Accenture Offers a Path Forward for Shared Services in Higher Education

Public sector and education leaders who are feeling the pressure of fiscal crisis and its dual impact of long-term global economic and social shifts are using shared services to drive reform. The benefits of this approach include significant cost reductions and improved processing time, increased transparency and a new focus on customer service. But even as shared services gains broader understanding and acceptance, common issues arise that can hamper further progress. To address these concerns, the Public Sector and Education Shared Services Summit convenes annually at Harvard University, bringing together senior public, private and education sector shared services leaders to share best practices, case studies, offer peer-to-peer support, and engage in problem-solving workshops around five areas of transformation: 1) gaining stakeholder support; 2) financing the operation and enterprise; 3) managing service lines; 4) collaborating across boundaries; and 5) measuring and managing performance.

This brief paper from Ovum summarizes the lessons from the 2012 Public Sector and Education Shared Services Summit and recognizes that “shared services are not an end in themselves, but they are one of a number of mechanisms that institutions can use singly or in combination to improve business performance.” Ovum recommends that organizations “adopt a cost-cutting strategy aimed at redundant administrative services and consider the wider implications as they evaluate [their] near- to long-term goals.”