Shared Services Center: how to structure an efficient SSC in regulated markets

A Shared Services Center (SSC) is an organizational structure created to centralize repetitive administrative and operational processes, with a focus on efficiency, consistency, and compliance. 

In companies subject to strict rules (regulatory agency norms, quality standards, traceability requirements, etc.), the SSC functions as the operational backbone that ensures that policies, evidence, and controls are consolidated and auditable. 

This centralization reduces variability, accelerates audit responses, and facilitates the enforcement of internal control policies — critical benefits for organizations that need to constantly prove compliance. 

What is a Shared Services Center (SSC)? 

In practice, a shared services center is a unit (whether physical or virtual) that provides standardized services to several other areas of the same company. This allows you to standardize processes, reduce the cost per transaction, and ensure traceability for audits. Especially in regulated sectors, the SSC provides control, governance, and integrity of evidence. 

Among the typical areas/tasks that can count on a SSC, the following stand out: 

• accounts payable/receivable; 

• asset control; 

• shopping; 

• payroll; 

• IT support; 

• regulatory compliance; 

• document management. 

For companies operating in highly regulated markets, the Shared Services Center should also incorporate additional controls, such as immutable storage of evidence, detailed audit trails, quality system integration (QMS), and support for specific batch and product traceability requirements. 

And although this acronym is well known, some people still confuse it with three other letters: the GBS. Learn the main difference between them below.  

• SSC (also known as Shared Service Center – SSC): It focuses on operational efficiency and redundancy reduction. It is treated as an area of “capture” of transactional processes. 

• GBS (Global Business Services): It is the strategic evolution of SSC/SSC, as it allows an integrated, data-driven, multi-regional delivery focused on higher value services in digital transformation. 

What are the operating and governance models of a SSC? 

The main differentiation of a SSC is in the way it acts in relation to where it is. In other words, the models are based on the fact that the Shared Services Center is within the company itself, with a supplier, or even in a hybrid way between both. 

Learn more about the most common operating models: 

• In-house: The SSC is maintained and managed internally, which provides greater control and confidentiality for the company. 

• Hybrid: It is the model that has a combination of internal operations for critical processes and external suppliers for transactional activities of less criticality. 

• Outsourced: In this case, there is an external partner who takes over the entire operation of the SSC. This can accelerate gains in scale, but at the same time requires SLAs and robust governance. 

• Evolution to GBS: As you have already seen, this model is a global consolidation and has higher-value service offerings (such as analytics, automation, and process design). 

Local SSC or outsourced SSC, which is better?  

There is no definitive answer or magic formula — it all depends on the characteristics of your operation. Therefore, you need to analyze some practical criteria to decide on one model or another (or even for hybrid performance). 

You can consider aspects such as: 

• Regulatory criticality: Analyze whether processes that require validation/localization by regulatory requirements can remain on-premises or can be outsourced. 

• Response time: Assess the volume of activities that require immediate response to local operation (e.g., critical production shutdowns) and that require a local SSC presence. 

• Volume and standardization: Understand if there is a high volume and low variation in SSC activities. In this case, internal centralization is usually more efficient. 

• Data risk: If the Shared Services Center involves sensitive and confidential information, a good market practice is to maintain the operation in-house. 

Why create a SSC in regulated sectors? 

The decision for a SSC in regulated companies is motivated by benefits focused on regulatory compliance and risk management. Having a Shared Services Center allows you to add advantages such as: 

• Cost reduction per transaction: Centralization and automation reduce rework and redundancies, thus lowering the cost of operation. 

• Process consistency: Standardized procedures minimize variation and errors. This drives quality, protects compliance, and prevents failures. 

• Agility in regulatory audits: Centralized access to evidence, logs, and reports accelerates responses and reduces the impact of inspections. This also increases the chances of good results in quality audits. 

• Improved operational risk control: Having centralized controls allows for the early detection of non-conformities, thus preventing them from having an impact and, in addition, providing continuous improvement. 

• Strengthening Log Integrity: Immutable log and storage policies reduce the risk of evidence being challenged. 

• SLAs for batches and product traceability: The CSC allows you to set SLA standards and access the history of documents and products. This is essential in the pharmaceutical and food industries, for example. 

• Reduction of recalls, fines, and non-compliance: By ensuring governance and traceability, the SSC acts preventively on regulatory risk. 

With more than 30 years of experience working with organizational development and leadership, I was able to see these benefits up close, truly transforming the operation of companies in the most varied segments. 

