Shared Services - Let's talk about it

Some news in my life: By today I am heading a project to implement Shared Services in our oldstyle, but very sustainable succesful organisation. Do people know what's awaiting them? I don't think so. Should people be afraid? I don't think so.
What's shared services? For me, it's the scoping and reengineering of former internal staff departments...something that had be part of the company but was never received as the extra value. Outsourcing and Shared Services has clearly shown that you can achieve huge benefits for employees as well as for shareholders of an organisation. All comes back to "Execution". How do I as a company excecute not only on sales and operations side, but within in my back, middle and front office. How do I motivate the stakeholders who don't have a direct touch on the product or the customer. How do they see themselves and set objectives to perform to their best possibilities.
We will go a widely proven and many times implemented road. In no case, we should forget about people's feelings, needs and motivators when taking decisions. The clear communication will be key as well as the focus on building a better workplace for everybody. This will allow the shareholders to see the returns on their investments they expect. As a more than 100 year old corporation we have some very special situations; situations which must be handled by smart and forward looking managers. I am looking forward to work with a team of some of the best people we have to really implement something sustainable for the corporation.
Do you have experiences with Shared Services? Have you been "outsourced"? What are and were the learning you had on your road to success in Shared Services? I would like to read some comments on failures and successes you have experienced...

Keep you posted!