After the Go-live: Ten focus areas for effective Shared Service delivery - Part 4 - Standardize and Optimize Technology

Note: This is the fourth post in a series focusing on the continuous improvement of Shared Services. You can read Parts 1, 2 and 3 here.

4.  Standardize and Optimize Technology

Just as processes are not completely standardized during the transfer to the Shared Service Organization, technology may sometimes not be standardized as part of the move to Shared Services.  While it’s true that a Shared Service Organization is often created or enhanced as part of an ERP implementation or upgrade, there are times when the business case for shifting resources independent of a technology implementation makes sense.  This is particularly true when positions are moved to an offshore location. 

The strategy around optimizing technology will depend heavily on which strategy was used to transfer processes to the Shared Service Organization.  In a "Lift and Shift" transfer, the focus will be on rationalizing the core ERP systems to create a common technology architecture and standard processes.  If the processes were transferred as part of a "Transform and Shift" strategy, it's much more likely that the focus will be on the introduction of additional technologies as a bolt-on to the core ERP system(s) to enable process optimization.

If the "Lift and Shift" strategy was employed, it's likely that there is not a common ERP for all of the business units.  Shared Service Organizations in this situation are often required to support multiple ERPs and processes until the ERP systems can be rationalized.  In this case, the focus of the organization should be on selecting a single (ideally) ERP package with a single instance.  This of course is an issue much bigger than just the SSO and will involve a number of stakeholders.  In addition to the rationalization of the ERP packages, there needs to be a focus on creating a single set of master data, including the vendor and customer master records, the inventory master records and the chart of accounts.  By rationalizing the core technology platform and creating a single set of master data, it will be much easier to create a common set of processes.

If the rationalization of ERP platforms and the creation of a single set of master data occurs as part of a "Transform and Shift" strategy, then the focus in the Shared Service Organization will more likely focus on additional bolt-on technologies that can lead to the optimization of already standard processes.  Once example could be Optical Character Recognition around vendor invoices.  An even better step could be the implementation of an Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment solution.  These types of bolt-on solutions should improve the efficiency of the SSO and can also facilitate the virtualization of the SSO so that activity can be shifted across Shared Service Centers based on changing business needs.