There was so much to name and highlight during the 22nd edition of SSOW Europe - the No. 1 event for Europe’s shared services, GBS and sourcing leaders, and we are very proud to bring all of these together in this year's post-show report, as we move towards the future with our amazing shared services community!

Read more and discover:

• Who attended SSOW 2022
• The 12 key themes at SSOW 2022
• The top 10 sessions from SSOW 2022
• Key session highlights
• The 2022 SSON Impact award winners
• #SSOW2022
• Party with SSOW
• The SSOW road trip
• What our attendees had to say
• Our sponsors
• Who is SSON and how can they help you
• What's up next for SSOW!

Download the full post-show report here >>>

The road ahead for GBS towards 2030: Reconnect, Recalibrate, Rewire!

Ahead of SSOW Europe 2022, this infographic includes exclusive insights from the SSON Analytics Report 2022, where respondents were asked to shed light on their Intelligent Automation (IA) investment priorities in the next year. This infographic is a perfect snapshot of the latest Global Business Services (GBS) & Shared Services and Outsourcing (SSO) centres IA investment trends, to see where your competitors and peers are focusing their resources, and to help you stay ahead in the digital era.

Download the full infographic now >>>

Ahead of SSOW Europe 2022, this short presentation includes key takeaways from the SSON Analytics Report 2022 on the future of work and what this means for Global Business Services (GBS) & Shared Services and Outsourcing (SSO) centres, to help you navigate the ever-changing landscape and the pave road ahead towards 2030.

Respondents were asked to share their thoughts and insights on how they overcome health and wellness concerns brought on by the past year, and how the pandemic has impacted their office space and recruiting strategies.

Download the full presentation now >>>

What are the key priorities and objectives for European Global Business Services (GBS) and shared services in 2022? How have service delivery models, future of work strategies, experience management, and digital agenda evolved in the post-pandemic world?

To help you answer these questions and navigate the ever-changing landscape, this interactive Visual Analytics Workbook analyses data from European respondents in SSON’s 2022 State of Industry survey to uncover the latest European GBS & shared services trends.

As Global Business Services (GBS) organisations continue to advance enterprise transformation, the journey ahead is fraught with challenges and new complexities. They are tasked to recalibrate operating models, adapt to the hybrid working environment, increase their influence and drive supply chain transformation. All of these make the path towards the future of GBS a challenge to navigate. Not to mention GBS organisations are still expected to lead the way and support enterprise businesses to drive office integration, champion digital transformation and incubate innovation to fuel organisational transformation, all whilst finding new ways to deliver value.

Ahead of the SSOW Europe 2022 flagship event, we spoke exclusively to Lars Hölzer, Head of Global Business Services Operations and Global Process Owner Financial Services at Lufthansa and Paul Bartley, VP Service Delivery at Alcoity Inc., about how the last 18 months has changed the way we manage GBS, the biggest risks and opportunities of GBS, and the initiatives for developing the future blueprint of GBS.

Download the full interview now >>

Over the last 18 months, the Shared Services (SSO) and Global Business Services (GBS) industry has learned a great deal more about resilience and agility. As we re-emerge from the aftermath of the global pandemic, GBS organisations are expected to continue to up their game and support enterprise businesses in many different ways. Post-pandemic, GBS organisations need to continue leading process integration, championing digital transformation, incubating innovation to fuel organisational transformation, whilst continuing to find new ways of delivering value. All of these factors make robust transformation, the new ways of working and an integrated, digital and resilient GBS, more important than ever before. SSON recently hosted the first returned in-person SSOW UK & Ireland Leaders Summit, to facilitate these important conversations and advance developments in the industry.

Ahead of the SSOW Europe 2022 event, this report brings a summary of key speaker insights from the SSOW UK & Ireland Leaders Summit, to shed some light on how they are advancing their journey and paving the road ahead for digital transformation, GBS evolution and the future of work.

Download the full report now >>

• The path to increasing efficiency in Accounts Receivables
• Insights on how best to judge your O2C investment success
• Utilising automation to drive the best from your teams
  

As we recover from the events of the last 18 months, everybody is working hard to get back to some sort of ‘business as usual’, by brainstorming solutions and finding new ways to tackle challenges, to modernise the Order to Cash (O2C) function and succeed in this digital climate. Innovation is key for Shared Services Organisations (SSO) and Global Business Services (GBS), with the Accounts Receivable and O2C functions being a particular focus for transformation. Innovation is also critical for SSO and GBS to be able to survive and thrive in these continuously changing times, caused by advancements in technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) automation, as well as rapid developments in O2C management and Shared Service Centres (SSCs). Thus, it is important to reassess SSCs, create future investment plans for SSCs and drive insight capabilities to accelerate business growth.

