Data is often likened to oil, currency, or even money. In every industry, cloud technology allows businesses to harness accurate, up-to-date data to drive innovation, competitiveness, and profitability. By leveraging data, you can transform it into a valuable asset and outpace your competitors.
To lead with data, you need to pursue growth and innovation through cloud technologies that offer benefits like predictive analytics, AI, automation, and machine learning. As a CFO, you play a crucial role in guiding your business on this data-driven journey and supporting the transition to cloud technology.
Advantages of Cloud Technology for Finance Teams
Adopting cloud technology isn’t merely about updating old systems or staying current. It’s about gaining strategic value and a competitive edge. For example, automation is a significant benefit for many cloud-ready finance leaders, enhancing productivity within finance teams.
Why is automation vital for finance teams? It eliminates time-consuming, repetitive tasks that can cost businesses substantial amounts annually. By automating these processes, your team can focus on more strategic activities and providing valuable insight, thus increasing overall efficiency and profitability.
Cloud finance software can automate mundane accounting tasks, process numbers, generate reports, and offer valuable analytics, freeing your team to concentrate on strategic initiatives.
Addressing Business Challenges with Cloud Technology
Before the invention of cloud technology, businesses could only hope for accurate financial statements and reports. Now, the cloud provides access to a wealth of data that allows you to predict future trends, shape strategies accordingly, and make real-time decisions.
Your finance team can identify data patterns and trends, model future scenarios with machine learning and AI, and rapidly move on projects supported by real-time data. Another significant challenge cloud technology addresses is cybersecurity.
In 2019, cybersecurity was the top concern hindering digitalisation. However, attitudes have shifted positively. A recent survey of 500 UK finance leaders found that 49% of cloud-ready finance professionals cited improved cybersecurity as the primary benefit of new technology implementations.
Cloud solutions, when configured correctly, are often more secure than on-premise options. Cloud providers typically ensure platform security, offering additional measures like password protection, encryption, and user access limitations. They also provide 24/7 monitoring and dedicated cybersecurity teams to swiftly address potential threats.
Enhancing Value with Cloud Technology
As a CFO, linking business success with improved technology strengthens your case for increased tech investment. While some businesses resist cloud adoption due to cost concerns, the value cloud technology provides can overcome these objections.
The more you utilise cloud technology, the more areas you’ll discover where it can add value. You can measure the financial impact of data-driven decisions, identify and validate valuable revenue streams, and apply data to optimise processes.
Your leadership team might look to you to extract value from data, collaborate with IT to transition to the cloud, and implement technologies like automation, analytics, and AI. Assigning economic value to data is crucial, and the cloud provides the framework to manage, measure, and monetise data effectively.
By working with data in the cloud, you can support your finance team in uncovering new revenue streams and foster collaboration between tech and finance to enhance efficiencies.
Implementing Cloud Technology in Finance
Here are a few tips for CFOs to drive data value from the cloud:
- Define Accounting Practices: Establish principles to expedite the adoption of cloud technology and data insights.
- Support IT: Assist in setting up systems to extract value from data. Evaluate commercial models, assess risks, recognise value, and enforce controls and governance.
- Plan Strategically: Identify your business goals and determine which cloud technologies will help achieve them. Develop a clear implementation roadmap.
- Measure Progress: After implementing the technology, evaluate its effectiveness. Ask your finance team:
- Are you using the cloud tech correctly?
- Are new processes leading to expected productivity and efficiency improvements?
- What outcomes do the new technologies achieve? Gather business metrics to measure against your goals.
Final Thoughts on Cloud Technology and the Finance Function
The value of data is paramount. As a CFO, you play a pivotal role in a future where businesses increasingly rely on data extraction. By developing your data capabilities, you can make informed decisions about cloud technology investments based on the economic value of the data.
Connecting cloud technology with business value is the most effective way to advocate for digital transformation and elevate the role of your finance team. Prove the value of the cloud by demonstrating how it can make your business more agile, forward-thinking, and data-driven.
Source: https://www.sage.com/en-gb/blog/cloud-technology-value-finance-function/