Especially when the SSC is implemented through a state-of-the-art technological solution – such as SoftExpert Suite – it is possible to automate tasks and boost transparency and collaboration between areas. This was the case of Catarinense Pharma, for example, which was able to meet more than 6 thousand requests in 8 months via SSC and automate more than 30 processes.

Read also: Dairy industry leader centralized management functions across all its subsidiaries 

How to choose a SSC software?

When evaluating a SSC tool, prioritize those that offer features that meet operational and regulatory requirements. In other words, each company must seek the solution that best suits the reality of its market. 

In general, you can also opt for SSC software that has the following essential features: 

• Queue and workflow management: Automatic routing of demands, with SLA definition and escalation. 

• Evidence traceability: Versioning and storage with proven integrity. 

• Integration with critical systems: Connection with other tools such as ERP, LIMS, QMS, CMMS, billing, and logistics systems (API and ETL). 

• Access control and logging for auditing: Have immutable audit trails, strong authentication, and segregation of duties. 

• Automation: Automation that reduces the execution of repetitive manual tasks with execution logs for auditing. 

• KPI dashboards and reports: Visibility tools for managers on metrics such as cost, SLA, productivity, and risks. 

• Validation/regulatory capability: Support validation requirements (where applicable) and evidence generation for inspections and audits. 

Step-by-step instructions on how to implement a Shared Service Center 

The first step in implementing a SSC is to understand that this is a transformation project. In this way, there will be changes and even resistance to these changes. 

The key is to reinforce the gains that adopting a Shared Service Center tool offers for the entire company, and that the pains of growth/change are worth it. 

Then, it’s time to get your hands dirty. To do this, you can follow the following checklist with the main steps of implementation. 

1. Initial diagnosis 

• Map out the current processes and the respective costs of each one (the so-called process mapping). 

• Identify the five “quick wins” processes for a pilot, that is, those that will bring the return more easily and quickly. 

2. Define scope and delivery model 

• Choose from in-house, hybrid, or outsourced models. 

• Establish the SSC’s key indicators and business objectives. 

3. Governance and attributions 

• Constitute an executive committee, define the owners of each process, and establish the Center of Excellence (CoE). 

• Create a communication and change management plan. 

4. Technological selection 

• Define the technical Request for Proposal (RFP) with integration, security, and audit requirements. 

• Stipulate the technical pilot to validate integrations and SLAs. 

5. Wave implementation 

• Define the roadmap by waves/functionalities, prioritizing critical processes. 

6. Regulatory validation 

• Include QA and Compliance with implementations and document evidence found. 

7. Training and operations 

• Develop training by function, with operational playbooks. 

8. Continuous improvement 

• Review KPIs, with incremental automation and governance 2.0. 

Metrics, controls, and compliance requirements of a SSC

To achieve regulatory compliance and avoid fines and sanctions, it is essential to measure and control all actions within the SSC. At the time of post-implementation, you should monitor operational metrics and signs of misuse and/or non-compliance. 

Some of these recommended metrics are: 

• Cost per transaction/process (e.g., cost per invoice); 

• Mean time to resolution (TTR) and cycle time; 

• Compliance with the SLA (in percentage) agreed with internal customers; 

• Percentage of automated processes; 

• Error/rework rate as an indicator of quality. 

• Time for audit and/or response time to inspections. 

The most appropriate controls and compliance requirements in most cases are: 

• Segregation of duties (SoD) to avoid operational conflict of interest; 

• Immutable logs and versioning with hashed/signed storage for evidence; 

• Auditable copies with separate repositories for independent auditing; 

• Recovery/continuity tests to perform periodic tests. 

• Periodic review of accesses; 

• Alerts to anomalous patterns (potential abuse) and signs of misuse. 

Conclusion 

For managers who operate in regulated markets, the Shared Services Center is no longer a financial option and becomes a pillar of governance. A well-designed SSC reduces costs, increases operational consistency, and offers the governance and traceability required by regulatory agencies and audits. 

Therefore, those working in this type of segment must adopt a SSC solution. To do this, it is necessary to conduct a readiness diagnosis, select a pilot in high-volume/high-impact processes, and then adopt SSC software with audit trails and integration with quality systems. 

In this case, it is vital to have specialized partners that combine technology and the regulatory domain. Integrating SoftExpert’s technical expertise with the regulatory and governance knowledge of companies like OGC, for example, can accelerate maturity and reduce risks. 

This content was produced by Osvaldo Costa, Management, Mentoring, and Organizational Development consultant and founder of the company OGC.

Shared Services Center (SSC) FAQ