First and foremost, everyday BI usersare data consumers who use technology to drive insight from diverse data sources. In some cases, they generate the source data by their actions, such as accumulating purchases, signing up for subscriptions, or making inquiries. In other instances, they may not have any control over the transactions (like the stock market, weather, or other consumer data) but have an interest in monitoring these trends or developments.
I recently read an article on AccountingWeb, written by Doug Sleeter and describing the findings of a published report titled What SMBs Want from Their CPA. The report is a summary of results from an annual study conducted by The Sleeter Group, and is intended to help accounting professionals understand the factors in the market which influence business use of professional accounting services. While adoption and use of technology was not named as the top item on the list, capabilities which can be rendered only if such adoption occurs were. In short, it’s not the technology that clients demand, but the level of service that professionals can only deliver by embracing advancements in technology and applying them to the client engagement.
There used to be saying in business that the customer is always right and anything or everything should be done to make the customer happy, even if it includes throwing someone under a bus. On the other hand, some professionals in sales and service would contend that keeping the company mission in mind and fairly representing the company side of things is a better way even if the customer goes away mad.
While every business uses technology at some level, some businesses have more success than others in developing streamlined and efficient processes guiding the various tasks and activities performed throughout the day.
The good news for CIOs — they still control about 60 percent of the average IT budget in a corporation.
The bad news — they think they control 80 percent, according to a survey of member-based advisory firm CEB, which surveyed 165 organizations representing more than £29 billion in IT spending in Europe and the US.
As a kid, I enjoyed reading comic books and watching animated television series about superheroes. Among my favorites were Spider-Man, Batman, Thor, Iron Man, and the X-Men. Which is why, as a adult, I enjoy the super advancements in cinematic technology that not only powers (mostly) live-action superhero movies, but has also propelled them into mainstream culture.
How long should ERP implementations take? How much do they cost? How long does it take to recoup these costs? How long does it take to realize the benefits of the new system? These are the magic questions asked by thousands of companies around the globe.
With so much money at stake — after all, some ERP implementations can cost millions of dollars — the timing of such a technology project is critical.
The answer, as you might expect, is that it depends on many different factors.
PNC is going after tech-savvy customers with a digital-first money management marketing campaign called #BeTheBoss. The campaign turns traditional brand approaches to marketing on its ear, said Tom Kunz, senior vice president of digital at PNC.
The campaign starts with learning about customers and prospects. The bank has an audience management platform on its Web site that tracks non-personally identifiable information about visitors and develops segments. It adds in data about online shopping habits from various sources and combines it with financial information like investments and credit information and creates a demand management capability.
The bank then goes to online sites, publishers it calls them, and it can articulate what messages it plans to deliver to specific segments. Then it uses response data to see how the campaigns impact business.
With so many cloud-type acronyms cloud computing terms floating around the Internet, it can be quite a challenge to understand what’s actually going on.
SaaS? PaaS? IaaS? What do these actually mean? Can anything be “aaS”? Is this just a bunch of meaningless alphabet soup?
Determining what kind of financial accounting technology solution a business needs is often a matter of asking one simple question: How big is the company?
Different-size organizations have different needs. Small companies, where the owner is master chef and chief dishwasher, typically need a system that allows them to do more cooking and less washing. Medium-size organizations need a system where financial applications are integrated with operational applications and the controls that come with that. Meanwhile, large enterprises need a full scope enterprise resource management system that enables data to remain consistent between departments.