The Ledger

Curated content for
analytical business leaders

The Evolution of Finance Strategies

May 2, 2018

Technology has completely changed finance processes as we know them. The revisions in accounting rules and advanced analytics that are crucial to a business’ success has forced major upgrades in finance methods. This turned strategic decision making on its head because of the excess amounts of data that is now available. Today, many companies utilize some form of ERP systems to arm finance leaders with operational data that helps with decision making. However, that is not enough for many companies. These companies are realizing that they need an integrated tool that has the functionality of a flexible, robust financial system along with access to real-time analytics. Armed with these insights business leaders can make the most strategic decisions possible for their organization.

Read More at CFO Tech Outlook >

 

Analytics Maturity Isn’t About Technology

May 1, 2018

For the past couple of decades analytics has made its mark on businesses. During that time, finance professionals learned how to enhance and mature their data and analytics. The progression started with basic gathering of data and became a proactive, automated use of advanced algorithms. Many organizations struggle to achieve predictive analytics because of limited data readiness and skills, it is possible to use a combination of the different technologies simultaneously for different needs and projects. The biggest barriers to widespread use of self-service analytics are typically organizational and cultural barriers, rather than technology or data quality.

Read More at The Digitalist by SAP >

 

Building Agility Across Your Business

April 30, 2018

In today’s turbulent markets, where established companies are furiously battling assaults from start-ups and other competitors, the prospect of a fast-moving, adaptive organization is highly appealing. But as enticing as this vision is, turning it into a reality can be challenging- which is where agile teams come in. Agile teams are best suited for the profitable application of creativity to improve products and services, processes, or business models. Expanding the number of agile teams is an important step toward increasing the agility of a business. But equally important is how those teams interact with the rest of the organization. To ensure that administrative functions don’t hamper the work of agile teams or fail to adopt and commercialize the innovations developed by those teams, such companies constantly push for greater change in at least four areas.

Read More at The Harvard Business Review >

 

Predictive Analytics Can Play a Big Part in Emerging Economy Growth

April 26, 2018

Predictive analytics uses historical data to predict future events and has been proven to transform business data into actionable insights that help companies with strategic decision making. But can developing countries also springboard off it and apply the technology-enabled assumptions for new areas of development? As the emphasis on digitalization takes root across services and sectors in emerging economies, analytics is becoming more relevant and more usable. By building forecast models that are economy-based and multidimensional, developing countries can understand country-level indicators including risks, metrics for investment, inflation, and opportunities to build a plan for growth.

Read More at The Digitalist by SAP >

 

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