Item - 2017.EX21.9

The Executive Committee received the report (December 20, 2016) from the Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer for information.

This report provides an update on the Shared Services Project, a project that aims to reduce duplication between the City and the Agencies and Corporations.  

The Shared Services Project was launched in 2014 based on direction from City Council to implement the recommendations from the KPMG Shared Service Study which were broken down into eight short-term recommendations that were to be implemented and eight long-term recommendations that were to be implemented after further due diligence and analysis.  In addition, the Shared Services Executive Steering Committee expanded the scope of the project to include six additional recommendations.

In 2014, the Executive Steering Committee and 15 working groups were formed.  Each working group was given responsibility for a specific functional area and any related recommendations.  The working groups responsible for short-term and additional recommendations were tasked with validating the recommendation and implementing the recommendation where shown to add value.  The working groups responsible for the long-term opportunities were tasked with implementing the recommendation after performing a detailed analysis to determine if the recommendation adds value and creating a business case for approval by the Executive Steering Committee.

By the end of 2016, the Executive Steering Committee expects work to be complete on 17 (77 percent) of the 22 Shared Services recommendations.  The remaining five opportunities are expected to be complete before 2020.  Of the 17, work will be complete on:

-  100 percent (8 of 8) of the short-term opportunities,

-  50 percent (4 of 8) of the long-term opportunities, and

-  83 percent (5 of 6) of the opportunities added by the Executive Steering Committee. 

It is estimated that the activities of the Shared Services working groups has resulted in cumulative efficiencies of approximately $37 million.  The majority of these efficiencies have been realized in Fleet and IT and have been built into the budgets of each organization.

In addition, there have been many non-quantifiable benefits achieved including a substantial culture shift towards increased collaboration across all organizations and viewing of City and the Agencies and Corporations as one organization.

In 2017, work will continue on the long-term opportunities and the Executive Steering Committee will examine how to best analyse and prioritize opportunities to expand the project scope of the project into areas not considered in the KPMG Shared Services Study.