Following a roundtable discussion hosted by Shared Services & Outsourcing Network (SSON) and HighRadius, industry experts shared insights on how innovation can help achieve shared service success and build industry resilience.

Download the full report now >>

Shared Services and Global Business Services (SSO & GBS) have undergone a seismic strategic shift as we begin to recover post-pandemic. With the hybrid working model gaining long-term favour across the globe, the way in which GBS are managed and operated to deliver true efficiency has been fundamentally altered.

Ahead of this year's SSO & GBS Virtual Exchange Europe, we spoke exclusively to Vladimiro Ferreira, Head of Automation CoE and Innovation Manager at SEG Automotive, on the lessons learned and opportunities of Digital Twins within SSO&GBS.

Download the full interview now >>

Download the attendee list to find out who you could network with at SSOW!

We had the pleasure of speaking with Bobby Abraham, Global VP, Finance Architecture, Change & Transformation (FACT), AstraZeneca, at SSOW Europe 2023, about his greatest challenges over the last 12 months within shared services and GBS, how shared services and GBS will evolve over the coming years and his advice/words of wisdom for someone starting their shared services and GBS journey.

Watch the full video here! >>>

We had the pleasure of speaking with Steve Rudderham, Head of GBS, Carrier, our chairman at SSOW Europe 2023, about how shared services and GBS will evolve over the coming years, topics he'd like to see on the 2024 agenda, as well as his key takeaways, insights, memorable moments and highlights from SSOW Europe 2023.

Watch the full video here! >>>

We had the pleasure of speaking with Phil Priest, SVP Global Shared Services, IFF, about the true measure of progressive GBS leadership, the key areas IFF are looking to invest in over the next 18 months, his advice/words of wisdom for someone starting their shared services and GBS journey, and his favourite parts of SSOW Europe 2023.

Watch the full video here! >>>

We had the pleasure of speaking with Maria Kirillova, Regional Director of Financial Operations, EMEA, Mars, about her greatest challenges within shared services and GBS, key areas Mars are looking to invest in over the next 18 months, how shared services and GBS will evolve over the coming years, and her favourite parts of SSOW Europe 2023.

Watch the full video here! >>>

We had the pleasure of speaking with Kamila Grembowicz, Head GBS Delivery Excellence and Transition, JTI, about the key areas JTI are looking to invest in over the next 18 months, how shared services and GBS will evolve over the coming years, her advice/words of wisdom for someone starting their shared services and GBS journey, and the key takeaways and insights that she gained from the panel discussions, roundtables or workshops at SSOW Europe 2023.

Watch the full video here! >>>

We had the pleasure of speaking with Gabriela Stanakova, Senior Director, GBS Source To Pay Global Operations, Kimberly-Clark, about the key areas Kimberly-Clark are looking to invest in over the next 18 months, how shared services and GBS will evolve over the coming years, her advice/words of wisdom for someone starting their shared services and GBS journey, and the key takeaways and insights she gained from the panel discussions, roundtables or workshops at SSOW Europe 2023.

Watch the full video here! >>>

We had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Turan Sahin, Chief Executive Officer, Allianz Services, about the vision behind Allianz Services 'transformation engine' to drive customer excellence, innovation and best-in-class services, the key challenges they encountered with this approach and how they overcame these, the tools or areas they are looking to invest in to support their 'transformation engine', how they see this approach evolving over the coming years, as well as Turan's most memorable moments and highlights from SSOW Europe 2023.

Watch the full video here! >>>

We had the pleasure of speaking with Deborah Kops, Managing Principal, Sourcing Change, about the best approach to effective stakeholder management, the key areas practitioners should be investing in over the next 18 months, how shared services and GBS will evolve over the coming years and the key takeaways and insights she gained from the panel discussions, roundtables or workshops at SSOW Europe 2023.

Watch the full video here! >>>

We had the pleasure of speaking with Carlos Guimaraes, VP GBS Operations, adidas, about his greatest challenge with retaining and managing talent in the new ways of working, his strategy to overcome this challenge, how shared services and GBS will evolve over the coming years, and his biggest highlights from SSOW Europe 2023.

