CFOs slowly getting tech-savvy

MANILA, Philippines—Old-fashioned as they may be with their suits, ties, and polished leather shoes, but chief financial officers are slowly getting the hang of using clouds in their companies.

Clouds, as in cloud computing, that is.

According to an international poll by Oracle and Accenture of 1,275 CFOs, with 300 of whom not doing purely financial duties, that they are slowly gravitating toward the use of cloud technologies for the improvement of businesses.

Cloud computation is computing that involves the use of a large network of computers through a uniting network like the Internet.

“The modern CFO is a technology evangelist who recognizes the value of digital and cloud technologies for the finance function and the businesses as a whole, but a gap remains between CFO ambitions and reality,” it said in the statement.

Despite the lack of skills, CFOs are willing to use cloud technology in their businesses with only 38 percent citing that the inability to use cloud is what hinders them.

Also, 28 percent of the respondents are using cloud technology to support budgeting, planning and forecasting, with another 34 percent looking to incorporate cloud into their businesses in the next year.

“Empowered by data insights and collaborative new ways of working, modern finance organizations are no longer content to focus on containing costs and instead are looking at new ways to deliver insight and value to the rest of the businesses,” Karen dela Torre, vice president of the ERP Application Business Group of Oracle, said.

Even if 30 percent of the respondents believe that computing and accounting are all dependent on the reliable pen and paper, 50 percent of them are now using mobile apps and 53 percent of the sample size are using web-based systems.

“CFOs today are creating modern finance organizations that are adopting the cloud and other disruptive technologies to realize the power that digital can wield and help propel the enterprise forward,” Scott Brennan, managing director for Accenture Strategy in Finance and Enterprise Performance, said.

“This study shows how modern finance leaders can help craft corporate strategies that drive profitable growth,” he added.

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