The Ledger
Curated content foranalytical business leaders
Why Intelligent Drivers Are Necessary in FP&A
November 29, 2018
“Intelligent drivers” are measurable business activities that directly link strategy to the organization’s short- and long-term goals. Business process goals and operational activities do not always line up with the organizational structure. Some have a one-to-one relationship, but others may go across multiple departments. Defining intelligent drivers may well lead to rethinking the way budgets are set and departmental performance monitored. Consequently, relationships should, where possible, be validated against both past behavior and assessed as to their accuracy in predicting the future. This is not something that will be exact or proven at first, but the point is to keep iteratively refining the measures by challenging management beliefs about organizational drivers, risk, value, and reward, and how your organization can better leverage them to drive success.
Read More at The Digitalist by SAP >
Proprietary Software Solutions Are Helping Companies Dominate
November 28, 2018
Industry leaders are leveraging enterprise technology that enables the business to be more productive, profitable and innovative. The largest firms in the industry are capturing a greater share of the market then they used to, and research links this trend to software. Leveraging proprietary software pairs with other strengths to form competitive advantage is becoming the norm in today’s market. Proprietary software is providing some companies advantage and the full-stack model is dominating the software-vendor model. The result is that large firms are gaining market share and getting ahead of the competition.
Read More at The Harvard Business Review >
Haven’t Joined the Industry 4.0 Transformation? It’s Not Too Late
November 27, 2018
We’re in the midst of a significant transformation regarding the way we produce products thanks to the digitization of manufacturing. This transition is so compelling that it is being called “Industry 4.0” to represent the fourth revolution that has occurred in manufacturing. Finance professionals know that new technologies will fulfill the promise of artificial intelligence, data analytics, and cognitive technologies, and will eventually lead to the development of global systems that create dramatic efficiencies and enable business leaders to make more informed integrated decisions. But at this point, manufacturers who haven’t figured out how to apply Industry 4.0 across their companies aren’t yet falling behind, and they’re far from alone.
The Next Generation of Data Intelligence
November 26, 2018
Business leaders want the ability to access their data analytics at any moment to help them make critical business decisions. To accomplish this, they must refocus their data management and analytics technologies to provide their workforce with accessible and defined data that enables them to manipulate and exchange data among multiple applications for detailed views of the business. By addressing these critical needs, analytics can paint a detailed picture that allows decision makers to understand what’s happening in real time.
Read More at The Digitalist by SAP >
