Outsourcing Dilemma: The Search for Competitiveness, The

The service provider’s shared service centres

Quite naturally, most service providers see great benefits in setting up their own shared service centres (SSCs) where, for example, the business processes or IT functions of a number of clients can be handled under one roof. Clearly in this way the provider can maximize the economies of scale.

At first sight this concept has a lot going for it. A service provider setting up an SSC, for, say, finance would be able to keep adding to the list of organizations it was servicing from one location. In theory, therefore, this growth alone would go a long way to ensuring that the systems were being updated on a regular basis and that the latest technology was being used. It would also mean that design and ...