Vodafone gets Hungary for shared services

Vodafone is opening a shared service centre in Hungary to deal with its financial processes and transactions.

A Vodafone spokesman told silicon.com up to 700 people - including a mixture of Hungarian and relocated workers - will work in the shared service centre which is due to open at the end of 2007.

The centre - in Budapest - will handle simple business transactions such as accounts payable and B2B billing.

The spokesman said there will be no job losses within the company and existing Vodafone staff will shift job roles to focus more on business analysis and decision-making support rather than simple transactions.

The spokesman added: "There is also the potential of getting a grant from the Hungarian government provided we hit certain requirements, making it [Hungary] an attractive choice for Vodafone."

The centre forms part of a three-year business revamp through which which Vodafone is streamlining its processes and making the company more efficient.

Under the initiative, Vodafone will set in place a single ERP system for finance, supply chain and human resources in all operating companies where the group has a majority ownership.

While India still dominates in the outsourcing stakes, Eastern Europe is pushing to be taken seriously as a 'near-shore' alternative for firms which do not want to move parts of their IT infrastructure as far away as India or China.