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Four Steps to Maximum Return on Your Shared Services Investment
As companies increasingly discover the value of shared services, Oracle recommends a four-stage plan to reduce the time and increase the payback of shared services initiatives.
The term "shared services" implies the centralized provision of back-office business services, typically including HR/payroll, IT, finance and accounting, and procurement, that previously had been dispersed across multiple business units.
Organizations may choose to outsource the shared service, or keep it in house. In either case, the potential benefits, from process improvements and economies of scale to increased business insight, are enormous.
Oracle has worked with countless customers to achieve the benefits of shared services. Oracle applications are designed to support shared services, and with Oracle On Demand, customers can hand off hosting and management of shared services to Oracle.
1. Simplify information systems
"By centralizing and consolidating IT systems and data centers, shared services implementations lower both complexity and costs," says Mike Gagas, senior director of marketing for Oracle On Demand. "Just as important, companies gain greater insight through consistent data and global business intelligence."
Systems simplification and centralization eliminates duplication of resources, reduces physical locations, and helps distribute workloads.
"To meet the challenges of reorganization and the cultural change required to implement shared services, companies find that partnering with Oracle On Demand significantly speeds up the change process and reduces the technology risk of their shared services initiative," said Gagas.
2. Standardize systems and processes
"By standardizing systems and processes, organizations don't just reduce computing costs," says Gagas, "they also gain scalability to grow as well as the flexibility to adapt quickly and efficiently to evolving business needs."
Key elements of standardization include the identification of global process and application owners, establishment of policies and business rules, and the adoption of both best practices and open technology standards.
3. Automate processes
By implementing the first two steps, organizations set the stage for implementing automated processes.
Key drivers of process automation include integrated application architecture, establishment of end-to-end business processes, and reduced paper flow via employee self-service.
4. Establish service-level agreements
"Service-level agreements (SLAs) are vital to the ongoing success of a shared services campaign," says Gagas, "and this requires clear commitments from both shared service centers and the individual entities they serve."
Successful implementation of service-level agreements should include benchmarks and key performance indicators, activity-based costing and balanced scorecards, and customer satisfaction surveys.
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