through automation” (i.e. the
elimination of FTEs) is not yet recognized as a significant determinant of success,
perhaps due to RPA still not being widely implemented (although it is widely
planned). Only 6% of respondents listed this as a key metric of success. Even
“trailblazers” did not rank this significantly – although they showed the highest
rankings of value based metrics.
What are your key success metrics/KPIs?
6
6%
6% P
roductivity based
[pre-agreed time metrics for a given process step]
Value based
41% [pre-agreed quality metrics for a given process step]
20% Cost-based
[pre-agreed cost metrics for a given process step]
Other
19% ork absorbed through automation

W
[eliminating FTEs]
Work
absorbed
Productivity Cost Value through
based based based automation Other Total
Single Function SSO 45% 18% 23% 6% 8% 21%
Single Function GBS 33% 33% 27% 0% 7% 5%
Multi Function SSO 39% 15% 31% 9% 6% 46%
Multi Funtion GBS 47% 24% 24% 2% 3% 20%
Outsourced 35% 26% 30% 4% 4% 8%
What are the key success metrics? continued...
Work
absorbed
Productivity Cost Value through
based based based automation Other
New Launch 37% 25% 25% 4% 8%
Stabilizing 51% 19% 23% 5% 2%
Shifting to Mature 41% 15% 27% 8% 9%
Mature 39% 22% 28% 6% 5%
Trailblazer 17% 0% 75% 8% 0%
Value measure
“Value” continues to be a term that is much debated within the Shared Services
community. Is it measured in cost savings? In jobs saved? In business insights?
The three definitions that stood out in our survey, albeit with a narrow lead, are
improved customer service, improved economies of scale, and improved
productivity. Value continues to be defined, therefore, by service and productivity –
both fundamental characteristics of Shared Services – so no surprise there.
What is a surprise, is what was not chosen: data analytics, business intelligence,
enterprise agility, and automation all ranked at the bottom of the list – although GBS
centers do value agility more than other models. Outsourced services also showed
far greater recognition of the value of improved data/business intelligence for better
decision-making than other models.
Improved enterprise Improved data analytics /

agility business intelligence
Only Multifunctional GBS Multifunctional GBS show the lowest
recognise agility as a value driver appreciation of analytics as value driver;
Outsourced models show the highest
3%
9% 16%
22%
10%
20%
15%
25%
19%
Multi Function GBS Outsourced Outsourced Single Function SSO

Multi Function SSO Single Function SSO Single Function GBS Multi Function GBS
Multi Function SSO
How do SSOs charge for services?
The majority of Shared Services operate on a break even basis, with just a quarter
working for-profit. GBS centers show a higher propensity for profit models than
others, however.
Do you operate as a profit center or on a breakeven basis?
23% 66% 11%
Profit Breakeven Other

(Cost Center the most
popular alternative)
Profit Breakeven
Single Function SSO 13% 68%
Single Function GBS 33% 67%
Multi Function SSO 23% 65%
Multi Function GBS 31% 64%
Outsourced 35% 9%
How do SSOs charge for services? continued...
For the largest segment of respondents, the charging mechanism is still based on
FTEs, rather than transactions or outcomes, and the pricing strategy is “cost-plus
margin” – although we see multifunctional/GBS centers also listing allocation-
based charging models.
Pricing
strategy
2%
Other
30%
34% 34%
Cost-plus-
margin
Cost- Not
based applicable
Charging
mechanism
5% 4%
Other
10%
Outcome/
value-
17% based
21% 19%
Service
requirement
Allocation-
Transaction-
based
based
24% Not
based applicable
FTE-based
How are annual efficiency
targets set and measured?
An encouraging development is how efficiency targets are being set. While
these have commonly taken the form of 5% cost reduction, or similar, we now
see a significant segment (the largest) describing their annual efficiency target
as the ability to expand scope or absorb work without adding headcount. This
marks a deviation from old-school shared services management, which was
predominantly cost-focused, and shifts the discussion firmly onto capability,
leverage, and scale.
What is your annual efficiency target?
39%
20% 20%
13%
9%
5% cost More than Expanding Number Improved

