Achieving Breakthrough Returns on Human Capital CFO Project Volume 3, July 31, 2007
By adopting new innovative solutions that utilize science and technology, human resource professionals have an opportunity to bring revolutionary change to this critical asset.
Dr. Pawan Singh, PeriscopeIQ, Dr. Mohamed Latib, PeriscopeIQ

 Enhance Performance Via Operational Business Intelligence: Collaboration, Exploration and Integration CFO Project Volume 3, July 31, 2007
InetSoft Operational BI allows multiple business professionals across the enterprise to access and collaborate on information, when and how they need it.

 Interview with Thomas R. Kolder CFO Project Volume 3, July 31, 2007
Thomas R. Kolder looks at what makes for a successful CFO in today's pressured business climate.
Thomas R. Kolder, Crist Associates

 Premier Nonqualified Executive Benefit Strategies CFO Project Volume 3, July 31, 2007
MullinTBG is the nation's largest independent provider of nonqualified executive benefits, representing hundreds of customized plans, billions in total assets under management and tens of thousands of corporate executives.

 Sales Compensation Management as a Strategic Tool CFO Project Volume 3, July 31, 2007
The finance department should take a leadership role in improving the way its organization manages sales compensation.

 Tackling the Costs of Poorly Managed Sales Compensation Plans CFO Project Volume 3, July 31, 2007
Synygy, an authority on sales performance management, is the largest provider of solutions for solving problems related to the management of sales compensation plans.

 Transforming Finance in the Journey to Value-Based Management CFO Project Volume 3, July 31, 2007
An integrated enterprise performance management framework helps drive better decisions and disciplined execution.

 Weighing the Options for Funding Nonqualified Benefits CFO Project Volume 3, July 31, 2007
Assessing the characteristics of potential informal funding assets can help identify which best meet a company’s overall objectives.

 What's Troubling Finance? CFO Project Volume 3, July 31, 2007
The CFO function needs to anticipate and accommodate new rules and regulations - not just react to them - for greater corporate success and personal job satisfaction.
Eric Keller, Movaris, Inc.

 CFOs Face Major IT Challenges CFO Project Volume 2, October 01, 2003
November 1, 2005 - In September, Ventana Research conducted a workshop for senior finance executives as part of CFO Magazine’s Strategy Execution Conference. Its theme was integrating business and information technology, particularly in areas (including budgeting and planning, closing, reporting, compliance and profitability management) where the proper application of IT would have the greatest potential for creating business value. We also delivered an overview of the methodology we use to help companies create requirements for IT initiatives and find the software that best matches their needs. Part of the workshop was devoted to discussing the most common IT issues that participants had to confront to address the business challenges facing them. We found that the pure technology concerns were dwarfed by a broader set of challenges related to the organization, communications and resources.
Robert Kugel, Ventana Research

 Consolidating the Chart of Accounts CFO Project Volume 2, October 01, 2003
November 11, 2005 - Master data management (MDM) holds the promise of enabling large corporations to deal with a long-standing problem: harmonizing their charts of accounts. When they have disparate charts, the process of rolling up and consolidating data from all of the accounting entities can be laborious. Having a single chart of accounts (COA) across all businesses would simplify many time-sensitive processes at the ends of fiscal periods. For most Global 2000 companies, achieving a single COA is undesirable or problematic for operational and political reasons. The business systems of their major operating units may be distinct enough to warrant different treatments, and managers of subsidiaries often have vested interests in maintaining those differences. Many Global 2000 organizations that have attempted to achieve a single COA (and even some that claim to have one) have been thwarted or have had to accept major limitations that in the end failed to produce the desired benefit. A master data management approach may succeed where others have failed.
Robert Kugel, Ventana Research

 Dedicated to Success in Workforce Performance: Authoria leads competition to manage recruitment, compensation and goals CFO Project Volume 2, October 01, 2003
Managing the workforce processes of recruiting, hiring, compensation and setting goals may appear straightforward, but from the information systems perspective they often are not well-managed. While enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems offer basic capabilities in these areas, they have not kept up with dedicated providers such as Authoria, Recruitmax, SuccessFactors and Workstream. In a competition of these four at last fall’s HR Executive technology conference, attendees selected Authoria as the best software application for recruitment, compensation and goals management. In light of this finding and our scrutiny of offerings in this market, Ventana Research recommends organizations reassess their processes with an eye to deciding whether this or another dedicated application can promote excellence in their workforce management.
Mark Smith, Ventana Research

