Shared Service Centres in the Public Sector in South Africa

Abstract

Shared services centres in the public sector in South Africa present an area of study that remains mostly uncharted territory. There are very few instances of their successful implementation, and the Gauteng Shared Services Centre presents an opportunity to interrogate and understand how shared service centres can add value and bring about positive benefits – financially and otherwise – to the public sector. Many challenges and lessons can be learnt from this one journey alone, which covers the three main areas associated with implementation: people, process and technology. The main issue is to understand that implementing a shared services centre is not a mere centralisation of functions but rather a wellorchestrated and managed process to refine and standardise, measure, manage and continuously find ways to improve and evolve processes. The South African public sector has yet to reap the benefits of shared services, and the journey has just begun