NEW YORK, Dec. 16, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Six out of 10 organizations will embrace global business services (GBS) over standalone outsourcing and shared services by 2017, according to new research from U.S. audit, tax, and advisory firm KPMG LLP and HfS Research, a leading analyst authority on global business operations strategies.
Cliff Justice, Principal and U.S. Leader, KPMG Shared Services and Outsourcing Advisory, said, "GBS offers enormous potential for unlocking greater business value. However, due to its enterprise-wide, cross-functional nature, it also requires new ways of operating between GBS, corporate functions, business units, and their key external delivery partners."
In this report, GBS is defined as an operating model and strategic governance framework that optimizes the mix of human capital, outsourcing and shared services-based service delivery models, process innovation, and technology to deliver business services on an enterprise-wide, cross-functional basis to support key components of an organization's business strategy.
The Global Business Services Industry Study gathered empirical data from managers, through C-level executives, at 416 organizations, with more than $1 billion in revenue across global regions and industries.
Key findings from the study include:
- 62 percent of organizations will be extensively investing in GBS (hybrid, integrated outsourcing and shared services) delivery over the next three years
- Annual external GBS expenditure will surpass $40 billion in 2013 and increase to $73 billion by 2017
- 64 percent of respondents believe C-suite investment in changing corporate culture, making difficult decisions, and coaching leaders through change management are essential to success
- Cost reduction, strategic operational analytics, and automation dominate business outcomes for today's sourcing strategies, with four out of 10 organizations viewing these as critical to the success of their shared services and outsourcing programs
- 37 percent of respondents have increased their investment in technology, and 38 percent in analytics, that reduce reliance on labor
- GBS usage and focus is currently highest in the consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing industries
- The greatest challenges to achieving GBS benefits are: inability to adequately leverage and exploit data analytics; business enablement of IT; attraction, retention, and talent management requirements in the GBS organization; and enabling end-to-end process management across functions and geographies.
According to Phil Fersht, CEO of HfS Research, "We are seeing an escalated focus on both automation and analytics from mature organizations, but what is clear is that centralization of governance and a GBS approach provides the building blocks to achieve more effective results."
"It is imperative that change management leadership be implemented as an element of the design for new governance and organization structures in order to redefine joint accountabilities for GBS success," added Justice. "Astute GBS leaders also recognize this. In fact, a popular response to our study question on what gets in the way of greater GBS success was, simply, 'us'."
The complete report is available on both the KPMG and HfS sites.
About KPMG LLP
KPMG LLP, the audit, tax and advisory firm (www.kpmg.com/us), is the U.S. member firm of KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"). KPMG International's member firms have 155,000 professionals, including more than 8,600 partners, in 155 countries.
About HfS Research
HfS Research is the leading independent global analyst authority and knowledge community for the business and IT services industry.
HfS serves the research and strategy needs of business and IT operations leaders across finance, supply chain, human resources, marketing, customer management and core industry functions. HfS provides detailed and thoughtful analyst coverage of the various areas that impact successful business outcomes, namely process automation and outsourcing, global business services frameworks, mobility, analytics and social collaboration. HfS also focuses heavily on talent acquisition, development, and motivation strategies. HfS applies its acclaimed crowdsourced Blueprint MethodologyTM to evaluate the performance of service providers in terms of innovating and then executing against those business outcomes.
To learn more about HfS Research, please email research@HfSResearch.com.