 From Monolithic to Business Process Applications CFO Project Volume 2, October 01, 2003
December 8, 2005 - SAP laid out its market strategy while meeting with analysts in early December. The company says it will seek to increase its market share lead by changing the orientation of the enterprise application from database tables to the business process and its focus from IT architecture to end users. Ventana Research believes this approach is an important and necessary evolution beyond the data-centric approach so common in the enterprise software universe – one that is epitomized by the three-letter acronyms commonly used for functional applications such as ERP, CRM, SCM and so on. From a business perspective this current architectural approach is artificial, so instead SAP proposes to focus on reducing substantially the frictions of executing business processes. In our judgment, SAP’s conceptual approach represents the wave of the future; it also differs from other service-oriented architectures in its potential to deliver practical enterprise applications. While we do not expect it to change the applications business overnight, SAP’s direction does suggest how mainstream Global 2,000 organizations will use packaged applications by early in the second decade of the century.
Robert Kugel, Ventana Research

 Measuring the Accuracy of Planning and Budgeting CFO Project Volume 2, October 01, 2003
November 11, 2005 - Our research on planning and budgeting has found that finance executives rate “accuracy” as an important objective of these processes. But how should a company measure the accuracy of a budget or plan? The answer depends on what you want to know. “Accuracy” is a slippery concept in budgeting and planning. There are many ways to measure it, but not all of them will confer real business benefits. Ventana Research asserts that to be useful as a management tool, measuring the accuracy of planning and budgeting should assess mainly how well individuals and businesses achieve key performance objectives.
Robert Kugel, Ventana Research

 Planning and Budgeting Are Not the Same CFO Project Volume 2, October 01, 2003
November 1, 2005 - There is a great deal of similarity in how most companies manage the process usually referred to as “planning and budgeting.” Typically, it is an annual process with monthly reviews and quarterly or monthly “reforecasts.” Companies also have similar complaints about the process: It takes too long, is not of strategic value to management, attracts limited participation and buy-in and is not accurate enough. Ventana Research finds that these issues result from treating “planning and budgeting” as if the words were synonyms and the activity a single process. Planning and budgeting are not the same. We think companies routinely spend too little time planning and too much time budgeting. We advise corporations to make planning and budgeting into tools for Performance Management and to acquire software than can support that process and enhance its results.
Robert Kugel, Ventana Research

 Accenture’s BPO Practice: From Traditional to Transformational CFO Project Volume 1, October 01, 2002
A new model for outsourcing is radically reshaping the role of the finance function. Combining the benefits of cost reduction and enterprise transformation, the business transformation outsourcing model maximizes ROI at an accelerated rate. A systematic planning and execution framework helps deliver the value.
Jihad Rjeily, Accenture, Jeffrey L. Williams, Accenture

 An Australian Success Story: Oracle and NCR Choose Australia for Their Asia-Pacific and Japan Regional Centers CFO Project Volume 1, October 01, 2002
Oracle Asia-Pacific views its decision to locate the Asia-Pacific business services center in Sydney as a strategic move in consolidating its leading position in the region. Today, Oracle services 13 countries in Asia-Pacific from its Sydney center. NCR has found that Sydney has met all recruitment needs, and that the IT, telecom, and transport infrastructure has been cost effective and superior to other shared service center locations.

 BPO Big Bang: Turning Theory Into Practice CFO Project Volume 1, October 01, 2002
Organizations use business process outsourcing (BPO) to accomplish a wide range of objectives using different relationship profiles. What makes one relationship work and another one fail is examined here in detail. As the scope of BPO explodes, relationships are the key to creating value in an expanding universe.
Jane C. Linder, Accenture, Susan Cantrell, Accenture

 Building World-Class Finance and Performance Management Capabilities CFO Project Volume 1, October 01, 2002
The current economic environment creates new challenges for finance executives. Constant pressures to excel in operating a low cost finance organization while targeting new value creation opportunities and acting as business advisors, sets the bar high for expected performance. A combination of trends may make the future economic environment even more demanding.
Michael R. Sutcliff, Accenture

 Enterprise Commerce: The New Paradigm for Treasury Management CFO Project Volume 1, October 01, 2002
Advances in bank electronic commerce (EC) technologies are empowering treasury management with unprecedented automation and control. Companies implementing EC payments and collections realize significant savings in hard-dollar costs by improving cash management. With EC services for treasury, enterprise solutions go all the way to the bank.

 ERP as a Strategic Management Tool: Six Evolutionary Stages CFO Project Volume 1, October 01, 2002
Over the past 50 years computers have evolved from vacuum tubes to integrated circuits to PCs. As hardware changed so did managerial computing, from MIS to ERP. Outsourcers developed niche markets and the promise of seamless processing for strategic decision-making seemed possible. Here the history, progress to date, and unmet challenges are explored.
John K. Shank, Dartmouth College, Tuck School of Business, Joseph G. San Miguel, Naval Post Graduate School

 Establishing an SSC: Tackling Legal and Fiscal Issues for Success CFO Project Volume 1, October 01, 2002
The primary issues and risks associated with SSC legal and fiscal requirements are plentiful, encompassing multiple jurisdictions. Mastering the requirements for one country is simple enough, but meeting the legal and financial parameters for many countries is appreciably more complicated. The eight-step methodology outlined here can help.
Michael J. Scott, Accenture

