Organising your enterprise as a Global Business Service (GBS) brings together the traditionally separate, siloed internal operational service functions into a single corporate support organisation. It is based on the understanding that when working together, multi-functional teams (IT, HR, finance, procurement, customer service, operations, etc.) can create better customer-centric, digitised end-to-end process flows across functions and geographies. This results in better service experiences and creates cross-functional collaboration. Hereby, the GBS organisational models deliver value to the business with measurable impact and cost reduction. 

Other qualities GBS focused organisations share include:

  • Supporting all regions within an organisation
  • Consolidating the supporting functions to fewer locations
  • Standardisation of processes to deliver consistency and quality
  • Identification of automation opportunities (Critical mass)
  • Having the autonomy to decide how to deliver services
  • Greater accountability for and adherence to service level

Implementing or enhancing GBS operations can also help you to:

Reach lean, cost-efficient operations: GBS results in streamlined processes, consistent data, and an optimised cost structure due to scale, automation, and labour arbitrage effects. 

Establish an agile operating platform: GBS drives an agile service delivery model for support functions that leads to both operational and strategic benefits due to scalability, for example when it comes to the integration of new units in the context of mergers and acquisitions. 

Enable a superior customer journey: GBS is rooted in a deep service understanding, responsiveness, and availability, and is also the owner of key client data. Thereby, it can help companies get closer to their customers by understanding their needs and delivering the services required – and also by stopping with the services that are no longer required or relevant. This makes the companies capable of reinventing themselves to craft exceptional customer experiences.

Embed end-to-end processes governance: GBS has the potential to be the digital transformation engine for the wider organisation due to its touchpoints across the entire enterprise. It is essential to establish an integrated end-to-end process model with clear process ownership and a governance model. It can help companies to adopt emerging technology such as intelligent automation, natural language processing, and data analytics to create fully automated, transparent end-to-end process chains. GBS is a strategic bet toward digital business models that can ensure sustainable growth in the digital age. 

How we can help you transform into a Global Business Service

We assess and compare your operating model against our proven model, adjusting where needed to lift you up towards best practice. We then identify and  initiate automation of your processes through the 6 interconnected layers of service design.  

GBS model

At KPMG, we approach GBS by applying the operating model with a focus on governance, process modeling, services offered and insight into Enterprise Service Management. Thereby delivering tangible benefits to GBS customers, employees, and management.  

GBS model

Using ESM and ServiceNow to support the delivery of excellent services for GBS

When organising an enterprise according to the GBS model, we use the Enterprise Service Management (ESM) framework. This framework is used to seamlessly deliver services to “Service consumers” both internally in an organisation or to relevant external stakeholders such as vendors, suppliers, partners, and customers from multiple service domains. The ESM framework consists of three aspects that together enables a more accessible, efficient, and secure stream of information within the organisation. 

ESM model

To enable the digitalisation and automation of ESM processes, KPMG has chosen ServiceNow – a market leading platform specialising in digital workflows. ServiceNow eliminates the silos and lack of internal coordination between individual service functions and the rest of the organisation. Thereby reducing overlapping activities of functions performing similar activities with varied outcomes due to the human factor and the lack of standardisation. 

In short, ServiceNow enables a single-entry point towards great service experience, optimises processes, connects data and organisational silos, and accelerates automation towards a digital business. It creates seamless experiences for service consumers, by having one single-entry point to request services and find knowledge-based articles to help them help themselves instead of relying on manual, less accurate and time-consuming processes. This allows the GBS team members to focus on services that require their expertise. 

ESM model

Are you ready for a GBS transformation? If yes, then our experts are ready to assist you within; GBS, IT, HR, Legal, Customer Service, Finance, Procurement etc. We can support you with the transformation of your business, change management and implement the ServiceNow platform to strengthen a fully mature GBS organisation.