saving 5% cost scope/work of roles cost
saving absorption eliminated efficiency per
without and/or transaction
adding automated
headcount through
digital
solutions
How is automation changing
the game plan?
Shared Services operations are clearly shifting away from FTE based delivery
models as they become more comfortable with process automation, albeit the
majority indicate they plan to keep activity inhouse.
Traditionally many centers took advantage of outsource providers’ technology
as an alternative way to tap into state-of-the-art innovations. Today, we are
increasingly seeing SSOs choosing to invest in some of these technology
innovations themselves, with less emphasis or reliance on BPOs.
Looking at robotic process automation specifically, which is generating a
lot of interest across Shared Services at the moment, a significant segment
of respondents believes that process automation will become a core
Shared Services center capability in future. This trend is most apparent
in multifunctional models.
How is automation impacting your shared services?
Shifting
away from FTE-based model
as process automation takes hold, but
remaining mainly inhouse
Shifting
away from FTE-based model as
process automation takes hold, and shifting
to mainly outsourced
No change
Other
52% 27%
16% 5%
How is automation changing
the game plan? continued...
What, if any, service delivery role do you see
RPA playing in your future operations?
Process automation will be a core Shared Service

Center capability enabling automation to reflect
the majority of processing with FTEs focused on
value add/Center of excellence activity
Selective automation of horizontal and/or
vertical processes
Little or no RPA impact
Substantial automation of horizontal processes
(F&A, HR, compliance, etc.) and also selective
40% automation of vertical processes

Other
26% 20% 12% 1%
How does this trend towards process automation play

out across different organizational models?
Multi Function GBS Multi Function Single

SSO Function SSO Single
Outsourced Function
GBS
40% 38% 38% 36% 29%
So much for the basics
How are shared services going to
improve their performance?
Stretching end-to-end
One of the fundamental drivers of value in Shared Services is the ability to
control more parts of a process. When given only a particular task to service,
overall process performance will still be limited by the quality of inputs and the
subsequent handling upstream. As a result, and with an eye on overall process
performance, one of the constant objectives of forward-looking or more mature
Shared Services is more control of a process from end-to-end. Benefits derive from
the integration of a process, and the ability to identify and address inefficiencies
across different tasks, including at handover. Indeed, our survey shows that
more than two thirds of our respondents are targeting end-to-end process
management. This is encouraging as it implies Shared Services’ ability to deliver
improved performance by exercising control over inputs as well as outputs for
each task, leverage synergies, and benefit from greater transparency across
the entire process.
Are you managing/targeting end-to-end process

control or do you service just one part of the process?
End-to-end
process 65%
One part
of the
process
35%
So much for the basics Continued...
This tendency towards E2E is consistent across all operating models, including
outsourced – however GBS models are in the lead, with nearly 3/4 of their
activities focused on end-to-end.
Are you managing/targeting end-to-end process

control or do you service just one part of the process?
Single 58%
Function SSO
42%
Single 67%
Function GBS
33%
Multi 67%
Function SSO
33%
Multi 73%
Function GBS
27%
61%
Outsourced
39%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
End-to-end process One part of the process
Transactional work giving
way to knowledge work
The historic driver for Shared Services was more efficient management of transactional
processing in the back office. With so many of these processes involving paper, manual
activity, and handoffs, the potential to standardize, centralize, and automate promised
big returns.
Many Shared Services have made significant strides in transactional processing,
either by leveraging low-cost labor, outsourcing, or taking advantage of technology.
Today, while the same requirements hold, increased specialization and smarter
resourcing – including the use of new technology solutions – has engineered an
undeniable shift from transaction and towards knowledge (“value-add”) services.
While we had already witnessed the emergence of this trend over the past few years,
our survey provides strong data that shows us just how far it has come. While only one
out of 10 Shared Services today is focused “mainly on knowledge services”, 70% of
respondents confirm that they are actively shifting in this direction. That means that
8 out of 10 Shared Services are committed to knowledge services.
Is your focus on ‘transactional & administrative’ or ‘knowledge’

work (latter generally linked to process automation / data
analytics and ‘moving up the value chain’)?
Mainly
Transactional 19%
Mainly Transactional but shifting to
Mainly Knowledge eventually 32%
Half and half

