We asked Finance, Global Business Services (GBS) and Shared Services leaders about their aspirations as well as their “stakeholder demanded” objectives.

The results were highly aligned amongst those stepping into the “next generation” operating models.

Talent, Reputation, Capability, Championing Enterprise-wide change & Driving Digitization were key elements of the mix.

Most, if not all, of these require business leaders to step up to the “Data Challenge”.

This has been one of the core tenets of the business case for centralized process operations since the concept was first promoted.

But it is just not as easy as we hoped. There are numerous challenges, some of which we are making great progress in overcoming.

We are still bombarded by claims about delivering data centric business processes that defy reality.

Like the ancient mariner, adrift in the ocean, observed of his predicament “water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink”.

The brief assessment by Steve Fox, former VP of Global Business Services at Thermo Fisher Scientific, highlights the challenges and some innovative approaches.

He talks about a focus on “defectivity”, global process collaboration, the ambiguity and nuance of business “questions” that drive the challenges in timely, effective data insights and, even more importantly, action.  He addresses the need for speed and slays a few dragons of misconception.

He also asserts that “without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible”. Food for thought . . . .

It is a 4 minute read. You can dig in here . . .