Global survey results show that moving HR and finance operations technology to the cloud leads not just to cost savings, but also to a business transformation that can boost the finance function’s strategic role in the organization
MAKING THE DECISION to invest in cloud computing ought to leave finance ex-ecutives bursting with a sense of rational exuberance. After all, there’s nothing that ignites their enthusiasm like the prospect of lopping off significant costs. Or is there?
In a recent global survey of HR, IT, and finance executives about the motivations and benefits of moving HR and finance operations to the cloud, finance executives actually reveal a much broader, more nuanced assessment of the technology’s advantages. Not only do they see the cloud as embedding the enterprise with a wider-ranging set of benefits, but they also view it as furnishing them with the capabilities and insights to occupy a more strategic role in the organization.
The survey drew 700 respondents, including almost 180 who self-identified as members of the finance function. Nearly all classified themselves as C-level execu-tives, senior managers, or mid-level managers. Geographically, 39 percent of finance respondents are based in the Americas, with an almost equal proportion (42 percent) originating in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). Almost half (47 percent) come from companies with under $1 billion in annual revenue. Commissioned by Oracle, the survey was conducted by MIT Technology Review Custom.
In ranking their top five business objectives for their organization’s investment in cloud technology, 36 percent of finance executives, including middle managers, selected“reduce costs.” But among C-level leaders, a much lower proportion were driven by cost-cutting goals. In fact, only 18 percent of the C-level cited this as a top-five objective. Most respondents were in a position to weigh all the benefits of cloud computing. Among survey respondents who have already undertaken the journey to cloud, almost two-thirds (62 percent) described their companies as being “fully deployed” or in “later stages” of moving HR and finance operations to the cloud.
Survey findings also suggest that finance executives, although undoubtedly eager for cost-cutting benefits to add up, need to forgo expectations of any instant gratification. In fact, 31 percent of respondents from finance ranked “perceived cost increase” as…… Download this ebook to learn
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