Page 19 - Journal Layout-Dec 18_Neat

PIPFA Journal IFAC Article

Should we move business to the cloud?

by Andrea Murad
Technology is integral to the financial What are the benefits of the financial processes by leveraging
function of any company. The cloud? computing on demand.”
decision to keep financial processes Lower costs: Deploying Innovative and adoptive technology:
on premises or to move them to com- cloud-based applications reduces “Enterprises can consume best of
puting clouds can impact business the need and associated costs for breed services for financial process-
processes. While there are trade-offs internal infrastructure, suites of appli- es with the cloud, as opposed to
to consider, the right technology can cations, supporting technologies and reliance on a monolithic on-premise
transform a business. multiple IT disciplines. enterprise resource planning (ERP)
Cloud computing simply means “The commercial model of a product,” said Girish. Cloud-based
storing data, processes and cloud-based financial process financial processes are better able to
programmes on the internet rather platform is typically based on a adopt to business changes.
than hard-drives. monthly subscription that is charged Having core applications in the cloud
“One of the key strategies in technol- per user, thereby eliminating upfront also allows companies to leverage
ogy is driving agility,” said David capital expenses,” said Girish innovative technologies like block-
Thompson, Chief Information and Phadke, technology head of Micro- chain, AI and robotics, said Robin.
Technology Officer for American soft and cloud platforms at Tata Strategically focused IT staff: “Lever-
Express Global Business Travel. Consultancy Services. aging cloud-based applications
“Many of the new cloud-based finan- Stronger cybersecurity: Cyberse- allows IT organizations to focus on
cial applications provide curity for systems in the cloud is competitive differentiators, client
state-of-the-art capabilities and handled by specialized professionals engagement and operational
ongoing innovation, thereby freeing rather than in-house staff. efficiencies while software providers
up IT talent to work on more strategic take on the burden of maintenance,
initiatives and allowing the CFO and Scalability: “Cloud-based financial feature development and engage-
finance department to take advan- process platforms will enable enter- ment of functional leaders for new
tage of key developments in these prises to scale up operations on capabilities,” said David.
cloud-based applications.” demand without having to worry “The CFO’s team are the functional
about any upfront capital expenses
This investment can have wide-scale and lead times associated with experts, and they work with IT to
effects on a business. Technology adding IT infrastructure capacity,” deploy applications and to turn on
can eliminate redundant manual said Girish. the features they need. Technology
tasks and streamline workflows, teams ensure the data flows and
which save time and money. For Enhanced functionality: Imple- interfaces are correct and that
companies that have grown by menting new features to software everything is tested for capacity and
acquisition or under-invested in tech- that’s on premises takes time, is functionality.”
nology, for example, moving to the expensive and might not be strate- More automated processes: Compa-
cloud might be necessary. gic, while upgrading cloud-based nies need to consider the processes
software is fast and on point, said
“These companies recognize that David. Cloud-based software suppli- that they’d like automated and how
their technology needs to be ers make functionality available to integrate these with predictive
replaced with something drastic and based on experience across all analytics and other new capabilities.
transformational,” said Robin clients and industry research, and “This may provide a company with
McBurnie, Partner at PwC. “To clients can choose whether to run an opportunity to streamline opera-
survive, they need to simplify their these features. tions, reduce reliance on third parties
applications, their business process- and to use technology for these
es and their offerings to their custom- “Most of the cloud-based financial processes rather than intermediar-
ers - simplification is a key word to process platforms come with built-in ies, which ultimately saves money,”
their legacy estate, key processes analytics and machine learning said David.
and customer offerings.” capabilities and can provide recom- to be continued
mendations to make business opera-
Every company has different needs tions more profitable,” said Girish.
that impact technology decisions, no
matter how inevitable moving to the “Additionally, they provide real-time Copyright in this article is owned by
cloud may seem. We look at the pros insights into financial performance, the Institute of Chartered Account-
and cons when considering a move. enabling faster completion of ants of Scotland (“ICAS”).
month-end, quarter-end or year-end
17 January-June, 2018