Abstract
Shared Service Centres (SSCs) have been in existence since the late eighties and have since gained popularity to the extent that currently, up to eighty per cent of Fortune 500 companies have implemented some type of SSC. In South Africa, companies such as SASOL, Centre of Science and Innovation Research (CSIR) and Goldfields Mine have also implemented SSCs. SSCs are commonly found in human resources, accounting, facilities management and, in more recent years, information technology (IT) departments. SSCs are reported to have numerous benefits, but studies have found that this is not always the case and that there are often challenges to setting up and operating an SSC. Further to this, research has shown that studies are concentrated around the implementation phase and not on the operational phase of the SSC. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to study the operational challenges faced by an IT SSC located in Gauteng, South Africa.
This study followed a qualitative approach using a single case study. Data was collected through the distribution of open-ended questionnaires using purposive sampling to senior managers at the IT SSC.
This study found six challenges in the operational phase of the IT SSC, namely 1) deadlines not being met; 2) cost management; 3) delivery capability of IT services; 4) risk management; 5) quality and compliance, and 6) hybrid-working environment. This study has also provided a number of practical recommendations to those charged with governance to address the challenges identified.
Keywords: Shared Service Centre, information technology, implementation challenges, financial services firms, South Africa.