Gaining Insight Through Data Visualization

 “Visualizations contained in these types of tools dynamically display how cash flows and assets change in value through time using stacked area charts or stream graphs​”  

Data visualization is an integrative field – leveraging art, science, and math, while focusing on the creation and study of the visual representation and display of data. While there are several ways to understand data, visual tools depicting the complex relationships and conditions of data and algorithms have proven to be the most effective. Leading data-driven firms across all industries now rely on data visualization as a means for attracting and retaining customers as well as enabling or enhancing critical decisions.

Read More at The CIO Review >

It’s Time to Bring FP&A to the 21st Century

Planning and budgeting solutions were among the first end-user computer applications for business. Initially, they were single-user applications that were nothing more than adding machines. But as computing progressed along with the development of Internet-based apps, they became multi-user tools that can be accessed anywhere, on any device, and at a fraction of the cost of those original solutions. The strange thing is that many organizations still adopt the same practices enforced by the original planning software that are anything but collaborative. For most, planning typically starts with a simple supposition about the future that is far removed from the complexity of the real world, which is not good in the current volatile business market.

Read More at The Digitalist by SAP >

Data is the “New Oil”

Oil and gas companies now realize data is the new oil, and there is plenty of this “new oil” lingering in siloed islands in the oil and gas enterprise. There is a huge potential to monetize this data and achieve a step change in efficiency across the value chain. With the help of intelligent technologies, oil and gas companies can achieve the “Digital Energy Network” with connected assets, connected workers, connected logistics, and connected oilfields. According to research, the most significant impacts of intelligent enterprise technologies on oil and gas will be cost optimization, high-level process automation, new business models, and enhanced productivity.

Read More at The Digitalist by SAP >

Keep Quarterly Reporting

“The long-term benefits of semi-annual reporting are doubtful, while its costs are significant.”

President Trump recently tweeted, “stop quarterly reporting and go to a six-month system.” This tweet reflects the belief of many corporate executives and commentators that quarterly reporting pushes public companies away from attractive long-term investments. However, shifting company reports to every six months does not meet anyone’s definition of the long-term. An extra three months to announce financial results would not induce American executives to take off the shelf the hypothetical stockpile of long-term, job-creating projects — now allegedly stymied by quarterly reporting.

Read More at CFO Magazine >

A Balance of Strategy and Agility is Necessary for Successful Planning

In the face of relentless technological change, disruptive forces in industry after industry, and so on, strategic planning has fallen out of favor. Planning and agility are both imperative for success, and it is important for business leaders to find the sweet spot between the two. The reality is that plans have to be made about the use of a company’s resources all of the time. Some are short-term, others stretch into an imagined future. Agile planning is the future of planning, and this new approach will require two fundamental elements.

Read More at The Harvard Business Review >