Q&A with:

Tilak Banerjee

Director, Global Business Services

EMC

What’s your shared services background?e.g. What is your role within your SSC? How long have you

worked in shared services? What type of center do you work in (Captive, Hybrid, Outsourced)?

“I have been working in shared services industry for around 18 years. I have had the good fortune to be a part of all the three models –Captive, Hybrid as well as outsourced.

This has given me a well-rounded view of the industry and an understanding of the different value propositions and strategic levers for these three models/centres.”

1

What’s your shared services background?e.g. What is your role within your SSC? How long have you

worked in shared services? What type of center do you work in (Captive, Hybrid, Outsourced)?

“I am a part of a Global Business Services (GBS) set up now which relies on a Hybrid organization design. I was managing service delivery of the “Finance Shared Services” comprising of different delivery towers and teams based out of multiple countries in the Asia Pacific & Japan region for the last 4 years. Right now I am transitioning into a new role within the GBS organization.”

1

What has been your biggest challenge in your shared services career and how did

you overcome it?

“I think the challenge that I have faced, or for that matter, every shared service professional faces, is in the area of knowledge transfer and management.”

2

What has been your biggest challenge in your shared services career and how did

you overcome it?

“In a traditional set-up, knowledge is managed in an organic way – it is unstructured. People who have been doing these functions for all these years just know it. There is really no need to turn these into explicit knowledge capsules.

But the moment you think shared services, you have to put that knowledge down to pen and paper, in the form of digestible chunks. Extracting that perfectly by capturing all the exceptions is near to impossible ... hence the first few months of service delivery is always crucial. The stabilization period, as we call it, is the most challenging part.”

2

What is the best aspect of your role/what do you enjoy most about it?

“The best aspect of my role is the opportunity to interact with people across geographies and cultures. Everything else stems from this interaction.

Understanding the expectations of the stakeholders, understanding the ‘motivation-triggers’ for people in your teams based out of different countries – it is such a fascinating thing. The human element in our digital processes is what I enjoy most in my current role.”

3

What motivates you and keeps your engaged in your role?

“Fundamentally, I believe motivation is something that you seek within. Having said that, the external environment also acts as a catalyst.

The responsibility of creating an environment which is conducive lies with all of us in the organization. This is where we spend most of our waking hours, so the bond that you have with the people with whom you work is a great motivating factor.”

4

What motivates you and keeps your engaged in your role?

“The other part which is important for me personally is an environment which prompts and rewards creativity. A great bunch of people and a creative environment is what makes me come to work everyday with a .”

4

Do you see any significant trends in shared services & outsourcing at the moment? And

how do you think this trend could change the industry (or is already changing it)?

“The industry is changing as I respond to this question – the change is rapid and significant. Digital disruption and the increasing use of analytics are changing the service delivery models.We would definitely need to redefine our strategy and redraft our service catalogue.

I believe the effects would be at different levels – people, process, customer, enterprise.”

5

Do you see any significant trends in shared services & outsourcing at the moment? And

how do you think this trend could change the industry (or is already changing it)?

“Robotic process automation (RPA) will take care of the routine and repetitive tasks. We would need to hire, build and nurture skills which support the business at a different level than what we are doing today.

We have geared up to manage our digital workforce now –performance management of the bots will become key. RPA is a stepping stone though, from my perspective but that will be a different discussion focused on Deep Neural Networks.”

5

Do you see any significant trends in shared services & outsourcing at the moment? And

how do you think this trend could change the industry (or is already changing it)?

“We would, over a period of time, move towards providing valuable insights to the business rather than processing routine transactions from a best-value location. Analytics will have a significant role to play in the field of intelligent service delivery.”

5

What advice would you give to someone who is just starting on their company’s shared

services journey, or to someone who is just starting their shared services career?

“I do not think there is a single piece of advice which everyone can use, however, I feel there are certain fundamental questions which need to be answered at the start of your journey.

A few examples would be:

• Why do you want to have a shared service? What are your key drivers?”

6

What advice would you give to someone who is just starting on their company’s shared

services journey, or to someone who is just starting their shared services career?

• “Do you have the right stakeholders aligned and involved?

• Which processes would you target first to be performed out of your shared service?

• What is your location strategy?

• Have you factored in ‘digital’ as a part of your solution? (RPA)”

6

Besides being a shared services leader, Tilak is an author!

Check out his new book “Journey of a Curious Lens: Exploring Beyond the Usual”

You’ve reached the end of this Q&A!

We hope you’ve found it both informative and inspiring.

Check back in a month for another Q&A with our featured Shared Intelligence member!