The Evolution of Shared Services: From Cost Centers to Value Creators
By Change & Transformation, Finance

Shared Services are no longer just about efficiency; they’ve evolved into engines of capability, intelligence, and enterprise value. This shift reflects how leading organisations are reimagining Shared Services as strategic partners, driving transformation, insight, and resilience across the business.

Part of Cedar’s Shared Services blog series. Read Part 2 and Part 3 here.

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As Shared Services evolve beyond transactional efficiency, they are becoming strategic engines of capability, insight, and enterprise value, a theme explored at Cedar’s recent Business Breakfast, Future-Ready Shared Services: From Transactional Hubs to Strategic Powerhouses, led by Aleeza Shah, Associate in Cedar’s Finance Transformation practice, and Nathan Hotchkiss, Director of Transformation, with guest speaker Anup Juneja, a seasoned transformation expert. The discussion highlighted a clear shift in mindset: Shared Services are no longer just about efficiency; they’re about strategic enablement.

From Cost Efficiency to Capability Building

The traditional purpose of Shared Services was rooted in cost efficiency and standardisation. The early 2000s saw organisations centralising transactional activities to capture scale benefits, improve process consistency, and reduce duplication. Metrics like headcount reduction and process turnaround time were the standard benchmarks of success.

But this model, effective though it was, is now reaching its limits. With wage inflation in key delivery markets such as India reaching 9-10%, and attrition stabilising at around 17-18% (down from 24%), pure cost arbitrage no longer delivers sustainable advantage. As Anup noted, the differentiator today isn’t “where” your shared service sits, but what capability it builds.

The conversation among attendees echoed this sentiment: Shared Services are evolving beyond transactional delivery to encompass strategic functions such as analytics, procurement, tax, and transformation. The priority is no longer about doing the same work more cheaply; it’s about doing higher-value work more intelligently.

The Rise of Skill Arbitrage

One of the strongest themes shaping the evolution of Shared Services is the shift from cost arbitrage to skill arbitrage.

Global capability centres are increasingly being established not just in low-cost regions, but in STEM-rich markets that offer the advanced analytics, AI, and technology skills modern enterprises demand. Countries such as Poland, Romania, and the Czech Republic have become critical nearshore destinations, combining time-zone alignment with regulatory robustness and linguistic capability.

Meanwhile, India remains a powerhouse, but the competitive advantage is now found in talent quality, not wage differentials. This evolution underscores how Shared Services have become talent accelerators, driving innovation, resilience, and cross-border collaboration across the enterprise.

 

From Transaction to Intelligence

Perhaps the most powerful insight from the event came from examples of how data, automation, and AI are redefining Shared Services as the enterprise intelligence layer.

One standout example was an Order-to-Cash (O2C) transformation, where automation and AI integration across ERP, CRM, and banking platforms led to a 12-day reduction in DSO, a 30% increase in collector productivity, and 92% forecasting accuracy.

These results weren’t driven by technology alone, but by how Shared Services teams reimagined processes around intelligence, not transaction. As Anup put it, “AI is most effective when shared services teams own it, not when it’s pushed down from IT”.

The conversation reinforced that success lies in embedding data-driven decision making within every layer of the shared service, from cashflow forecasting to customer management. This redefines Shared Services as a critical enabler of enterprise agility, not just back-office efficiency.

 

The Human Edge in a Digital World

While AI and automation continue to dominate transformation conversations, a recurring theme is the enduring importance of people.

The future belongs to T-shaped professionals, those who blend deep functional expertise with cross-disciplinary digital, analytical, and change skills. Examples such as Unilever’s Digital Academy, which has upskilled over 12,000 employees in data and analytics, show how large organisations are investing heavily to future-proof their GBS talent.

Leadership within Shared Services is also evolving, with the next generation of leaders needing to combine operational discipline with strategic influence and data fluency. As Anup noted, “Tomorrow’s shared service leaders will be less about managing processes, and more about enabling enterprise outcomes.”

It’s a vision that resonated across the room, one that places talent development and leadership mindset at the centre of Shared Services transformation.

The Path Forward, From Support to Strategic Partner

One thing is clear: the most successful Shared Services organisations are those that think, and act, like strategic partners to the business.

That means:

  • Redefining value around capability, intelligence, and impact.
  • Embedding AI and data as part of the shared service DNA.
  • Investing in people, not just platforms.

Shared Services have earned their place at the strategic table, now it’s about consolidating that position by demonstrating enterprise-wide influence.

 

Looking Ahead

The evolution of Shared Services is no longer theoretical, it’s happening now. From cost and scale to capability and intelligence, the function has become a driving force behind how modern enterprises operate, innovate, and compete. What’s clear is that the organisations achieving the greatest success are those that treat Shared Services as a strategic partner, not a support function.

This blog is the first in Cedar’s three-part series exploring how Shared Services and GBS are evolving to drive business transformation. Next, we’ll look at how AI and data are becoming the new operating system for global business services.

If your organisation is scaling or modernising its Shared Services capability, Cedar’s specialist teams can help you build the talent and leadership required for success, get in touch with our team to start the conversation.