Despite the fact that Global Business Services and Shared Services were introduced to drive cost savings through centralization and standardization, there are some important changes afoot.

In our research with Shared Services leaders we have seen that there is an increasing awareness that cost reduction alone is not an effective business strategy and expectations and aspirations are shifting.

Looking to develop a reputation as value creators, business leaders are focussing on becoming a Centre of Excellence (CoE), with expertise to optimise and automate as well as operate.

There’s a larger focus being placed on end-to-end business processes that span way beyond the boundaries of the GBS organisation. If GBS organizations can transform successfully, they will be well positioned to be engines of enterprise growth. But there are challenges ahead too:

• Clarifying responsibilities and expectations
• Planning for specific capability and mindset gaps
• Building the necessary capabilities
• Creating new solutions
• Sustaining the change

Our ‘Something To Consider’ snippets are framed as small, digestible, ‘dashes of insight’ around the pillars of what we define as “World Class Finance” – Process Optimization, Financial Control and Compliance, and Risk Assurance, all underpinned by technology enablement and integration.