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What's happening online this week? I had a great catch up with KPMG's Robert Cecil, recently (whom I’ve known for over a decade now), who led a top-secret, closed-door discussion for mature GBS (global business services) at Shared Services & Outsourcing Week in Orlando, last month. I managed to squeeze a couple of secrets out of him … most notable, that you can all stop worrying about getting to one ERP system to drive maturity through your Shared Services model (up to 10 can work fine); and that there are lots of different stages for Global Business Services, too, so don't get hung up on the fact that you can't start with the most sophisticated. Read it here. An infographic dropped into my mailbox, which I was about to discard and then thought twice about. Surely it's relevant to all of us to better understand how men and women engage and react differently to social media? With "collaboration" being such a hot button for Shared Services efficiency (let's face it, for any corporate efficiency), I figured there were some lessons that we could all learn from these statistics. I’ve done the thinking for you. Read it here. And while on the subject of "mobile", our columnist Amarpreet Bhamra posted a summary of mobile applications for Finance and Accounting services online (he should know what’s what, as he manages quality assurance for an Asian-based multinational F&A SSO). He says that, given how easily we have adopted mobile applications for our personal finances, it's high time that businesses reflect the same in their operational finances. He also shares a handy reference lists of what's already out there. Read it here. Shared Services careers can be famously transitory, although I know a couple of folks who have been working at the same SSO for a very long time and doing a fantastic job there. It's always nice to see that. Many Shared Services practitioners, however, thrive on new challenges: setting up, trailblazing, fighting their corner… and many others just feel it's time for a change. Our popular columnist, Jamie Davies, is moving on but staying in Budapest. The transition has given him unusual pause for thought and reflection, and I like what he had to share about making sure you get the "pulse of the workplace" from the floor, instead of just relying on metrics. Read it here. One of the words I tend to overuse is "efficiency". It is, after all, what you are all striving for. But I really like a whitepaper we posted last week, which warned against "chasing efficiency for its own sake," lest you turn into just another low-cost supplier. This is backed up by interesting market statistics: 90% of customers cite cost as a driver for service delivery, but at the same time satisfaction levels are based less on cost then they are on output. So, if customers’ cost targets are being met – why are they still not happy? A great report by Serco Consulting, and I recommend you all skim it. Read it here. Finally, and it's been all over our website so I won't spend too much time talking about it: Robotic Process Automation is going to be the next big thing. If you haven't read that elsewhere already, remember that you read it here, first. Read it here. [inlinead]

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