Watch the full video here! >>>

We had the pleasure of speaking with our SSOW Europe 2023 Inspirational Keynote Speaker and Rugby World Cup Legend Jonny Wilkinson, about how shared services and GBS leaders can apply vulnerability, openness and the power of presence to running their organisations.

We had the pleasure of speaking with Jackie Crockford, VP Global Business Services, AstraZeneca, about the true measure of progressive GBS leadership, key areas AstraZeneca are looking to invest in over the next 18 months, her advice/words of wisdom for someone starting their shared services and GBS journey, and her favourite parts of SSOW Europe 2023.

Watch the full video here! >>>

Ahead of this year's SSOW Europe, we had the pleasure of speaking with Paul Bartley, Senior Director, Finance Business Services, Baxter International, about what the future of work looks like in GBS and how leaders can act to reshape the future of work, to help you transform your shared services/GBS and position your company for success.

Fill in the form below to access exclusive insights >>>

Ahead of this year's SSOW Europe, we had the pleasure of speaking with Andras Kohl, Head of Finance Business Services – CE, TESCO, about how leaders ensure effective change management to drive transformation and what Tesco's top priorities are for the next 12 months/year, to help you transform your shared services/GBS and position your company for success.

Fill in the form below to access exclusive insights >>>

Ahead of this year's SSOW Europe, we had the pleasure of speaking with Bobby Abraham, Global VP – Finance Architecture, Change & Transformation (FACT), AstraZeneca about what topics will have the biggest impact on the future of shared services and GBS, what more the industry can do to collaborate, key takeaways and why it is so important for organisation's like AstraZeneca to attend, to help you transform your shared services/GBS and position your company for success.

Fill in the form below to access exclusive insights >>>

Ahead of this year's SSOW Europe, we had the pleasure of speaking with Andreas Manolis, Head of Innovation & Strategy, GBS, BT, about what more the industry can do to collaborate, key takeaways, favourite topics and why it is so important for organisation's like BT to attend, to help you transform your shared services/GBS and position your company for success.

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Ahead of this year's SSOW Europe, we had the pleasure of speaking with Sandy Khanna, Global Head of Shared Services, Anglo American, about where Anglo American are in their shared services/GBS journey, strategies they are currently working on and how they are driving these strategies for maximizing business impact and their top priorities for the next 12 months/year, to help you transform your shared services/GBS and position your company for success.

Fill in the form below to access exclusive insights >>>

Ahead of this year's SSOW Europe, we had the pleasure of speaking with Florence Mui, Senior Vice President, Global Business Services, Adidas, about how Adidas are advancing the maturity of their shared services/GBS, expanding their shared services/GBS into emerging areas and their top priorities for the next 12 months/year, to help you transform your shared services/GBS and position your company for success.

Fill in the form below to access exclusive insights >>>

Ahead of this year's SSOW Europe, we had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Frank Schüler, Managing Director Global Service Center (GSC), DHL Global Forwarding, about the greatest challenges with cultural changes, advice/top tips for encouraging out of the box thinking, the key benefits and greatest opportunities of digital operating models and value-creation, and the next phases/steps for digital operating models and value creation, to help you transform your shared services/GBS and position your company for success.

Fill in the form below to access exclusive insights >>>

Ahead of this year's SSOW Europe, we had the pleasure of speaking with Reto Sahil, Group Chief Information Officer and Excom Member, Asahi Europe & International, about his top priorities for the next 12 months/year and key takeaways from SSOW Europe 2022, to help you transform your shared services/GBS and position your company for success.

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Ahead of this year's SSOW Europe, we had the pleasure of speaking with Salvatore Russo, GBS Strategy Director, AstraZeneca, about how AstraZeneca are advancing their GBS maturity, expanding their GBS into emerging areas and their top priorities for the next 12 months/year, to help you transform your shared services/GBS and position your company for success.

Fill in the form below to access exclusive insights >>>

Ahead of this year's SSOW Europe, we had the pleasure of speaking with Pedro Nunes, Data Insights Director - Global Business Services, AstraZeneca, about his greatest challenges with GBS data and top tips for addressing these challenges, the key benefits and greatest opportunities of data-driven GBS, and the next phase/step for data and GBS, to help you transform your shared services/GBS and position your company for success.

