What Is Shared Services Operating Model Design?
Shared services operating model design defines how a company will centralize and run common support activities such as finance transactions, procurement operations, human resources administration, customer support, or master data across business units and geographies. It addresses questions about which work should move into shared services, how the retained organization should interface with the center, what governance and service levels are required, where teams should be located, what technology and process standardization are needed, and how the transition should be sequenced, whether the end state is a classic functional shared service or a broader global business services (GBS) model. Clients often seek independent consultant support to bring an outside view on scope, economics, organization design, and migration risk, especially when the change cuts across multiple functions or business units.
When Clients Seek Support
Clients often seek independent consulting support for shared services operating model design when they need to:
- Decide which finance, procurement, human resources, customer support, or master data activities should move into shared services and which should remain embedded in the business.
- Consolidate fragmented support teams after acquisitions, enterprise resource planning (ERP) rollouts, or geographic expansion.
- Create a target model for a new shared service center or expand from single-function shared services to a broader GBS structure.
- Reset an underperforming shared services organization with rising costs, slow cycle times, weak stakeholder satisfaction, or too many escalations.
- Define retained organization roles, governance forums, and decision rights between business units and the service center.
- Evaluate onshore, nearshore, and offshore location options and the implications for service levels, talent availability, compliance, and resilience.
- Plan the migration of work in waves so payroll, month-end close, supplier payments, and employee support stay stable during the transition.
Questions We Help Clients Answer
- Which processes belong in shared services, and which need to remain close to the business?
- Should we organize shared services by function, by geography, or under a broader GBS model?
- What should the retained organization still own after work moves into the center?
- How many service centers do we need, and where should they be located?
- What service levels, escalation paths, and exception handling rules should the model include?
- How should we sequence the transition to reduce disruption and capture savings on schedule?
Common Outcomes and Deliverables
Depending on the project scope, consultants supporting shared services operating model design work may develop outputs or implement results such as:
- Current-state baseline of process scope, transaction volumes, cost-to-serve, staffing, and service performance by function and geography.
- Process scope matrix showing what moves into shared services, what remains with business units, and what is standardized, automated, or outsourced.
- Target operating model covering organization structure, roles, spans, governance, and decision rights across the center and retained teams.
- Service catalog and service-level agreement (SLA) framework with request types, turnaround times, escalation rules, and ownership.
- Location and footprint recommendation across onshore, nearshore, offshore, or captive center options.
- Financial business case with one-time transition costs, steady-state savings, stranded cost assumptions, and payback timing.
- Migration wave plan with cutover milestones, risk controls, knowledge transfer, and change impacts by function.
- Key performance indicator dashboard for cycle time, accuracy, case volumes, first-contact resolution, productivity, and stakeholder satisfaction.
- New operating model live, with shared services teams, retained roles, governance forums, and management cadence in place and functioning.
Selected Capabilities by Industry
Financial Services
Bank Operations Shared Services Scope Design: Design a shared services model for accounts payable, reconciliations, fraud operations support, and servicing administration across banking or wealth businesses; clarify controls, service levels, and location choices for a scalable target model.
Healthcare
Revenue Cycle and Corporate Services Consolidation: Map which provider, payer, and corporate support activities can move into shared services without disrupting revenue cycle, credentialing, or contact center response; target operating model and migration wave plan that protect cash collection and service levels.
Manufacturing & Industrial Equipment
Regional Business Services Hub Design: Redesign procurement operations, order management, master data, and plant administration into regional service hubs; staffing model, handoff design, and business case for cost and service trade-offs.
Consumer Packaged Goods
Market Support Services Center Design: Build a model for customer deductions, trade promotion administration, demand planning support, and finance transactions across brands and markets; define retained commercial roles, service ownership, and exception handling.
Software
Quote-to-Cash Shared Services Model: Design a shared services model for billing, collections, contract administration, and renewals support in software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies; governance and handoffs that protect annual recurring revenue (ARR).
Energy & Utilities
Utility Support Function Centralization: Evaluate which meter-to-cash, procurement operations, work management administration, and finance processes can be centralized across service territories; business case, location strategy, and phased transition plan.
Private Equity
Portfolio Back-Office Combine Design: Develop a shared services operating model across portfolio companies for finance, human resources, procurement, and IT support; synergy model and Day 1 to Day 100 migration roadmap.
Telecommunications
Order-to-Bill Support Hub Redesign: Redesign order fallout resolution, billing support, field dispatch administration, and operations support system and business support system activities; staffing plan, service catalog, and governance model.
Consultant Profiles Umbrex Can Identify
Umbrex can help clients identify independent consultants with experience aligned to the functions, footprint, and change complexity involved.
- Former McKinsey, Bain, BCG consultant experienced in shared services operating model design
- Former global business services leader with hands-on experience defining scope, service catalogs, retained organization interfaces, and governance
- Operations executive who has migrated finance, procurement, human resources, or customer support work into regional or global service centers
- Consultant with experience translating target operating models into migration waves, service-level agreements, and program management office (PMO) support
Illustrative Engagement Models
The right engagement model depends on the client’s objectives, timeline, internal capabilities, and desired level of support. Common ways clients use independent consultants for shared services operating model design include:
- Rapid Diagnostic or Diligence (Typical duration 1-3 weeks)
Assess current scope, cost, service levels, and organizational fragmentation to determine whether a shared services redesign is warranted and where the biggest decisions sit. - Analysis And Decision Support (Typical duration 4-8 weeks)
Evaluate which activities should move, compare functional versus GBS structures, and quantify cost, control, and service trade-offs for leadership decisions. - Strategy Or Roadmap Development (Typical duration 4-12 weeks)
Build the target operating model, business case, location strategy, governance structure, and migration waves for a shared services launch or reset. - Implementation Or PMO Support (Typical duration 2-6 months)
Support cutover planning, stakeholder alignment, service catalog setup, issue resolution, and benefits tracking as work transitions into the new model. - Interim Or Fractional Leadership Support (Typical duration 3-12 months)
Provide temporary shared services or GBS leadership while the client hires a permanent leader or manages a complex transition.