The age of the customer redefines the context for shared services. Organizations have long pursued enterprisewide and global synergies by simplifying and consolidating, sharing common functions like finance, HR, real estate, and tech infrastructure and operations primarily to reduce costs. But cost-cutting no longer guarantees success; today, firms must understand and respond to increasingly powerful customers, focusing on digital customer experience and digital operational excellence. This brief shows how more and more CIOs are using continuous business services to help their firms deliver agility and innovation.