I cannot recommend specifically what would work for the shared services, because I don't know the composition of the organization. I can play back to you what I have seen work, which is to have the projects very well defined with a start and an end date, a very “blocking and tackling” approach. If a project starts on a certain date, it needs to end in six months or nine months from now. It has to yield x number of dollars in benefit, and certain customers will be dealt with in a certain way. Those milestones must be met.
The governance of all of these projects, how they'll be managed, is where a lot of attention needs to go up front. If I were to translate that, with the complexity that Shared Services faces today with 43 departments, they should spend all of the necessary time up front planning it rather than jumping into execution tomorrow. Significant effort needs to go into planning, and in this case, I would say, consulting the private sector to get the input of what has worked and what hasn't worked. Whether it's the Ontario government or IBM or HP, have those consultations. Then assess what works best for that specific instance. That's where a lot of investment needs to be made.
For most of us not doing this, sitting outside as observers, we'd feel that a lot of time has been going by, and a lot of investment going in, with no output. But this planning stage is absolutely critical to get it on the right footing. The governance itself and how it needs to be executed: that is where the time needs to be spent.