Shared services programme: phase 1 programme closure report

8.0 Benefits realisation and value for money

The measure of success and value of the investment made in the delivery of the Shared Service Programme and implementation of Oracle Cloud will, to a large extent, be determined by the benefit to Scottish Government and our public sector customer organisations as a consequence of new technology and the processes enabled through it, and to the public sector in Scotland for years to come of adopting a modern shared service to deliver HR, Finance and Purchasing capability fit for purpose and fit for the future.

This platform was implemented on the basis of operational necessity and as our use of the platform matures, benefits will accumulate. Whilst some were realised as a direct consequence of Oracle Cloud going live, e.g. reducing the operational risk associated with running the aging on-premises legacy platforms, others will accrue over time; e.g. through the quarterly upgrade cycle or change requests. Crucially, many different stakeholders have a part to play in the pursuit and realisation of these benefits, those with responsibility across the operating model but also more widely across our customer base if we are to realise value at scale.

Overview of anticipated benefits

Control environment

Standardised services offered across all customers with essential local variations managed on an exception-only basis improves service efficiency. Independently built and maintained solutions will no longer be needed and intelligent automation will improve accuracy of data.

Effective operational enablement

Organisations the size of the Scottish Government, combined with the organisations that share technology with the government is not insignificant. ‘ERP’ technologies are operational necessities and hygiene factors in hundreds of global organisations and governments across the world. They are chosen as they solve genuine operational needs, and sit at the heart of hundreds of core processes that simply must function. The first benefit to be delivered post go-live is operational stability and continuity. From here there are layers of benefit to pursue as the change is embedded in the organisation.

Customer experience

Usability, navigation and experience when carrying out corporate tasks enhanced through improved process design and modern technologies. The use of self service and mobile support reduces the time to complete transactional activities and enables customers to complete activities at a time and place convenient to them.

Productivity

More efficient and quicker end-to-end processing, the use of intelligent automation and self-service enablement will reduce the need for manual effort. Shadow functions will downsize and/or disappear and local solutions that are expensive to run will no longer be required. SaaS architecture allows the platform to be scaled quickly when additional customers are onboarded.

Cost reduction

Reduction in the running and maintenance of legacy on-premise technology, and the associated internal specialist support capability required. Finance and HR functions necessarily local to customer organisational will also reap operational efficiency benefits.

Cost avoidance

Avoid the costs associated with large system upgrades through scheduled smaller updates and upgrades.

Risk reduction

Improved availability and reduced downtime inherent in SaaS architecture.

Reputation

Processes and services that simply could not be offered in legacy arrangements will be enabled and new opportunities identified. Reduced labour intensity on ‘transactional’ work will allow us to invest more in value-add capabilities. Service times will improve end to end, reducing ‘failure demand’.

Transparency

Improved data quality and data utilisation to support transparency, enable performance improvement and support decision making.

Benefits delivery

Our first Benefits Checkpoint Report was considered by the Oracle Cloud Management Board in December 2025. It provided an early, high-level assessment of the value beginning to be realised from the Scottish Government’s investment in Oracle Cloud and its implementation.

The checkpoint report highlighted early benefits being seen as a direct consequence of implementation in the following areas:

1. Regular updates are bringing new functionality and capabilities, and patches keep the platform up to date and secure
2. Investment in self-service support is reducing the demand for traditional learning, providing users with on-demand support that they can access whenever they need it
3. The introduction of journeys is delivering guided workflows to simplify complex processes
4. Greater financial compliance and reporting being delivered through built-in risk and compliance controls
5. Teams are more productive through spending less time completing tasks that previously were more manual-based.

As our use of the platform and its capabilities grow, further benefits will start to surface and these will inform subsequent checkpoint reports, which will continue to be considered quarterly.

An ongoing challenge is the “adopt, not adapt” principle, ensuring users embrace standard system processes rather than seeking customisations that replicate old ways of working, requiring sustained user engagement and support to help teams fully understand and get the best from the system’s capabilities.