How to 'Stay Ahead' in 2021

By the time you read this, it will have been a year since the first inklings of disruption made themselves felt in Wuhan, China, where a number of SSOs are based. I don’t need to remind you what happened then. Indeed, if there is one thing 2020 taught us, it’s to expect the unexpected. And that, perhaps, is the key lesson. For, while work from home has proven itself, the challenge of maintaining mental and physical health, and of drawing boundaries, remains to be solved as we go to press.

Nevertheless, there is no going back. Organizations have learned that they don’t need to invest in expensive real estate, that travel can be curtailed, that they can recruit from outside their immediate commuting range, and that virtual teams work well (given enabling technologies and enough personal touch points). Indeed, the reality of digital transformation has escalated as both virtual and digital have come to define resilient operations.

Despite this, the basics of shared services remain. And in this respect, although 2020 has wrought changes, work is simply being redesigned or rethought given both limitations and opportunities. However, while Miriam Webster made “pandemic” its word of the year, SSON is choosing a more strategic phrase to define the moment: “Staying Ahead.”

That message is reflected in this report, which focuses on five areas we believe are most critical to ‘staying ahead.’ The report was written with the support and input of SSON’s Global Advisory Board and thus reflects not just our research, but also input from 20+ of the world’s leading SSO and GBS operators.

I hope you have plenty of opportunity to refer to it throughout the course of this year.

Barbara Hodge

Global Editor/SSON