37%
Mainly
Knowledge 11%
Other
2%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Transactional work giving way to
knowledge work continued...
We see an even stronger trend when we analyze Shared Services maturity. New
centers have a strong transactional focus, although two thirds of this group are
also trending towards knowledge work. The more mature a center, the less its focus
tends to be on transactional work and the more we see a tendency towards
shifting to knowledge-centered work. The highest ratio of knowledge work is
performed by centers that are 10 years old, or older.
When we run the numbers against Shared Services delivery models, however,
another factor emerges: BPO-enabled services show a higher trend towards
knowledge work than do multifunctional or even GBS centers. One explanation
may be that shifting transactional work to outsource providers allows SSOs the
space to expand their scope into knowledge services.
Mainly Transactional
Mainly but shifting to mainly Half and Mainly
Transactional knowledge eventually Half Knowledge
New Launch 34% 23% 33% 9%
Stabilizing 22% 36% 35% 7%
Shifting to Mature 16% 36% 38% 9%
Mature 9% 34% 38% 15%
Trailblazer 10% 20% 45% 20%
How does the age of an SSO How does the organizational

determines its preference for model determine a preference
“mainly knowledge work”? for “mainly knowledge work”?
22% 26%
Over 10 years Outsourced
9% 15%
0 - 3 years Multi Function GBS
11%
6% Single Function SSO
3 - 5 years
7%
Single Function GBS
4% 7%
5 - 10 years
Multi Function SSO
Rethinking the global footprint
Now let’s look at service delivery from a location perspective.
We find from our survey that transactional services are still being predominantly
delivered, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, from on- or nearshore captives/inhouse
centers. Other options such as offshore captives, hybrids, and both on- or offshore
BPOs all rank far lower.
What we also note is that more than half of our respondents are already
leveraging RPA for transactional work.
How is transactional and administrative work being sourced?
50%
16% 15%
10% 9%
On/nearshore Offshore/ Hybrid Offshore / BPO On/nearshore

captive Captive BPO
Is RPA being leveraged for this work?
Yes
No Planning to
47% 35% 19%
Rethinking the global footprint continued...
If we now shift our attention to knowledge work, again, the vast majority, nearly
2/3, are doing this work on- or nearshore through captives or inhouse centers.
But in contrast to transactional work, we see nearly 70% of centers not yet using
RPA in this area. Potentially a growth area.
How is knowledge work being sourced?

64%
15%
9% 6% 3% 3%
On/nearshore Hybrid Offshore/ On/nearshore Offshore / BPO Other

captive Captive BPO
Is RPA being leveraged for this work?
No
Yes Planning to
8% 68% 24%
One key finding from our survey is that on- and nearshore is the vastly preferred strategy
for delivering knowledge work at present: As the chart shows, nearly 2/3 of respondents
list on- and nearshore as the preferred sourcing model for this kind of activity
Implementing more
process automation
The data on knowledge service delivery, above, highlights an opportunity for RPA
to be further deployed within Shared Services, perhaps in an enterprise capacity,
to support additional value- or knowledge-based services. A large segment of
our respondents indicates that it plans to work directly with RPA vendors, through
internal Centers of Excellence (COEs), for example, which act as an inhouse
resource.
If RPA is expected to play role in future service delivery operations,

how do you foresee this automation technology being implemented?
ork directly with a RPA vendor

W
and create centralized internal
11% 15% centers of excellence
System integrator to help build an
internal operating model across
business units and geographies
ork directly with an RPA vendor
W
32% 27% and leverage existing decentralized
in-house expertise
BPO provider to plan, design and
implement an operating model
15% customized to my needs
Other
A second popular strategy supports RPA as a system integrator to help build an

internal operating model across business units and geographies, in more of an
enterprise platform capability.
Both trends indicate a deeper understanding of RPA and improved awareness of
how best to leverage it – not simply as a point by point implementation, but within
a broader strategy that reaches across the business.
This is very much in line with the approach and solutions that some of themore
forward thinking providers are now delivering [see also Interview on page 26].
Implementing more process
automation continued...
Across all operating models, the most popular strategy that emerges is one driven
by a centralized COE – whereby we still see the GBS model taking the lead in this
approach.
Given that the majority of respondents are planning to work directly with an RPA
vendor and create centralized internal centers of excellence, how does the SSO
model influence this strategy?
Organisational model driving RPA strategy
Single Function GBS

