The process of building a Shared Services Centre (SSC) for the Polish Aviation Group (PGL) – being one of the key pillars of the company’s strategy for the years ahead – commenced formally at the end of last year. As in any other large organisation, the SSC is expected to provide services for the benefit of all Group entities.
Such a concentration of specific tasks in one entity is not unusual in corporate structures, and may in fact be considered a common solution. The synergies that may be achieved by integrating various activities and more efficient use of resources are one of the key objectives behind establishing Shared Services Centres. SSCs allow organisations to better prepare for their future growth and for the roll out of modern technologies – says Radosław Stępięń, CEO PGL.
Currently, several groups of services (“Mega Services”) have been identified that could be offered by our Shared Services Centre to all group entities. The progress in implementing solutions that will be relied upon by the Shared Services Centre varies – some of the services, such as procurement or legal support – are already being rendered, some are in the conceptual phase of their development, while others – such as IT – are nearing their full-scale launch. In this edition of the newsletter, we shall take a closer look at the last of the mentioned groups. ‘In performing our tasks, we intend to primarily rely on the competence that is already available within the Group. From the IT point of view, the process of centralising all activities at a single location offers tangible benefits and has already led to the creation of a strong team of approximately 200 people’ – says Adrian Wójcik, Director, IT SSC Office. Such a solution allows the company to take advantage of its employees’ skills in a more efficient manner and provides them with greater professional growth opportunities.
The head of the IT SSC underlines that it is his intention to provide all companies with comprehensive business solutions that will be developed in cooperation with all entities involved. ‘First and foremost, all services we offer must be capable of meeting the requirements of the dynamically changing business environment and the needs of our companies. We are currently working on developing a comprehensive portfolio of IT services, including strategies for ensuring their effective provision at each stage of the life cycle’ – adds Wójcik.
Developing a full catalogue of services and breaking it down into minor groups of technical- or business-like solutions is crucial for the success of the operation. That is why the IT SSC is already trying to engage all stakeholders and is talking to and involving all companies – also by holding workshops. ’Communication at this stage is crucial for the future success and for coming up with a catalogue of IT services that meets the needs of all parties involved’ – stresses Wójcik.
The process of working on the catalogue of services began by taking inventory and determining the status of resources, processes and systems that are used currently to support various business functions within the Group.
Most of the work on the catalogue of shared services and on implementing the solutions to be offered by the IT SSC should be completed by the end of this year.
‘Process consistency and the development of uniform and optimised solutions for the entire Group are of crucial importance. We aim to simplify, organise, consolidate and improve our processes to ensure the highest feasible level of operational efficiency that may be achieved. It is our ultimate goal to continuously improve our operations’.
The Polish Aviation Group is currently in the process of finalising the implementation of a central service desk that will be supporting all Group companies. ‘We are already providing a wide range of services to individual entities. In the case of some of them, we have been providing comprehensive IT solutions for a long time now, while in the case of other entities, the scope of that support is somewhat narrower. Nevertheless, the service desk is the first fully centralised team operated by the IT SSC for the benefit of the entire Group’.
The process was phased in gradually and did not cover all companies at once. Maintaining operational continuity is critical in the context of such changes – no downtime, especially when introducing changes affecting maintenance teams, is permissible.
Adrian Wójcik
Director, IT SSC Office
The scope of IT SSC activities covers three key business areas. The first one is the maintenance division, which includes the aforementioned service desk providing 24/7 support and being the first point of contact for most employees. This area also includes tasks related to IT infrastructure, cloud services and business application support. The department is responsible for ongoing maintenance, management and monitoring of the operation of servers, data centres and other critical components of the IT infrastructure. Furthermore, its responsibilities include investigating incidents and taking necessary corrective actions.
The second area of activity is development in the broadest possible sense of the word. This process involves not only software developers, but also testers, DevOps specialists, a business process robotics team and an agile team. This department is in charge of the comprehensive software development and implementation process. It currently plays the largest role in IT operations. It was created from scratch and has significant potential to provide services outside the Group. For example, it is responsible for ensuring the smooth operation of LOT Polish Airlines e‑commerce systems, as well as providing solutions used by all companies conducing operations-related activities.
The third business area covers tasks related to architecture, analysis, data governance and billing. The catalogue of services that will be offered by the IT SSC is currently being developed with this specific area in mind. That is also where project management-related activities that pose significant organisational challenges are performed.
‘As the IT Department, we are expected to provide a state-of-the-art ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system – an end-to-end enterprise management software that will be offered as part of the shared services scheme. We are aiming to make sure that this solution covers all partners in our Group’ – says Adrian Wójcik, Director, IT SSC Office. Wójcik stresses that the operation of the SSC and the centralisation of services and standardisation of processes across the Group is one of the strategic pillars of the Group’s operations. The project is also of key importance for the IT SSC, as it will allow us to actively support the introduction of processes offered by the Shared Services Centre in departments responsible for finance, accounting, human resources and payroll. Our goal is to provide comprehensive support to these business segments.
‘Cyber security is our key focus as well, so this particular area is the direct responsibility of the IT SSC head. However, it is important to keep in mind that we are talking about operational cyber security here, and that there is also a Cyber Security Office within the Group. And we are cooperating closely with that unit’ – adds Wójcik.
‘At present, our activities are focused primarily on the Polish Aviation Group and on its member companies. In some time, however, we will be ready to offer our services to a wider market – with a particular emphasis placed on development- and cyber security-related offering. This will be possible, as a strong unit specialising in solutions for the aviation industry will be created within the Polish Aviation Group. I think it will offer great potential for continued growth’ – sums up Wójcik.
