‘If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes’, said Albert Einstein.

Today’s finance and accounting professionals face ever-growing challenges when it comes to data. The simplest analyses can be complicated by the wrong data or bad data and too much data can even be a problem. Effectively sourcing, managing, and using data are key skills.

The explosion in computing and data processing power has led to an exponential increase in data available to business. Paradoxically, this has led to business leaders becoming more uncertain about what to do with this data. Hence, business is scrambling to put the appropriate “analytics” capability in place. This generates a lot of friction and tension because business leaders and managers, who have been brought up in a very different world, have to scramble to learn new languages and redress their relationship with data.

This blog discusses the importance of improving your digital IQ, a term used by PWC for corporates but something that I believe should also be applied to individuals. Your digital IQ (your knowledge of technology and its impacts) is in effect a ‘gateway’ or an ‘enabler’ to the future role of any commercial finance/ FP&A individual.

This article explores the attributes of Big Data and considers whether having more data is always good. First, let's get back to the basics. What is Big Data? Put simply, big data refers to a vast variety of data with which an organisation can engage. The aim is to use big data to improve business performance. This is applicable to profit and non-profit organizations, financial and operational measures.

4-5 years ago in Microsoft, Cloud business was a small portion of the overall business, but now is the key business for the company, with new and diverse purchase options like subscription model on office 365, pay as you go model on Azure cloud platform... boosting and creating an avalanche of data every day.