Multi Function GBS
Single Function SSO
Multi Function SSO
Outsourced
%
43
39% 35% 27% 23%
A large segment of our respondents indicates

that it plans to work directly with RPA vendors,
through internal Centers of Excellence (COEs), for
example, which act as an inhouse resource.
A new way of business:
RPA and its digital workforce –
what it means to practitioners
If you want to make robotic process automation part of your operations, the first thing you
need to ask yourself is what you want to use it for. That, effectively, is the key message to
practitioners, from anyone who has real experience with RPA solutions.
arbara Hodge speaks with Tristan Gitman,

B
Automation Strategist at Blue Prism, about the
far-reaching implications of the new digital workforce.
Q: We hear a lot about desktop The challenge is to start with a project that
automation versus enterprise automation. captures the attention of senior leaders – and this
What’s the real opportunity here? inevitably works better when it impacts customer-
facing processes and can be traced to bottom-
Anything can be automated, because we have line improvements. Once you have that, and your
the technology to do it. However, to take on a leaders are engaged, then you can shift to the
holistic enterprise RPA platform is ambitious. More back office. But it’s important to understand the
commonly, we see “assisted” automations, whereby technology first.
parts of a process are automated as opposed to
end-to-end processes. One of the challenges in
support services is the frequency of hand offs, so Q: What is making RPA so popular
while these desktop process automations take right now?
on tasks, they are still dependent on the pace of
inputs, or the performance of the humans they had Automation has been going on for a long time.
their tasks on to, again. What sets “robotic process” automation apart
is that it has become easy to implement across
To get to the big, enterprise wins, practitioners need various tasks. Today, nearly anyone can use or
to think outside the box and get some influential even design robotics, given the right tools, without
stakeholders behind them. Businesses today have having to have a technical background. That is the
the opportunity to reinvent their operations based differentiator. You are no longer reliant on IT, and
on the digital workforce. While extreme examples you can control your own implementations.
are represented by Amazon or Uber, most brick-
and-mortar companies can still take part. Robotic
process automation – through enterprise platforms Q: Why is it that robotics’ use in the
that integrate software, provide end-to-end
transparency, and accuracy – will play a big role
“back-office” is only now emerging?
in future, digital enterprises. Enterprise automation Robotics, or any performance improvement tool,
implies doing a lot of things differently, however, and generally makes big headlines when it’s used at
will incorporate things like bitcoin, digital finance, the customer interface, in other words, when it has
blockchain, artificial intelligence … and many more a direct impact on the bottom line – for example,
things to come. by onboarding new customers faster, and more
easily. The customer has a positive experience
The point is not that one approach is better than
which in turn feeds a new pipeline of customers.
the other. To plug problematic gaps in processing,
RPA is a perfect solution, but even when applied In what used to be called the “back- or middle-
across multiple points, the wins are discrete, limited. office”, things are a little murkier because the
Enterprise process automation, on the other hand, impact is not as transparent, but the power of RPA
is far more ambitious by providing the ultimate in is still there. Where robotics is really grabbing the
integrated systems and transparency that reaches attention of Shared Services leaders is in its ability
across the entire enterprise. to circumnavigate common hurdles. For example,
Today, nearly anyone can use or even design robotics, given
the right tools, without having to have a technical background.
That is the differentiator. You are no longer reliant on IT, and you
can control your own implementations.
at the end of each year most SSO leaders will have or different data. It required a lot of IT hours, your
a list of initiatives to help deliver on next year’s own staff’s hours, and teamwork, to make these
strategic objectives. Many of these objectives updates. With robotics you simply change the
depend on technology enablement however, instruction – everything else already exists.
because they are, increasingly, being linked to
knowledge work.
There are a few core challenges, here. The first is Q: What are the real wins of RPA?
internal technology constraints that might How are they measured?
enable only a partial achievement of objectives; While front-office activities tend to be measured
the second is resource limitations; and the third financially – they feed straight through to the
concerns the need to constantly adapt to bottom line – the real advantage of back-
changing external regulations. In a non process- office RPA is not necessarily measured in cost.
automated world, these constraints can derail your Instead, immediate improvements in quality and
initiatives (indeed, do). However, RPA provides a transparency; the ability to respond quickly to
helpful fix. compliance requirements; and better employee
On the technology side, it makes it possible to engagement, are where the rewards fall. The
deliver on time by enabling businesses to augment latter is particularly important today, as attrition
the gaps that they are trying to remediate with is a concern and companies are making
enterprise technologies. RPA means you can give employee engagement a priority. By removing
instructions to software that can handle new transactional work and freeing people up to do
requirements. So you gain the time needed to more interesting, value-adding work the knock-on
address bigger updates or shifts. effect is less attrition.
On resourcing, robotics makes it possible to Two key things are at stake here. First, the ability
repurpose resources easily. Robots represent a of RPA to enable execution; and second, an
digital workforce in an increasingly virtual world, improved sourcing opportunity. RPA benefits
which can be attached to any task, for any given execution through improved accuracy, throughput,
period. Once completed, the software simply shifts and transparency. It offers improved sourcing
to another task. There is no waste and no time lost capability by supporting people’s engagement
as resources are redeployed. and their productivity, which impacts execution
cycles and increases capacity.
Changing regulations have, traditionally,
represented one of the biggest headaches The improvement in operational performance is the
for support services, Finance as well as HR and ‘big bang’ of RPA – and that goes far broader and
others. Right now, it’s not unusual to have 80 or so is far more sustainable than simple task-fixes that
regulatory updates within the Financial Services are measured in time and money.
industry, in any given year. In the past, this meant www.BluePrism.com
rewriting procedures, adjusting to new ways of
executing, and updating systems to allow for more
www.ssonetwork.com
Recruiting and training
for new skills
Given the emphasis on process excellence, as noted earlier, it’s no surprise to find
that more than three quarters of Shared Services identified process excellence
or continuous improvement skills as key to the success of their team. Roughly a
third of respondents also identified technology/automation and data analytics as
important skills, although multifunctional centers tended to value these more than
other models.
It’s also interesting to note that new centers value technology and automation
skills more than most of the other maturities, while mature centers/trailblazers gave
data analytics the highest marks compared to other maturities.
Only trailblazers valued negotiation and relationship management significantly,
with nearly 50% identifying this as a key skill for their team.
Which are the top skills you

