Technology, Operations and Shared Services functions combine under common leadership

CFOs are no longer managing the “rear view mirror” of business and have an important input on technology decisions. The boundaries between technology, operations and shared services are blurring. The …

Risk & Risk Management

Fraud and Cybercrime remain the highest reported systemic risks for CFOs, although economic headwinds, regional trade issues, and consumer demand concerns seem to be spiking as we enter 2019.

Reports indicate that 62 per cent of …

Regulatory Change

There has been a continued growth in consumer driven regulatory change from the “sugar tax”, taxes on single use plastics, to GDPR data protection. The environment and consumer protection remain big themes, and impacted businesses are very focussed …

Process Placement, Outsourcing and Offshoring

In the post-digital world, no one cares much about “offshore” as a strategy. It is now just one of the many tactical options. Increasing numbers of traditional outsourcing customers aren’t looking to increase offshore investments. …

Data, Insight & Analytics

It is widely reported that up to 80% of finance effort is spent acquiring and preparing data for reporting, leaving as little as 20% for value added analysis and decision making. This is a challenge that …

Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Data Science

There is much discussion on these topics. Simply put, Machine Learning is the link that connects Data Science and AI.

AI is often confused and conflated with RPA and other technologies, but a …

Automation

The advent of new and rebranded tools, aligned with powerful marketing, have given us an exciting couple of years of imagining a digital future. None has had a bigger share of attention than Robotic Process Automation (RPA), which continues …

Alignment

Despite the agreement on the value of globally integrated, “end to end” processes, for many mature global businesses there is an ‘elephant in the room’. While we all ‘talk a good game’ there are still genuine barriers. Effectively aligning …

Global ‘end to end’ Processes

Driving consumer intimacy and convenience requires a standard operating model. Even the businesses we like to think of as the most entrepreneurial, operate their consumer facing processes with military precision. It becomes clear that all …

Business Transformation and the role of ‘Digital’

Recent CFO surveys indicate that “growth” strategies are set to overtake process optimization as a CFO priority. However, this seems to slightly confuse an outcome with an enabling strategy. Transformation can be both …