Shared services: Commercial models - enabling sharing

The shared services agenda is now well established in the public sector, with the majority of public sector organisations considering, planning, implementing or having recently implemented shared services in one form or another.

To download the IBM shared services commercial models - enabling sharing reference guide click here

The focus to date has been on the back office and the finance, HR, procurement and estates functions in particular, although in the future, more front-office functions are likely to follow.

However, although there is a groundswell of activity, initial signs are that there is little cross-departmental sharing either happening or proposed, and as a result the economies of scale and targeted cost reductions are unlikely to be achieved.

In order to provide a framework to encourage sharing, an 'arm's length' or third-party shared services delivery organisation seems a logical solution.

One obvious construct to provide such a facility would be to outsource backoffice shared services.

Outsourcing is a tried and tested approach in the public sector, particularly in respect of front-office or citizen-facing services.

However, after some early adoption, both outsourcing and so-called 'joint venture' options have undergone some reassessment.

The result is a lessening of enthusiasm for these commercial options as a vehicle to provide an overarching solution for back-office services as a first step to cross-departmental and central and local government sharing.

In addition, although it is likely that outsourcing as an option will continue to play a role, it is worth noting that the majority of private sector organisations that have outsourced back-office shared services took this as a second step, after first setting up an insourced shared services operation.

This situation, therefore, leaves a potential gap in terms of innovative commercial solutions to satisfying and encouraging the wholesale public sector development of back-office shared services, and cross-departmental sharing and consolidation in the provision of these services.

The IBM Public Sector reference guide sets out to

• Propose a vision for how shared services might develop over the next 10-15 years

• Identify the key requirements of a commercial model for shared services

• Analyse the alternatives

• Propose a different commercial model to support the vision

To download the IBM shared services commercial models - enabling sharing reference guide click here