are prioritising in your team?
Process excellence/continuous improvement
57%
78%
Functional expertise
(HR processes, Finance processes, etc)
Customer service
Technology/automation
Data analytics
Negotiation & relationship management
35% 51%
22%
34%
Top skills prioritized by maturity
Negotiation Process
and excellence /
Relationship Data continuous Technology Functional Customer
Management analytics improvement / automation expertise Service
New Launch 16% 29% 80% 37% 55% 51%
Stabilizing 22% 36% 77% 39% 57% 53%
Shifting to Mature 26% 29% 78% 29% 60% 51%
Mature 20% 41% 80% 36% 61% 44%
Trailblazer 50% 42% 50% 25% 33% 58%
for new skills continued...
The key talent management strategy for Shared Services today is focusing on
upskilling for new, value-adding activities, but the ability to tap into global talent is
also significant, as is enabling more effective multigenerational teamwork, which
was highlighted by more than half of our respondents as an important talent
management strategy.
It’s also not surprising to see that ‘engaging the millennial generation’ is becoming
increasingly important in the workplace. Some of the most popular strategies
include improved efforts at multigenerational collaboration, encouraging mobile
ways of working, and more use of social networks.
Newly launched centers showed the highest appreciation of social networks
to engage Millennials, perhaps taking advantage of a relatively ‘greenfield’
organizational opportunity, while mature centers or trailblazers took the lead in
promoting multigenerational collaboration.
How are you developing your talent management strategy?
Leveraging global
talent strategically /
building operations
Enabling more effective where talent is plentiful
multi-generational Utilizing digital
teamwork mobility to offer
flexibility to staff as
part of retention
strategies
54% 44%
36%
73%
31%
Use of new innovative 8%

techniques to attract
staff (e.g., social media)
Upskilling for Other

new value-
adding
activities
for new skills continued...
Reverse mentoring
(Millennials mentoring older
colleagues in social collaboration)
Other
Encouraging mobile
ways of working More ‘smart-phone’
engagements and
capabilities
14% 26%
51%
27%
What is your
strategy to
63%
leverage the
millennial 46%
generation
at work?
More use of
social networks
Improved efforts at multi-
generational collaboration
Millennial strategy by center maturity

