Draft for Tamir's review. Not published.
Examine the group service as a contract
Ask for the services and service levels in your business terms, support during your operating hours and a local contact who knows the site. Ask how cost is allocated and compare it with current and market cost. Ask what happens when service fails.
Standardization has value where shared capability gives evidenced group value. Elsewhere, minimum shared standards may serve better than one compulsory platform. Ask how the group service supports similar sites, and call one of them.
Answer a mandate with a gap list
When headquarters mandates a global system that doesn't fit, test your processes and local requirements against the template. For each gap, record the workaround, its cost and its audit or safety risk.
Ask headquarters which gaps configuration can close. Propose phased adoption that keeps local systems where the gaps are critical, with review dates. Present the list as a request for decisions rather than a refusal.
Depending on your seat
If you're on the subsidiary's board, your duties stay with you even when the service is the group's. Check your regulatory obligations on outsourcing to the group. Record the board's examination and any reservations, even if it signs as presented.
If you're selling part of the business, list the systems and contracts shared by the sold and retained parts. Define the buyer's minimum independent operating capability, and compare separation before the sale with time-limited shared services. Track software commitments that stay with you after the buyer's users leave.
What to check before you decide
- Ask for service levels set by business impact, with support during your operating hours.
- Ask for the cost allocation method and compare it with current and market cost.
- Ask what remedies and escalation route exist when service fails.
- Test your processes and local requirements against the group template, and record each gap's workaround and risk.
- Check your regulatory obligations on outsourcing to the group.
- Before a sale, list shared systems, licenses and contracts, and define what the buyer must control.
- List software commitments that remain after the divested users leave, and who can still use them.
Questions people ask
Parent company wants our subsidiary's IT moved to the group shared service, what should the subsidiary board require?
Require a service agreement with the subsidiary as the customer: production-hours support, service levels by business impact, a local contact who knows the plant, cost transparency and a route to escalate. The subsidiary's board keeps its duties even when the service is the group's. It depends on how production-specific the subsidiary's IT is and on what the group service already does for similar plants.
Parent company presented an intra group IT services agreement for our subsidiary to sign, what should the subsidiary board examine?
Examine it as a contract: what services are provided at what levels, how cost is allocated and whether it is fair to the subsidiary, what happens when service fails, and what the subsidiary can do if it disagrees. Record the board's examination even if it signs as presented. It depends on the group's governance rules and on the subsidiary's regulatory position.
Why do divestment plans leave the seller paying for unused enterprise software?
Track retained commitments independently of successful system separation. The response depends on license terms, remaining use, possible reassignment, and commercial options reviewed with appropriate advisers.
Should a holding company impose one technology architecture across its portfolio?
Standardize where shared capability produces evidenced group value. The decision depends on operating similarity, common risks, local autonomy, and the cost of forcing exceptions into one design.
Headquarters mandates a global system that doesn't fit our plant, how do I push back with evidence rather than opinion?
Build the evidence headquarters cannot dismiss: the specific processes and local requirements the system cannot handle, the workaround each one needs, and what that costs or risks. Ask for a fit assessment with named gaps rather than for an exemption. It depends on how many gaps are real and on whether the global template allows local configuration.
Should we split IT services before selling part of our business?
Separate what the buyer must control from what can be temporarily shared. The decision depends on service dependencies, commercial terms, and a feasible transition boundary reviewed with deal advisers.
How I can help with this decision
- Ask or talk (Free)
- I give my view on what you should require or examine and which gaps usually win a local exception. I also say how to raise it with the parent constructively.
- Review (Pay if it was worth it)
- I write an independent assessment of the group proposal, mandated system or separation plan against your needs and duties, for the board. I recommend conditions for approval, what to keep local and what to raise.
- Retain (When it makes sense)
- I stay available to the board during the transition to review service reports, gap closures and the commitments left behind.