8 October 2026
updated at: 3 November 2026
13 November 2026
For the first 2–3 years after launching a shared service center (SSC), the business sees near-perfect economics: core functions are centralized, economies of scale kick in, and operating costs go down.
Then comes the plateau. The gains from simple centralization run out: SSC headcount starts growing in step with business volume, internal customers complain about slow service, and savings stall. The center hits the ceiling of the transactional model.
From here, there's only one way forward — a qualitative transformation of the SSC. In this article, we'll break down service center maturity levels, show how to expand the scope of functions without losing control, and walk through the digital tool architecture you need to move from basic service delivery to true business partnership.
Service center stagnation rarely comes down to poor employee performance. More often, the problem lies in process architecture and the IT landscape. Data from the ESM market study by SimpleOne and Computerra backs this up: nearly half of companies (46.2%) still operate without a single service platform. In 41.7% of cases, processes are stuck at early-stage standardization (scattered request forms exist, but there's no service catalog), and 16.7% of companies handle requests literally by hand — via email and phone. Under these conditions, the average request takes 4.6 hours to process, and for 8% of organizations, it drags on for more than a full working day.
Here are the typical symptoms of an outdated model — and their real causes:
| Symptom | Root Cause |
|---|---|
| SSC headcount grows in line with the business | Low automation. Operators act as "copy-pasters" between systems. There's no self-service portal. |
| Internal customers complain about slow service | No end-to-end processes. Requests bounce like a ping-pong ball between IT, facilities, and HR, getting stuck wherever responsibilities meet. |
| Burnout and high staff turnover in the SSC | "Manual control" syndrome. Specialists spend their time sorting through email and messenger chats instead of doing expert work. |
| High SLA compliance alongside negative feedback | "Watermelon SLA" syndrome (green on the outside, red on the inside). Metrics don't reflect the real customer experience (CSAT). |
| Inability to onboard new functions quickly | IT fragmentation: according to a 2026 study by SimpleOne and itSMF, up to 78% of companies across the broader market use two or more systems for service tasks, which makes bringing new departments on board slow and expensive. |
A shared service center can't evolve overnight. Based on KPMG's classic GBS maturity model and recent McKinsey insights, the life cycle of any service center is tightly tied to the "right" it has earned from the business.
According to a study by DRT Consulting, 55% of shared service centers are now at a solid "mature" level (transitioning from phase 1 to phase 2). Their main challenge today is breaking out of transactional routine and becoming a true business partner.
The market has settled on three main SSC models, each closely tied to the stages of maturity:
You can't chart a route without knowing where you are on the map. Maturity is assessed across five key dimensions: Strategy, Processes, Technology, People, and Governance.
Answer these questions to find out which level you're at.
If you answered "No" to four or more questions, your SSC is stuck at the transactional level.
If the initial SSC setup is already behind you, your development strategy should follow four directions. Drawing on practitioner experience (in particular, industry analysis of the shift from transactions to measurable value) and global trends, we highlight the following areas.
According to DRT research, accounting and tax functions are already centralized at nearly 100% of market players. The focus is now shifting toward expert functions. Fresh data from the 2026 SimpleOne and itSMF study shows where mature teams scale the service model first:
The main enemy of efficiency is fragmentation. A Deloitte study shows that 74% of GBS leaders name end-to-end process optimization as the top driver of cost reduction. Applying ITIL principles — originally designed for IT — to the wider business lets you treat any work as a service. An end-to-end process erases boundaries: for example, procure-to-pay (P2P) runs through procurement, logistics, and finance as a single end-to-end process managed by one process owner.
The practice of leading enterprises, including a major bank, shows that serving everyone to the same standard is too expensive. The strategy of the future revolves around management by exception and service differentiation.
Strategic internal customers — such as the IT division procuring critical infrastructure — keep a premium SLA with a dedicated manager. Routine high-volume requests, like ordering office supplies or covering branch facilities needs, move to a fully digital, seamless mode with no operator involved at intake.
As automation grows, SSCs no longer need mere "data entry operators." They need experts who can solve non-standard problems. The key challenge Deloitte ranks first in GBS talent is the shortage of qualified staff and their retention. Your strategy should include reskilling and upskilling programs for new technologies, including AI, and building a strong culture instead of relying on financial incentives alone.
