Striving for operational excellence across their teams, many B2B CMOs are planning to establish centers of excellence (COEs). A COE consists of experts performing a service consultatively, providing innovation and best practices to the organization. When these individuals combine their skills by forming a center of excellence (COE) or a shared services team, they deliver a new level of expertise that improves marketing outcomes. Organizations are often confused about the differences between COEs and shared services teams. In this report, we define the attributes of COEs and shared services teams and clarify the differences between them.