If you thought shared services were all about back-office administration, think again.
As delegates to Deloitte’s Shared Services Conference will hear, the business model has become an engine of growth and competitiveness for some of the world’s most successful enterprises. Over three days, 900 attendees from 35 countries will share strategies on how they define, design and deploy shared services.
The international conference, which is being staged in Ireland this year, takes place from September 23rd to 25th, at The Convention Centre Dublin.
For Deloitte, the world’s number one professional services provider, it’s an opportunity to showcase the breadth of opportunities shared services provide.
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Until recently viewed as a way to centralise non-core functions, over the past number of years the model has emerged as a mechanism to drive transformation at scale, and an unrivalled way to navigate today’s increasingly fast-paced and dynamic environment.
On the front line in a complex marketplace
For decades, the shared services model has proven itself as a way of efficiently managing cost centres such as HR, finance or IT.
Increasingly, however, it is deploying and delivering analytics, artificial intelligence and automation to allow companies to compete, and be more resilient, in a faster, more complex marketplace.
While its established benefits remain – those of standardisation, economies of scale and elimination of inefficient and conflicting processes – it is increasingly becoming a way of getting access to specialist skills too.
According to a recent Deloitte global shared services survey the most in-demand specialisms include process improvement, reporting and analytics, business continuity planning, and risk and compliance.
It’s a paradigm shift that Aoife McCarthy, Deloitte’s global business services lead, and country host for the conference, helps clients not just to navigate but to lead, viewing shared services through the key lenses of processes, people and technology.
“I spend a lot of time working with clients to help them understand those key components and take them forward. These are difficult questions for organisations to ask, and it is even more challenging to answer and build a system based on those answers.
“It’s about making our clients more efficient and ensuring they are performing optimally.”
McCarthy has helped clients succeed in implementing shared services across the globe, “all over Europe, the Middle East and as far away as Shanghai”.
At its core, successful shared services delivery is built on three foundations. These include elimination of duplication and inefficiency – “hunting them down relentlessly”; standardisation by ensuring similar tasks are done in the same way regardless of where in the company or in the world they are done; and digitisation.
“Automate everything. It makes everything faster and so much more visible,” she says.
Huge opportunities for growth
Right now, the shared services model offers enormous potential for enterprises across Europe. “The world is getting more complex. The pace of change at which organisations need to respond to challenges in today’s marketplace is unprecedented, increasing demand for flexibility and specialist skill sets. Shared services is a key tool that is proven in addressing these complexities and gives companies an avenue to access in-demand skills” says McCarthy.
In the past few months alone, she has helped Irish-based clients to build a number of specialist centres in such areas as automation, strategy and transformation, as well seeing increased trends in research and development, analytics and regulation and compliance.
“These past few years have been hugely exciting as the sector evolves to meet organisational complexity. The upcoming conference will provide the opportunity to hear directly from companies on how they navigate, and succeed, in this evolving marketplace,” she says.
Next generation capabilities
McCarthy argues that, done correctly, shared services should not just be about the centralisation of services, nor even about economies of scale.
Today shared services is about bringing economies of security, of compliance, of risk management and even of skills, and developing a centre of excellence for all of them.
These specialist skills can then be deployed throughout an organisation, using the shared services model as a central hub or resource. In this way it has emerged as vital way to bridge the difficulties that organisations face in sourcing key capabilities in today’s marketplace.
For example, as shared services moves up the value chain it has become an invaluable way to test and roll out AI or automation. “It is capabilities as a service,” says McCarthy.
As such, for organisations undertaking their digital transformation and looking to bring in next-generation capability, shared services has become an increasingly important lever.
“Shared services tends to be the leader in this space, as we are continually looking for increased efficiencies and improved service to our clients,” explains McCarthy. “Being innovative is in the DNA of this industry.”
Packed with insights and networking
Now in its 28th year, the Shared Services Conference is the biggest client-facing event Deloitte holds anywhere in the world, McCarthy points out.
This year’s promises to be the best yet, with a packed schedule of keynote speakers, industry roundtables, breakout sessions and site visits.
“Thanks to its depth of capabilities and expertise, Deloitte is a market leader in shared services. The fact that this is the third time Dublin has hosted the event is itself testament to the strength of its shared services practice here,” says McCarthy.
“No other form of business model is so well prepared to deal with how complex and unpredictable the world is. This conference showcases real stories from companies and I’m so proud that Ireland has been chosen to host this year. For three days, more than 900 professionals from around the globe will be in Dublin and the shared services spotlight will be on us.”
Register your interest
Deloitte’s Shared Services Conference 2025 offers an opportunity to hear from those at the leading edge of the industry’s move up the value curve.
The diverse programme includes speakers from a huge array of Irish and international shared services operations, from companies such as pharma giant Pfizer and jewellery firm Pandora to public-sector organisations such as the Health Service Executive.
In a fast-changing world, it couldn’t have come at a better time.
“The shared services model is now 30 years old, it is tried and tested, and the benefits it brings have been proven over and over again,” McCarthy says.
“This conference is an opportunity to find out how companies are going about it now, and the lessons they are learning along the way, directly from the people who are driving it.”
Find out more at deloitte.co.uk/sharedservicesconference