Improved efforts More smart- Reverse mentoring
More use at multi- Encouraging phone (Millennials mentoring
of social generational mobile ways engagements older colleagues in
networks collaboration of working and capabilities social collaboration)
New Launch 53% 57% 57% 33% 27%
Stabilizing 41% 68% 47% 18% 24%
Shifting to Mature 48% 59% 45% 28% 27%
Mature 44% 66% 57% 34% 31%
Trailblazer 42% 67% 42% 17% 25%
BPO: what role does it (still) play?
While our survey indicated that overall use of BPO is low (nearly half of
respondents do not use BPO in their model), where outsourcing is used we see
SSOs focusing more on knowledge-driven work (see p. 21). With the shift in the
resourcing landscape as driven by new technology solutions and robotics, we
would certainly expect to see a parallel shift – both in how contracts are defined,
as well as how work is charged for, in future.
All inhouse/captive Mainly Hybrid (inhouse
58%
BPO-driven plus BPO)
12% 30%
To what extent is BPO

still playing a role in
your sourcing model?
Nearly half of respondents do

not use BPO in their model
BPO: what role does it (still) play? continued...
As of now, we see both FTE-based as well as output-based contracts at roughly
the same level. However, given the emergence of robotic solutions as a real
alternative, we may expect to see a shift towards service-output or value-based
contracts in future.
One interesting detail that emerges is that, among multifunctional centers, we see
more contracts based on service output or value than on FTEs. Across all other
models, FTE-based contracts still lead.
Not applicable / Service

don’t use BPO FTE-based output or Other
46% 25% value-based

23%
6%
If you use BPO, is your

contract FTE-based or
service-output based?
BPO contract type according to organizational model

Full Time Employee Based Service Output or Value Based
Single Function SSO 19% 16%
Single Function GBS 60% 20%
Multi Function SSO 20% 22%
Multi Function GBS 20% 31%
Outsourced 57% 35%
How are you redefining your shared
services strategy for the future?
The big question, of course, is how corporate Shared Services are adjusting
to changes in the landscape to better leverage their capabilities and meet
customers’ needs. The leading driver for this change, according to our survey,
is automated delivery with COE-based value-adding services.
This trend carries across all operating models, whereby we do see higher
percentages in the more mature models and outsourced arrangements.
How is your shared services strategy shifting?

utomated delivery with
A More reliance on BPO
Center of Excellence-based Less reliance on BPO
value-adding services
Less reliance on captive
No discernable change offshore centers
Less reliance on FTEs Other
47% 18% 13% 9% 5% 4% 3%
Outsourced and multifunctional models are taking the lead in this new direction.
57% 49% 48% 40% 40%

