Special Report: Shared Services

Shared services can be an important way for company's to cut costs and drive business. "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."

In March, Oracle was a major sponsor at the 13th Annual North American Shared Services Week 2009 in Orlando, Florida. There, Gagas moderated a panel on using BPO to drive business and innovation, and Group Vice President Tim Meehan delivered a keynote on delivering business transfromation through technology, among other Oracle presentations. Of course, the major theme of the conference focused on how to use shared services to strengthen your position in the current market, including how to seize immediate benefits your business. Here, Oracle experts focus on the same theme — surviving and thriving in today's market — while also providing a basic understanding of shared services and what products Oracle offers to help you build your own solution.

Top Five Reasons Shared Services Make Sense in Tough Economic Times
In the face of a global economic slowdown, the implementation of shared services is an obvious choice for businesses focused on cutting expenditures. But shared services are about more than saving money—it readies businesses to gain maximum competitive advantage both now and once the economy rebounds.

Centralizing on Excellence
The key is to think beyond shared services to the broader issue of enterprise reporting needs and how standardized, and sometimes shared, services can support them. “It's important to understand your business model and know which processes can and should be centralized and which need to remain decentralized, based on good, solid business reasons,” says Loren Mahon, Oracle vice president of Global Business Services.“When you simplify, standardize, and in some cases centralize your ability to manage information, it enables you to make quick and prudent decisions. Simplification and standardization can feel like, 'Oh, we're just not getting there,' but it's a foundation for being effective as you move to a global business services model.”

Webcast: Information Technology Outsourcing Enables Shared Services Business
Learn how to earn more business value and reduce risk by outsourcing. Plus, what key pitfalls to watch out for throughout your project.

Four Steps to Maximum Return on Your Shared Services Investment
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.

Learning to Share: Agencies Find a New Way to Reduce Costs
According to some industry studies, shared public sector services can reduce costs by 14 percent or more. But the push to sharing goes beyond just saving money. Shared services can also reduce system complexities, ease maintenance and management burdens, and provide an economical way to refresh decades-old legacy technologies. Shared services also can promote the "greening” of government through reduced power and cooling requirements resulting from consolidations.