In 2026, SSC automation is driven by the move away from a "zoo" of disconnected systems. You can't be efficient when employees work in an accounting system, communicate via email, and take requests in an outdated help desk. The trend is a shift to the ESM (Enterprise Service Management) concept.
Key technologies of a mature SSC:
This is exactly the comprehensive approach the SimpleOne platform delivers, acting as the orchestrator of all service flows in an SSC.
Moving to a new maturity level should show up in the numbers. New technologies should have a direct impact on KPIs.
| Metric | What It Shows | Expected Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per Ticket | How much it costs to process one standard request | Decreases thanks to self-service and RPA |
| SLA Compliance | Percentage of requests resolved on time | Grows and stabilizes thanks to auto-routing |
| MTTR (Mean Time to Resolve) | Average time to resolve a request | Decreases thanks to end-to-end processes and a single point of contact |
| Self-Service Ratio | Percentage of requests created and resolved without an operator | Grows (frees up expert capacity) |
| CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score) | Internal customer satisfaction index | Grows thanks to transparency (request statuses) and speed |
When evaluating modernization projects, it's important to calculate ROI (return on investment) and the reduction in TCO (total cost of ownership) of the IT landscape achieved by replacing disparate systems with a single ESM platform.
The fundamental challenges of shared service centers haven't changed in years. The experience of companies that were first to move from a "paper factory" to a digital center remains a benchmark for the market.
Let's look at a classic case of SSC process reengineering at Lorus, a large logistics company within the Sollers Group. The project was delivered on the SimpleOne platform, with Devoteam/Media-Tel as the integrator.
"Manual control" syndrome (As-Is):
The geographically distributed company, with facilities and warehouses stretching from St. Petersburg to Ulyanovsk, ran its HR back office from a single center in Moscow. Master data was stored in the accounting system, but the service delivery process itself — approvals, clarifications, and request submission — happened outside the system, via email, Excel, and phone calls.
There was no way to measure this SSC's efficiency: the company bore constant costs for maintaining a team of operators, regardless of how much real work got done. The center had hit the ceiling of the transactional model.
Moving to a service model (To-Be):
The business realized that without isolating and digitizing back-office procedures, it would be impossible to manage a growing number of remote employees. The solution was to implement the SimpleOne ESM platform, which became a single process orchestrator running on top of the company's accounting system.
Results of moving to a new maturity level:
Instead of scattered communication channels, the company launched a full-fledged self-service portal with a unified HR service catalog. Two-way integration with the accounting system eliminated double manual data entry by dispatchers.
Transformation by the numbers:
The move from manual control to process-driven management — where the system, not the assignee's memory, runs the workflow — delivered measurable results:
Key takeaway: this case clearly shows an SSC moving to the second stage of maturity under KPMG's methodology. Implementing a single ESM platform not only dramatically lowered the cost per transaction by cutting manual communication, but also made the work of SSC assignees measurable and fully transparent to top management.
To scale a service center without inflating the budget at the same pace, leadership needs to hold on to three priorities:
Next step: estimate the hidden costs of manual operations with our ESM calculator, or request a SimpleOne platform demo to see a digital SSC architecture in action.
When you see request volumes growing without any improvement in quality, operating costs rising in proportion to business growth, and internal customers complaining that they can't see the status of their requests.
Trends point to transactional procurement, first-line IT support, contract administration, treasury, logistics support, and basic legal support.
Yes. An ERP system (such as SAP) is the transactional core for finance and resources, while an ESM system orchestrates processes and communications. ESM manages the flow of requests, monitors SLAs, provides a portal for employees, and passes ready-to-post data to the ERP.
RPA bots take over the mechanical transfer of data between systems that lack APIs, as well as the reconciliation of source documents. GenAI helps classify complex text-based requests, powers intelligent knowledge base search, and drafts responses to users.
Translate IT metrics into business outcomes. Calculate the current cost of a single manual transaction and show how a single point of contact and self-service will bring it down. Build your ROI case on freed-up person-hours and reduced risks (such as penalties for HR document management violations).
Costs depend on scale. The only way to lower cost per ticket is to eliminate manual work at request intake and routing (by introducing a self-service portal) and to use intelligent automation for standard resolutions (zero-touch resolution).
Introduce strict service catalogs before moving a function into the SSC. Sign SLAs with business customers and use IT systems to monitor metrics automatically. Transparency — when customers can see the status of their requests — reduces anxiety and improves perceived service quality.