Fill in the form below to access exclusive insights >>>

Ahead of this year's SSOW Europe, we had the pleasure of speaking with Nigel Coffey, Head of Finance Operations, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, about the lessons he has learnt from being head of finance transformation and global business organisations at companies including PepsiCo, Pfizer, Takeda, why he is keen to prioritise master data in his efforts to get P2P to best practice level, why he is a fan of recovery audit as a project and how this is sold internally, his perspective on robotics and automation and the role of benchmarking in getting to best practice, to help you transform your shared services/GBS and position your company for success.

Fill in the form below to access exclusive insights >>>

The Shared Services & Outsourcing Week Europe 2023 is firing from all cylinders and we're excited to share a small sneak peek into who's onsite this May at the Estoril Congress Centre in Lisbon, Portugal. At the biggest SSOW gathering of the year, meet an elite group of inspiring GBS and Shared Services experts. Download your complimentary copy of the attendee list for a look at who's onsite >>

The #SSOW Team have compiled our most popular and widely read content this year into an exclusive resource bundle, including: 

1. Maturing and Future-Proofing GBS & the Shared Services Operating Model Benchmarking Report 
   
   
2. Levelling Up Service Management and Orchestration 
   A pioneering view from Frank Schueler, Managing Director Global Service Center (GSC), DHL Global Forwarding, Freight 
   
   
3. The Shift to People & Purpose: Key Insights from a SSOW Women Leader - Part 1 
   Exclusive interview with Maria Saggese, Global and EMEIA GBS Lead Partner, EY 
   
   
4. The Shift to People & Purpose: Key Insights from a SSOW Women Leader - Part 2 
   Exclusive interview with Vanessa Gleason, Head of Strategy, Process Excellence and Innovation, Takeda 
   
   
5. Getting Digitalisation Right 
   Exclusive interview with Thomas Moons, Global Head of Customer Experience (CX) Excellence, Shell 
   
   
6. European Shared Services & GBS Organisations Key Trends & Insights 2023 | SSON Analytics Report 
   
   
7. The State of European Shared Services and HR - Industry Report 
   
   
8. 2023 Snapshot of Attendees

To find out more about maturing and future-proofing GBS & shared services, levelling up service management and orchestration, the shift to people and purpose, getting digitalisation right, the state of European shared services and HR, the key trends and insights for 2023, and the 2023 snapshot of attendees, download the full content bundle here! >>>

The last three years have weighed heavily on the social consciousness of people across the planet. More than ever, individuals strive to make responsible decisions that will positively impact their environment and community for years to come. This effort has shifted the global consumer sentiment towards focusing more on making sustainable choices with how they spend their time and money. 

Ahead of this year's Shared Services & Outsourcing Week Europe 2023, this report will explore how GBS can be utilised to strengthen sustainability initiatives across an organisation, and how to communicate and measure sustainability practices to ensure these programs are a success. 

Read the report and discover: 

• The important relationship between sustainability and GBS 
• Communicating sustainability with employees 
• Retaining Gen-Z talent 
• Sustainability in GBS: “Must Haves” and “Do Nots” 
• Measuring sustainability 
  

Download the full report here! >>>

The 2023 'The State Of European Shared Services & HR Report' has just been released and you can download it now.

Get an in-depth look at the technologies, strategies and operating models that have allowed Europe to remain a global shared services hub despite the challenges of the past two years. Dive into the HR function, which has been responsible for navigating many of the biggest challenges driven by the pandemic’s impact on talent acquisition and development.

Download your complimentary copy now and explore at how GBS and HR leaders in Europe are redefining their operating model, repositioning for purpose, leading with growth, operating with agility, and delivering value through intelligence.

With more than two years of continuous upheaval and change behind them, Shared Services and GBS organisations are having a pivotal moment. There has never been a greater time for progressive GBS leaders to step up to the next level to redefine operating model, reposition for purpose, lead with growth, operate with agility, and deliver value through intelligence.

Explore the greatest challenges and opportunities facing European business services operations.

Download the 2023 SSON Analytics Report now >>>

Ahead of Shared Services & Outsourcing Week Europe 2023, this report features our global state-of-the-industry results, where over 100 respondents explore how to mature and future-proof their GBS & shared services operating model. This comprehensive benchmarking report will also provide you with the unique opportunity to explore what areas companies are investing in over the next 6-12 months, current operating models, working models, location strategies and talent strategies being utilised in the industry and whether these are predicted to change over the coming year, as well as the greatest challenges with maturing and future-proofing GBS and future GBS promises to businesses. In addition, you can find a summary of the key trends, to help you mature and future-proof your GBS and shared services operating model, drive value, purpose and growth-led transformation.