Multi Function Multi Function Single Single
Outsourced
GBS SSO Function SSO Function GBS
Closing summary
What does it all mean?
The first thing to note is that shared services are operating within a fairly complex
environment: Most centers still work across 2-5 ERP systems, nearly half provide
Global services support, and more than 50% are running multifunctional centers –
with a clear tendency of taking on extra scope with growing maturity. And while
a number of centers are availing themselves of BPO support, nearly 60% of our
respondents run all inhouse/captive models. What is interesting to note, however, is
that Performance is increasingly being defined by a partnership, or collaborative,
approach with customers; and that implementing technology/automation is
one of the top three strategies for driving improved service performance. And yet
we still see a significant lag in recognizing the value of workflow automation, with
outsourcing arrangements generally taking greater advantage of this than captives.
Perhaps one of the key pointers for the direction this industry is taking is the
fact that the largest segment of respondents indicate their efficiency targets
are now based on “expanding scope and absorbing work without adding
extra headcount”. This ability to leverage without adding to the cost base, and
the agility it implies, is one of shared services' strongest advantages right now.
Automation is enabling this new model, of course, and we see strong proof of the
fact that enterprises across the world have set their sights on building RPA into a
“core” SSO capability.
Finally, we also see shared services shifting away from transactional and towards
knowledge type work. While only a fraction of centers are already at the
knowledge stage, the vast majority are in transit, with their eyes firmly on knowledge
as the ultimate goal, again driven by maturity. The other interesting finding is that
on-or nearshore is gaining in popularity, specifically for knowledge type work.
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Events Calendar
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Future of Finance Summit RPA & Artificial Intelligence for BFSI
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October 9 - 11, 2017
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November 6 - 8, 2017
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Stockholm, Sweden
May 30 – 1 June
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Planning and Launching for Shared Services 2017 5th Annual Shared Services & Outsourcing
www.planningandlaunchingsharedservices.com.au Malaysia
Swissotel, Sydney www.ssomalaysia.iqpc.sg
February 14 - 15, 2017 Malaysia
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Meritus Hotels, Singapore Beijing
March 07 - 08, 2017 May 17 - 18, 2017
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www.sharedservicesqueensland.com.au Services & Outsourcing Week
Brisbane, Australia www.ssweekasia.com
April 10 - 12, 2017 Singapore
November 21 -25, 2017
NORTH AMERICA
21st Annual Shared Services & Outsourcing Week 21st Annual HR Shared Services &
www.sharedservicesweek.com Outsourcing Summit
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March 6 - 9, 2017 The Westin Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL,
United States
IT Financial Management Week - 2017 May 15 - 18, 2017
www.itfmweek.iqpc.com
Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel, Chicago, IL, United States
17th Shared Services for Finance & Accounting
April 24 - 26, 2017
www.sharedservicesfa.com
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www.sharedserviceshighered.iqpc.com June 21 - 23, 2017
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April 24 - 26, 2017
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SSON Shared Services Industry Report 2017

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SSON Shared Services Industry Report 2017

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2017 State of THE

Survey respondents’ demographics 4

Part I: Back to Basics

What are shared services up against? 5

What are the most popular operating models? 6

What defines service performance? 8

What are the key success metrics? 11

How do SSOs charge for services? 13

How are annual efficiency targets set and measured? 15

How is automation changing the game plan? 16

Transactional work giving way to knowledge work 20

Rethinking the global footprint 22

Implementing more process automation 24

Recruiting and training for new skills 29

BPO: what role does it (still) play? 32

Who is SSON…and how can we help you? 36

SSON Events Calendar 37

Where are the SSO

16% 16% 16%

0 - 3 years Shifting to Mature Global

Which functions do they represent? What is their operating model?

62% 28% 62% 21%

50% 33% 50%

F&A Procurement Multi Function SSO Outsourced

How many instances of ERP are you supporting via SSO/GBS?

What geographies are they servicing?

43% 32% 25%

Global Regional Country

Single Single Multi Multi

How have you resourced this model?

58% 12% 30%

All inhouse / Mainly BPO-driven Hybrid

When we compare operating models to resourcing strategies, a more granular

All inhouse / Mainly BPO Hybrid

Single Function SSO 74% 8% 18% 21%

What defines the service performance [customer service]

How are you driving service performance?

Given the continued popularity of process excellence as the number one

Why is workflow automation Why is end-to-end process

What are your key success metrics/KPIs?

19%  ork absorbed through automation

Improved enterprise Improved data analytics /

Multi Function GBS Outsourced Outsourced Single Function SSO

Do you operate as a profit center or on a breakeven basis?

23% 66% 11%

Profit Breakeven Other

What is your annual efficiency target?

5% cost More than Expanding Number Improved

How is automation impacting your shared services?

Process automation will be a core Shared Service

40% automation of vertical processes

How does this trend towards process automation play

Multi Function GBS Multi Function Single

40% 38% 38% 36% 29%

Are you managing/targeting end-to-end process

Are you managing/targeting end-to-end process

End-to-end process One part of the process

Is your focus on ‘transactional & administrative’ or ‘knowledge’

Half and half

How does the age of an SSO How does the organizational

How is transactional and administrative work being sourced?

On/nearshore Offshore/ Hybrid Offshore / BPO On/nearshore

Is RPA being leveraged for this work?

19% ork absorbed through automation

Process automation will be a core Shared Service

Multi Function GBS Multi Function Single

ork directly with a RPA vendor

arbara Hodge speaks with Tristan Gitman,

All inhouse/captive Mainly Hybrid (inhouse

Not applicable / Service