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At Microsoft, our brand promise is to build
experiences that empower “people of action”, enabling them to achieve more in
every moment. These are the people who wear many hats, play many roles, and
want tools that fit their whole lives. Perhaps no one embodies this ideal
more than today’s modern finance executive.
What was once a facts and figures role is now
evolving into a much broader and deeper position, with finance executives
playing critical roles across a number of disciplines in an effort to drive
corporate performance and make an impact across the organization. CFOs
and their teams now serve as business analysts who power the
insights the entire organization depends on to grow and innovate. They
understand that if they want their teams and organization to perform with
excellence they must empower them with the self-service tools that surface
meaningful insights quickly and accelerate productivity. This is why Gartner
stated that “the chief financial officer (CFO) continues to have a
significant influence over IT investments, more than any other
executive” [1] but went on to predict that
“success in the digital age will require significantly more investment in
R&D and digital innovation.”[2]
Finance executives also increasingly perform
as operational leaders and risk managers, examining data and
information to develop insights about the business and then taking
programmatic and disciplined action on those insights. They are now
responsible for running both the traditional finance and accounting functions
of the business (controllership), while also transforming operations to drive
growth and minimize risk. Reporting and closing the books are no longer
enough. CFOs must drive operational gains and steer their companies’ growth
strategies. As a result, “the once key C-suite appointment of COO is quickly
disappearing from corporate America with all the attendant responsibilities
falling to a company’s CFO.”[3]
Finally, financial executives are evolving
into the role of value architects and strategic advisors,
analyzing opportunities and risks across the industries they serve and
recommending the best way forward. In this new role as corporate
strategists they are key members of the executive leadership team and trusted
advisors to the CEO, responsible for setting the course for
strategic growth. In fact, a November 2014 financial executive survey
conducted by FEI found that the top priority across all finance executives in
every size of organization is “strategic planning”.[4]
While this role expansion brings many new
opportunities for today’s finance executives it also brings a host of
challenges and, unfortunately, 33% of CEOs in a recent KPMG survey assert
that their CFOS are “not up for the challenge”.[5] A
recent CFO study by McKinsey found that “86% of finance executives surveyed
report finding new sources of growth (both organic and inorganic) is a
challenge” which can make the new role as a strategic advisor difficult.
Operationally, a dearth in skilled resources ready for the new digital age of
finance is placing increased pressure on organizations to boost the
productivity and efficiency from teams already in place. And while finance
executives understand the value and importance of digital transformation, a
recent study by Gartner found that “CFOs see themselves at the forefront of
leading the business through the digital age. But their lack of understanding
of what digital is could be problematic in mobilizing investments.”[6]
Empowering finance executives to take action in the digital age
Microsoft is uniquely positioned to
understand the challenges that come with the evolving role of finance because
we have undergone this shift within our own organization. Fifteen years ago,
our finance team was very traditional. The majority of our team at the time
was doing very transactional work—accounts payable, accounts receivable,
payroll, etc. Then we began at ways to impact the business positively in a
more direct way. We came up with the program that we call One Finance, with
the goal of unifying the finance organization across the company to operate
as one entity in a mobile-first, cloud-first world. To accomplish this goal
we have put in place the platforms and services necessary to drive
performance through insights. As a result, finance at Microsoft has now
shifted from a back office role to the leadership team and we use this
experience to help our customers seamlessly navigate the same journey into
the digital age of finance.
Technology is at the heart of this
transformation. According to a recent KPMG survey, “sixty-three percent
of CEOs from high-performing organizations believe that technology will have
the greatest effect on the future role of the CFO.” There is an
expectation that CFOs and financial executives will rapidly embrace modern technologies
like business intelligence, cloud computing, productivity solutions, and
mobility solutions to gain the insights and efficiencies they need to achieve
their goals.
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By investing in the adoption of cloud, mobile, analytics and
social capabilities, financial executives are investing in the future of their
business in the digital age. In fact, according to Gartner's 2014 CFO
Technology Imperatives survey, 76% of organizations currently leverage at least
one of these technologies. The cloud is clearly changing the face of finance
with the use of cloud technologies doubling between 2013 and 2014 for business
analytics (49% 2014; 21% 2013), integrated financial management applications
(49% 2014; 21% 2013) and budgeting and planning applications (38% 2014; 19%
2013). 80% of those surveyed also indicated a desire to move more than half of
their business transactions to the cloud in coming months as well. Clearly, the
time of digital-driven finance is now and secure, trusted technologies will be
powering this transformation.
[1] The
Rising Tide of Finance Challenges. Finance Executives International.
November, 2014.
[2] Solanki, Sanil, and Jorge Lopez. CFO
advisory: innovate financial methods for digital business. Gartner, Inc.
April 30, 2014.
[3] CFOs Filling the COO “Vacuum”. FEI. March 27,
2014 http://daily.financialexecutives.org/cfos-filling-the-coo-vacuum/
[4] The
Rising Tide of Finance Challenges. Finance
Executives International. November, 2014.
[5] http://www.firstsun.com/2015/01/05/leadership-future-cfo-ceos-say-cfos-dont-understandassist-challenges-face-running-organizations/
[6] Solanki, Sanil. 2014
CEO and Senior Executive Survey: CIOs must ally with CFOs in the race for
digital supremacy. Gartner, Inc. April 11, 2014.
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