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    In today’s world, data is coming from everywhere. Data means information - and information means power. Which is why companies are taking charge on getting access to real-time streaming visualizations of large amounts of data and converting it into actionable insights.

    Essentially, a single data warehouse compiles several separate business units simultaneously that spans across multiple business divisions. In layman’s terms: you need a real-time view of all moving parts of your operation in order to diagnose the health across the financial spectrum of your enterprise and to turn it into action.


    The finance function is evolving and CFOs are expected to know more about the trends affecting businesses today, including big data and technological innovations. – Jeff Thompson, Forbes Contributor

    The Onslaught of Big Data has Changed Finance

    Within the range of the next 10 years, big data stands to be the most disruptive game-changer spanning all industries. Organizations are using data and analytics to gain valuable insight to inform better business decisions - meaning data has redefined the competitive landscape across all industries.

    An estimated 89 percent of enterprises believe those without an analytics strategy run the risk of losing a competitive edge in the market.

    Reviewing and analyzing that data is a full-time job, in addition to the other hats you wear. It can be overwhelming, and any CFO can get lost in the details. – CFO.com

    In fact, 32% of C-suite executives around the world say that big data has hindered and not helped their decision-making abilities.

    Which goes to show you that while many organizations are well aware of the need to comprehend the flow of data coming in, just keeping up to this frenetic pace can be inundating. And in order to keep up with aggressive market innovation, mitigate risk and maximize return – the need for a centralized data hub for financial management has never been greater.

    The CIO and CFO Relationship

    Due to the change in complexity of the role, large in part because of the influx of data taking over, CFOs and CIO’s have never had closer ties than they do now. CFOs need to leverage their use of technology made available to them to be able to fuel innovation and drive the business strategy forward. IT is not just a cost centre – it’s an asset. It’s time to align CIO’s with the strategic priorities that the CFO has created and start to bridge the gap between the two parties so any misunderstanding does not occur.

    The Power of a Centralized Hub

    Volume, variety and velocity are the triple areas that occur when data starts to balloon and become incomprehensible due to the bottleneck in flow of data. Centralized hubs for enterprise financial management takes a proactive approach so that the endless stream of data is properly extracted, transformed into the proper format and loaded into a subsequent system for analysis. Having this unified data source can help ease the strain of information being pumped out at CFOs on a daily basis – and enhances their forecasting capabilities, instead of being stuck in the rear-view trying to make sense of all this data.

    Financial management is critical to an organization’s success. Book a free demo of Limelight and discover how easy it is with the best budgeting software to create forecasts, reports and to work with your Excel database to ensure your long-term financial goals are met.

     

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