Vilnius hosting Europe’s biggest shared services event this September

Vilnius, an award winning location for shared services, is to host the Autumn Edition of the biannual European Shared Services and Outsourcing Week. The event, which runs from September 11-13, is set to attract over 300 guests and will feature 70 expert speakers from companies such as Siemens, Western Union, Danske Bank, Adidas, Discovery Communications, Booking.com and GSK. Having been named Most Dynamically Developing City at the CEE Shared Services and Outsourcing Awards for the last four years, Vilnius is adding further impetus to its vibrant Shared Services ecosystem by hosting this major event.

To industry insiders, the choice of Lithuania for this event will come as no surprise. The Baltic country is home to more than 70 Global Business Services (GBS) centres, including those of major Scandinavian companies like SEB, Swedbank and Telia, and global players like Cognizant, Nasdaq and Booking.com.

Invest Lithuania – the country’s investment promotion agency – notes that many of the Lithuania-based centres play a crucial role for their parent companies. For example, Western Union has their largest site worldwide in Lithuania: the centre has a headcount of almost 2,000, which accounts for 20% of the Group’s employees, and serves customers in 34 languages around the clock. Danske Bank, another prominent player with a Lithuanian team of 2,500, had their main app, MobilePay (which is used daily by several millions in Denmark), developed in Vilnius. These are just a few of the success stories from Lithuania’s global business services sector.

The programme for the European Shared Services and Outsourcing Week event is diverse, with sessions, site visits and workshops to suit every interest. On Tuesday 11^th, participants can choose to attend either the SSON road trip or a programme of eight deep dive workshops. The road trip features site visits to two award winning centres in Vilnius operated by Danske Bank and Western Union, while the workshop programme covers topics such as robotic process automation and engaging with your millennial employees.

On Wednesday 12^th and Thursday 13^th delegates will enjoy a range of key note speaker sessions, discussions, and networking opportunities. Wednesday morning features speakers from Danske Bank, P&G, AstraZeneca and WarnerBros, while in the afternoon delegates choose sessions from three different tracks: leadership, finance innovation, or HR. The day finishes off with a Battle of the Bots interactive session followed by a drinks reception. Thursday kicks off with speakers from Adidas and BT, before panel sessions and a debate on the role of Outsourcing in SSON. Then, before the event winds up, participants will vote for the SSO Award winner and take part in discussion groups.

Come and meet the thought leaders of the GBS community and discover what is behind Lithuania’s rise to becoming a prime destination for F&A, IT, HR, BIFS, procurement and other skill-heavy outsourcing ventures. The Shared Services and Outsourcing Week 2018 – The Autumn Edition will take place in Vilnius, September 11-13, and is expected to attract more than 300 guests.