The public sector IT managers' society said attempts at shared services had in the recent past failed, falling at the political hurdle.
But faced with the current financial situation, public sector chief executives were said to be faced with few options for substantial savings, and shared services was now seen as necessary in order to maintain frontline services.
Former Socitm president Jos Creese said: "Initiating, planning and implementing shared services is a non-trivial exercise, with organisational politics, people and technology issues to address.
"This report shows what has already worked in practice and is a rich source of advice."
The report pointed to a number of successes in shared services and provides advice for organisations on taking the practice forward in the own authorities. It said that as part of the back office, ICT was a key candidate for shared services and that it could also act as enabler for sharing in other services.
The public sector network (PSN), in particular was noted as a delivery mechanism for shared data centres, storage facilities, the public sector 'cloud', remote technical expertise, and customer and employee self-service.
Publicservice.co.uk recently reported on one public sector network in Wales, which was working across police, local authorities and educational establishments to deliver better information and savings. It has been remarked that political backing from the Welsh Assembly Government has enabled the cross public sector PSBA network to successfully grow.
Gwent police chief constable Carmel Napier gives her views on the shared public sector network here
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Quelle/Source: Public Service, 06.06.2011
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