Read the report and discover:

• Where organisations are in their GBS journey
• What areas companies are investing in over the next 6-12 months
• The current operating models, working models, location strategies and talent strategies being utilised in the industry and whether these are predicted to change over the coming year
• The greatest challenges with maturing and future-proofing GBS and the shared services operating model
• Future GBS promises to the business

Download the full report here >>>

After decades of focusing on processes and technologies, Global Business Services (GBS) organisations are shifting focus to their people and purpose, as all companies are fighting for great talent in almost all locations. Ahead of the Shared Services & Outsourcing Week Europe 2023, we spoke exclusively to Maria Saggese, Global and EMEIA GBS Lead Partner, EY, about how businesses can help define their purpose through work and the outcomes when they do, why companies need to make diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) a priority in their GBS and best practices to rethink or reframe service delivery models. 

Read more and discover: 

• How businesses can define their purpose through work and the outcomes of this 
• How companies are integrating and prioritising DE&I in their GBS agendas 
• Best practices to rethink and reframe service delivery models 
• The roadmap for the future of GBS 

Download the full interview here! >>>

Ahead of the Shared Services & Outsourcing Week Europe 2023, we spoke exclusively to Vanessa Gleason, Head of Strategy, Process Excellence and Innovation, Takeda, about the key drivers for people and purpose, the changes they are experiencing in their organisation as a result, how they are developing diversity and inclusion as part of their GBS agenda, what the roadmap for the future of GBS looks like and best practices. 

Read more and discover: 

• The key drivers towards people and purpose, how these are being driven within Takeda, and the changes they are seeing as a result 
• How Takeda are developing diversity and inclusion as an integral part of their GBS agenda 
• The roadmap for the future of GBS 
• Best practices to achieve your strategic vision and people experience aspiration 

Download the full interview here! >>>

A key trend in service management this year is the shift from customer service towards customer experience within service delivery to drive customer centricity, service delivery quality and strategic alignment. The shared services industry is also moving from siloed service delivery methods to integrated service platforms, supported by evolving technologies.

In this report, we explore these trends by providing key metrics of the current state of service management and orchestration in the industry. In addition, Frank Schueler, Managing Director Global Service Center (GSC), DHL Global Forwarding, Freight provides his expert insight on how to level up your service management and orchestration, to help you drive value, purpose and scale-led transformation in your organisation, ahead of the Shared Services & Outsourcing Week Europe 2023.

Read the report and discover:

• The current state of service management and orchestration in the industry
• Key drivers for levelling up service management and orchestration
• Success metrics for initiatives and strategies proven to level up service management and orchestration
• Principal service management and orchestration learnings
• Top service management and orchestration trends for 2023

Download the full report here! >>>

Within the shared services industry, digitalisation is often the number one imperative to drive the next level of efficiency and value creation. However, many digitalisation efforts fail to deliver the financial value and commitments made to the business. 

Ahead of the Shared Services & Outsourcing Week Europe 2023, Thomas Moons, Global Head of Customer Experience (CX) Excellence, Shell, shares his story for getting digitalisation right by utilising a human-centric approach, to ensure digitalisation efforts have a bigger stakeholder uptake. 

Read more and discover: 

• Why digitalisation projects fail 
• How Shell’s approach to digitalisation differed from others in the industry 
• The key steps involved in a human-centric approach to digitalisation 
• Why people are an important element of success 
• How to lead people through change, and examples of when this didn’t work out as expected 
• The key lessons learnt from a human-centric approach to digitalisation, and what could’ve been done differently 
  

Download the full interview here! >>>

There was so much to name and highlight during the 23rd edition of SSOW Europe - the No. 1 event for Europe’s shared services, GBS and sourcing leaders, and we are very proud to bring all of these together in this year's post-show report, as we move towards the future with our amazing shared services community! 

Read more and discover: 

• Who attended SSOW 2023 
• The 10 key themes at SSOW 2023 
• Key session highlights 
• Key trends to takeaway from SSOW 2023 
• The 2023 SSON Impact award winners 
• What our attendees had to say 
• #SSOW2023 
• Our sponsors 
• What's up next for SSOW! 

Download the full post-show report here >>> 

GBS Repositioned: Value, Purpose & Growth-Led Transformation