Shared services survey 2001

Shared, Services, Survey, 2001

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02 Sep 2003 | (Survey)

Surveys are a key part of our work at sharedxpertise.org and the results find their way into the world's press and references in many shared services and BPO presentations.

The shared services Survey 2001 has revealed that shared services centres are extending their reach, and not just geographically.

We assessed the marketplace for shared services and identified emerging trends. We analysed the responses of 120 participants from around the world and across a range of industries, a truly representative sample that paints an interesting and in some ways unexpected picture.

You are free to cite the data and analysis in our survey but you must not reproduce it in any form without explicitly acknowledging sharedxpertise.org and our survey partner Andersen as the source. Any questions concerning publication should be addressed to Luca Segantini at sharedxpertise.org.

Key findings of the Survey 2001

North American parent companies still account for the highest proportion of organisations involved in shared services, with 38% of parent companies but only 26% of shared services centres are located in North America.
There is a growing proportion of shared services centres in Asia Pacific (11%), South America (6%) and Eastern Europe (5%), with increasing geographical distance from the parent companies' region of origin.
While shared services is clearly on the up, most shared services centres are comparatively young, only 41% have over two years' experience. We can expect the number of shared services centres to continue rising, with a healthy 23% of the survey respondents now in the discussion or planning stages and an additional 18% in their first year.
ERP continues to be a fundamental technology for shared services, however, only 44% of organisations operate a single-instance ERP system that covers the same geographical area as the shared services centre.
There is widespread management recognition that the key to a successful shared services centre is its people, 74% of respondents see the availability of skilled people as one of the top criteria in site selection.
The support and commitment of senior management is considered to be a critical success factor, 85% of respondents see senior management commitment as one of the top five factors for success.
Many organisations are neglecting to take on holistic shared services programme, thereby finding it difficult to realise the expected 30-40% savings that should result from a successful shared services operation. Cost saving of at least 20% was planned for by 58% of the respondents, but only 36% reached that target. Instead, 36% achieved actual cost savings of 10-20%.

Respondents confirm that the most common payback period, both planned and actual, is two to four years.
The trend towards virtual shared services centres is taking shape but not as quickly as expected. The majority of respondents (77%) operate a physical shared serviced centre. Only 19% operate a virtual shared services
centre (where there is a physically dispersed group of people who follow the same processing procedures, technology and standards, and report to a single shared services leader).
Formalised agreements are still not broadly adopted, just under half of the respondents (46%) use formal contracts such as a service level agreement (SLA).
An increasing number of companies are expected to make use of a global or regional banking network over the coming years but currently 48% of respondents use local banks in each country.

Full results of Survey 2001
To purchase the full results of the survey, please click here.

Read an article on the survey from The Economist

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