A service delivery center is an organized location or operating unit that provides defined business or technology services to clients or internal teams. It can be captive, outsourced, onshore, nearshore or offshore.
Which services can a center provide?
Common scopes include customer operations, finance, procurement, analytics, software development, IT support and shared administrative services.
Physical center vs. virtual delivery center
A physical center concentrates people and infrastructure at a site. A virtual center coordinates distributed workers under common systems, controls and governance. Hybrid models use both.
What should the operating model define?
- Service scope and customers
- Leadership and decision rights
- Staffing, shifts and capacity
- Technology and data access
- Quality and service levels
- Business continuity and escalation
How is location selected?
Evaluate talent, language, labor cost, infrastructure, regulatory environment, time zone, resilience and travel. No single city or country is best for every service.
What should be measured?
Track outcomes, quality, productivity, service levels, attrition, capacity and improvement. Do not treat headcount or cost alone as proof of value.