 How Innovative Technology Impacts the Shared Service Model CFO Project Volume 1, October 01, 2002
New technologies have greatly impacted existing and planned financial SSCs. Coupling key technology enablers with an efficient and structured shared service environment creates a major opportunity for businesses. But can virtual SSCs deliver the same, measurable benefits of mature SSCs without incurring the cost and effort of building a physical organization?
Rodger Hill, Accenture

 New Economy, New Reality: Driving Out Costs in the HR Function CFO Project Volume 1, October 01, 2002
Human resources business process outsourcing (HR BPO) involves arrangements in which an external service provider manages HR-related processes or even the entire HR function. This document explores the business concept behind HR outsourcing and how companies are challenging their sourcing strategies in order to face today’s tough business pressures.
Mike Friend, IDC

 Operational Excellence: Leveraging Multiclient Service Locations CFO Project Volume 1, October 01, 2002
Recently, shared services has evolved from its single-company, single-country origins to a successful multiclient, multicountry operation. To further guarantee reduced costs and increased benefits, companies are now collaboratively offering MSL solutions, whereby BPO services are outsourced through one geographic location to multiple clients.
Daniel Lipson, Accenture, Hugh Kirby, Accenture

 Outsourcing Mission-Critical Communications to Improve Customer Relationships CFO Project Volume 1, October 01, 2002
Outsourcing communications applications helps enhance relationships between company and customer while relieving companies of significant management challenges. Benefits include improved customer retention and relationships, focus on core competencies, enhanced technological resources, and reduction in both operational costs and capital investment.
Ms. Kim Herren, DST Output

 Questioning the Future for Outsourcing the Financial Supply Chain CFO Project Volume 1, October 01, 2002
Technological advances enable the delivery of new models to create best practices environments for the finance function. A service provider’s ability to combine multiple offerings into a single portal makes the whole model more attractive than the parts. A central provider is needed to coordinate across services to deliver a single front-end solution.
Ian Talbot, JP Morgan Chase

 Shared Service Centers: Location and Physical Design CFO Project Volume 1, October 01, 2002
The location of an SSC and its working environment is a critical design factor. A “greenfield” strategy – whereby a new SSC is located apart from existing operations – best achieves the low-cost, high-performing objectives of a shared services model. A new site location fosters an exciting fresh breed of operation.
Gary A. Duncan, Accenture, Rodney N. Bergman, Accenture

 Shared Services: Better Service at Lower Cost CFO Project Volume 1, October 01, 2002
The past 10 years have seen a substantial move by many of the Fortune 500 companies toward a shared services operating model to improve their competitive position. Our clients’ experiences prove the enormous potential for companies to employ shared services in response to competitive cost pressures while meeting the imperatives of business growth.
Chris Rutledge, Accenture, Gary A. Duncan, Accenture

 Strength in Numbers: The Global Delivery Network CFO Project Volume 1, October 01, 2002
A global network of delivery centers sets Accenture apart from the many other outsourcers by significantly reducing implementation risk and rapidly realizing benefits. In this case study two of the delivery centers, serving the needs of highly different client bases, are examined.
Anoop Sagoo, Accenture

 Targeting Value: Sizing Up Your BPO Opportunity CFO Project Volume 1, October 01, 2002
In order to create a mutually beneficial relationship, resources from your company and the service provider will need to jointly shape an outsourcing contract. Focused attention is required from both parties’ management teams to ensure that the objectives defined at the onset are embedded in the final agreement.
J. Scott Laughner, Accenture, Jihad Rjeily, Accenture

 The Future of Shared Services CFO Project Volume 1, October 01, 2002
Most complex organizations will implement shared services or business processing outsourcing (BPO) in some form in the near future. The first generation of SSCs, while underperforming, did lower costs and improve service universally. In keeping the future bright, the ultimate achievement may lie in virtual shared services. Implementation is not for the faint-of-heart.
Andrew Kris, Akris.com

 The Operations Maturity Model: A New Paradigm for Optimizing IT’s Value CFO Project Volume 1, October 01, 2002
Operations maturity is a key measure of how well an organization’s IT operations are run. Standardizing processes is an essential step toward ideal operations maturity. A new model provides a structured, synergistic view of this field, helping organizations benchmark performance. It serves as a roadmap defining where an organization needs to improve systems management.
David Leonard, I-Structure

 Unlocking Shareholder Value Through Managed Services For Order-To-Cash CFO Project Volume 1, October 01, 2002
At many companies today, there is a huge, untapped opportunity to improve business perfor-mance through the Order-to-Cash process. Focused and professional management of O2C can deliver millions to both the profit-and-loss (P&L) and balance sheet at large corporations who have chosen to treat this process as a strategic priority and business imperative.
Paul French, Equitant, David Gai, Equitant