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Three days of predictions, insights, and advice from leaders in finance, sales, HR, supply chain and more
Register now here
By Amrish Shah, CFO at Metabolic
Many organisations over the last few years have been drumming on the need to become more data-driven and more “digital”. This short article looks at what potential implications that has for the Finance and Business Finance / FP&A function in particular.
It is important to take one step back and understand why organisations are pressurizing themselves to be “more digital” and “more data” driven. There are two main reasons for this:
Data is the new oil is the oft-quoted phrase these days. This is true in as much as technology facilitates the generation of information. The imperative for organisations is to understand how to harness the power contained within such data.
What is actually interesting is what has NOT changed:
Therefore, the reason why Finance functions are natural allies in helping the organization become more digital and data-minded is to do with their preoccupation with the information agenda and how that helps drive business decision making.
Becoming more digital and more data-driven is a means to an end, knowing that the essence of both is harnessing the technological potential to support business objectives. What could some of these ends be?
Thus, a digital culture requires a move from, amongst other things:
There are a number of ways in which a CFO and her function can help support such a change.
Given where the traditional finance function has come from – administration, reporting and compliance – a big challenge is how it forces itself to become less “controlling” without losing sight of “being in control”. This will require boldness, vision and resilience from the finance leadership.
A second challenge is going to be dealing with legacy technology infrastructure which is at some point going to require significant investment to address in order to move to harness the power of systems that can help the operations become more digital. Again, this will require boldness and resilience to stay on the long(er) term path.
I hope in this article has shown not just why organisations are striving to change their cultures to be more digital and data embracing but also how finance functions are in a great place to help actively support such a move.
The article was first published in Unit 4 Prevero Blog
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