How to Establish a Business Operations Center of Excellence

Setting up a business operations center of excellence (CoE) can help businesses streamline operations, foster innovation, and standardize processes. They are a great way for companies to capitalize on niche areas of expertise, and provide focused, proven solutions to their clients. 

Led by senior executives or subject matter experts, CoEs are aligned with organizational vision and can bridge the critical gap between goals and delivery. 

A marketing analytics CoE, for instance, will be razor-focused on improving marketing performance by staying on top of the latest tools, technologies, and expertise to drive business growth -- both for themselves and their clients. 

“By building core competencies and expertise in specific functions, CoEs help businesses stay ahead of the curve and implement initiatives that drive ROI,” says Boobesh Ramadurai, vice president of marketing analytics CoE at LatentView Analytics.  

He adds that as CoEs move through process optimization and implementation, it is crucial to measure success using value metrics. “Companies need to set clear value metrics at each step to quantify their progress effectively.”  

A People-Centric CoE Approach 

When building a CoE, it’s important to take a business process and people-centric approach, and not let technology be the sole focus. 

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While technology is important, it should enable (rather than dictate) business strategy and help people achieve business goals. 

Sarah Dugan, global IT journey and change management director at Accenture, explains that aligning the CoE operating model with the IT and business structure is important so leaders are partnered, and to consider processes and users across groups and functions. 

“The goal is to understand how people work and what they are trying to achieve, and then determine how technology can help,” she says in an email interview.  

This strategy allows employees to more easily see how new applications and tools fit into their current workflow, rather than learning a new system without understanding its benefits. She adds that one area that isn’t talked about often enough is making sure that a CoE is also investing in its own people. 

This means architecting formal career paths for CoE members, with clear progression points and measurements of progress. “Learning and training opportunities should also be developed to encourage skill growth in new areas,” Dugan says.  

CoEs Driven by Executive Leadership  

From the perspective of Scott Wheeler, cloud practice lead at Asperitas, executive leadership in the C-suite is key to a successful business operations CoE because they provide strategic direction, secures funding, and ensures alignment with the organization’s goals. 

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“The CoE leader or director is the person responsible for the implementation and success of the CoE,” he explains via email.  

He notes that operations teams are the key groups that implement the processes and practices defined by the CoE. “They also provide the feedback and data used to determine the success of the CoE’s processes and practices.”   

Wheeler says HR and training departments should be deployed to support the development of skills and competencies required by the CoE, while IT departments must often support the CoE’s technology needs.  

He adds that quality assurance teams are also often engaged to ensure that the results of the CoE change to meet the organization’s quality standards. “Creating cross-functional teams from various departments to work on CoE projects provides different perspectives, leading to much better outcomes.”  

This means leadership must establish clear objectives for the CoE, aligning its outcomes with organizational goals. “Ensuring incentives are correctly tied to performance metrics and outcomes for the CoE is crucial so that different departments remain aligned,” Wheeler says.  

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Dugan says she agrees that it is essential to start by defining a mission as well as imaging what success looks like. “One of our CoE teams at Accenture did this by going through a design thinking workshop and writing a news headline and article describing the success of their work.”

These early definitions will serve as a North Star for the CoE’s strategy and processes, with continuous alignment to business goals. 

Leveraging AI to Optimize CoE Workflows  

Both Wheeler and Dugan say they think AI will play a pivotal role in optimizing workflows within a business operations CoE, with algorithms able to analyze complex processes, identify inefficiencies, and suggest improvements through AI-driven process mining tools. 

These tools map current workflows and recommend reallocating resources or redesigning steps for better performance. 

Additionally, AI-powered robotic process automation handles repetitive tasks like data entry and report generation, significantly reducing manual input time. 

Predictive analytics leverage historical data to forecast trends and outcomes, enabling proactive decision-making and predictive maintenance, which reduces downtime by anticipating equipment failures. 

“AI enhances decision-making by providing real-time insights and recommendations through analytics platforms that analyze large datasets, identifying market trends and operational inefficiencies,” Wheeler says. 

Natural language processing allows AI systems to understand and process human language, facilitating automated customer service and sentiment analysis. 

In addition, AI-driven workflow management systems dynamically adjust task assignments based on real-time data, ensuring efficient project completion. 

Dugan adds that today, all leaders need to understand how CoEs can drive change and optimization by linking change to purpose. “The adage ‘the only constant is change’ has become an absolute truth,” she says. “Driving excellence requires change. This means shifting mindsets, behaviors, and skills to work in new ways or achieve new outcomes.”