Five actions CFOs can take immediately to help grow their companies

Chief financial officers can take action to position their organisations for growth, says Jonathan Wood, General Manager, Middle East & Africa, Infor

Jonathan Wood, General Manager, Middle East & Africa, Infor

When CFOs adopt innovative technology, they help build organisations that are more agile, profitable, effective, and positioned for growth.

Here are the five actions CFOs can take immediately to get started down the right path:

1. Develop one single source of the truth – Data is the currency of success. Effective data management translates to big opportunities for companies that are intent on growth. But the key to effective data management is creating one source of the truth – a central data repository. Everyone needs to work from the same set of information, if your organisation is going to operate as efficiently and effectively as possible. Companies can uncover key insights about their customers and business processes by breaking down data silos and building one single source of the truth.

2. Make that truth available and actionable – Data is only useful if the people who need it, both inside and outside your organisation, can access it and act upon it to make faster, more informed decisions. Having the right technology to not only access data from across the organisation but also to provide meaningful insights to stakeholders can help you build a path to growth. Data analytics can perform what-if scenarios that help you cut costs, identify new opportunities with existing customers, and even create new business models and processes.

3. Connect everything – No system can operate in a vacuum. Connect all your product, sales, financials, HR, etc. systems and you’re on your way to having the visibility you need to grow profitably. Consider adding cloud-based ERP and product systems, which can be among the most crucial and transformative investments a company makes. Because these systems reach into every part of an organisation, from manufacturing and sales, to finance, human resources, and more, they can significantly improve your company’s efficiency, helping to drive its growth to the next level.

4. Connect everyone – True communication and collaboration can deliver great benefits. Just as all your systems need to be connected, so too do your employees and partners along your value chain. Social collaboration tools available from within the applications people use to get their jobs done make it easier to get work done. Users within your organisation and all along your value chain can get information where and when they need it, at their fingertips, without having to break their workflow. The system can capture these interactions, so the information becomes part of the organisation’s knowledge base, helping to drive greater insight and productivity.

5. Make it all available all the time – Business happens around the clock, everywhere. Cloud-enable all your most important systems and you ensure that your business can operate from any geography, at any time. Looking beyond the cloud, make sure as many of your core systems as possible are fully mobile-enabled.

Credit: Arabian Business