Governments around the world are increasingly seeking to consolidate fragmented, sub-scale ICT operations into shared services serving clusters of agencies – to reduce costs and to improve services.

In Canberra, a range of initiatives are underway that will lead to the creation of shared services – in DHS, Defence and in clusters of other agencies.

A shared services strategy, however, is difficult to implement well in the devolved managerial regimes of the public sector. Once the dust has settled on the business case, the consultants have left the building, and the implementation projects are underway.

The executives in charge of the shared services unit and the agency ICT functions need to work out how to make the new arrangements work for the long haul. A shared services centre is not simply a new supplier for agencies. It is a significant change in the ICT organisation, with flow on effects for CIO functions at both whole-of-government and agency levels.

 

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