原作者：Joe McKendrick

譯者：T 客匯 李哲

關(guān)鍵詞：云計算，財務(wù)

核心提示：云計算究竟是一場變革，還是僅僅止步于對現(xiàn)有系統(tǒng)、應(yīng)用或流程的技術(shù)性替代？本文以企業(yè)財務(wù)系統(tǒng)為例，介紹如何利用云計算的變革性力量，開啟企業(yè)的財務(wù)轉(zhuǎn)型之路。

近期，云商業(yè)峰會在紐約舉辦，主辦方為ISG的子公司Saugatuck Technology。本屆峰會提出的議題之一是——云計算帶來的究竟是變革性的影響，還是僅僅對現(xiàn)有系統(tǒng)、應(yīng)用或流程的技術(shù)性替代？

其中的一場小組討論引人注目，財務(wù)和IT主管們對“云計算對企業(yè)財務(wù)系統(tǒng)和流程的影響”這一議題進行了討論。大家一致認為，財務(wù)是一個與行業(yè)技術(shù)發(fā)展不同步的領(lǐng)域。這并不是說財務(wù)主管們在云計算的采用上滯后，而是他們對云計算有著不一樣的看法。

本次小組討論的主持人，Saugatuck的Bruce Guptill說：“越來越多的CIO和他們的直接下屬采用云計算。無數(shù)的案例證明，云計算可以為企業(yè)創(chuàng)造更高的價值。但它不是替代品，而是一整套可以創(chuàng)造更多機會的新工具和新視角。而且，可以讓我們更清楚地看到它為企業(yè)創(chuàng)造的機遇?！?/p>

然而，在財務(wù)領(lǐng)域，情況就不同了?！耙恢币詠?，謹小慎微被視為財務(wù)主管們的本職。這一點從來沒有變，未來也不會改變?！盙uptill繼續(xù)說道，盡管有越來越多的核心財務(wù)進入云端，“仍然會有一些天然的顧慮和謹慎，因為一旦財務(wù)亂了，企業(yè)也就岌岌可危了。因此，任何新事物的植入都需要經(jīng)過徹底的審核，還要保證完全兼容?！彼?，IT和財務(wù)需要以兩種不同的速度運行。

正因為如此，許多CIO和財務(wù)主管不愿打破現(xiàn)狀。這也是為什么對于財務(wù)主管來說，主要財務(wù)功能的云計算“不是變革性的，而是替代性的”，Workday的企業(yè)戰(zhàn)略執(zhí)行副總裁Mark Nittler如是說，“這是不得了的事情，因為這和我們的所見所聞相違背。這不是財務(wù)系統(tǒng)的轉(zhuǎn)型，而僅僅是按照企業(yè)需求對傳統(tǒng)財務(wù)系統(tǒng)的替換?！?/p>

然而，國際財務(wù)執(zhí)行官組織(Financial Executives International)的首席運營官Bill Sinnett注意到，在保證不擾亂企業(yè)其他系統(tǒng)的前提下，哪怕只是將一小部分云計算導(dǎo)入財務(wù)系統(tǒng)，都是不容易的。財務(wù)系統(tǒng)云計算的導(dǎo)入，不能是漸進式或小步式的。“你怎么可能把核心會計做到一半，然后再轉(zhuǎn)入云端呢？這里沒有中間道路可走。”

因此，基本目標(biāo)可以確定，就是要在財務(wù)系統(tǒng)中導(dǎo)入云計算，而由此引發(fā)的改變和轉(zhuǎn)型是不可避免的。接下來的關(guān)鍵問題是，這些改變?nèi)绾胃纳茍蟊砗拓攧?wù)數(shù)據(jù)的分析？云計算廠商需要給出一個答案，企業(yè)財務(wù)系統(tǒng)的變革之路才能由此開啟。

這個答案的關(guān)鍵之處在于，如何幫助企業(yè)財務(wù)主管不僅僅把目光局限于總賬和報表，還要看到困擾企業(yè)的更大的難題。Sinnett說：“當(dāng)財務(wù)系統(tǒng)出現(xiàn)問題的時候，CFO們不去看總賬，而是看BI，然后斷定問題出在報表。然而，問題不在于報表工具，而在于數(shù)據(jù)——是因為他們沒有捕捉到正確的數(shù)據(jù)類型。這是整個財務(wù)架構(gòu)的問題，他們必須學(xué)會從不同的視角看待問題?！?/p>

總之，企業(yè)向基于云的財務(wù)系統(tǒng)轉(zhuǎn)型，需要在多個層次上做好準(zhǔn)備。正如紐約公立圖書館的技術(shù)副總裁Jane Aboyoun所說，企業(yè)的云轉(zhuǎn)型需要超越技術(shù)和單個應(yīng)用程序的層面?！白鰯r路虎的不是技術(shù)，而是流程、行為方式和企業(yè)文化的轉(zhuǎn)變。”

英文原文：

Is the goal of cloud computing to deliver transformative effects to the business, or is it okay to merely replace an existing system, application or process?? That’s one of the questions taken up at the recent?Cloud Business Summit, held in New York and hosted by Saugatuck Technology, a division of ISG.

In a compelling panel discussion, financial and IT leaders debated the impact of cloud computing on corporate financial systems and processes. The consensus is that finance is an area that is not in sync with technology developments in businesses. It’s not that financial executives are lagging in cloud adoption — it’s just that they have a different view of it.

“After years of cloud denial, were now seeing more CIOs and their direct reports bringing cloud into the enterprise,” said Saugatuck’s Bruce Guptill, who moderated the panel discussion. “There are thousands and thousands of case studies and examples how we can improve our value to our organizations. It’s not replacing us, it’s a new set of tools and a new set of lenses creating more opportunity, and better able to see the opportunities it creates for our organizations.”

However, for the finance side, it’s a different story, Guptill continued. “Finance leaders have been rewarded for thousands of years for being cautious, and that has not changed, and it’s not going to change.” While there is more core finance moving to cloud, he continued, “there still is a natural hesitancy or caution, because if you start messing with finance, you start messing with the lifeblood of company. So anything that comes in has to be thoroughly vetted and compatible.” For that reason, IT and finance tend to be “operating at two different speeds.”

For many CIOs and financial leaders, there’s a reluctance to rock the boat.? That’s why, for financial executives, adopting cloud for key functions is often “not about transition, it’s about about replacement,” said Mark Nittler, executive vice president for enterprise strategies at Workday. “That’s huge, it goes against what you see or hear. It’s not about the transformation of finance in our systems, but more about a need to replace them, in order to do what we need to do.”

However, there’s no easy way to introduce cloud — even just a piece of it — to financial systems without disrupting the rest of the enterprise, observed Bill Sinnett, chief operating officer of Financial Executives International. When bringing in cloud for financial systems, there are no incremental or half-steps.? “How do you go into a halfway measure around your core accounting and shift it to the cloud? There isn’t a transition path,” he stated.

The bottom line — to bring in cloud and all the changes and transitions that will ripple from the initiatives — cloud proponents will need to discuss how the changes will improve reporting and analysis of financial data. There has to be a driving business reason to get financial executives on board with the cloud, Sinnett stated. This will put enterprises on the transition path.

The key is to help financial executives look beyond general ledger and reporting and understand how cloud can address some of the larger issues that vex their enterprises. “When financial systems aren’t working, CFOs don’t look at general ledger for that, they look at BI, and they think it’s a reporting problem,” says Sinnett. “But the reporting tool is not the problem — it’s a data problem; they haven’t captured the right kind of data. It’s a whole financial architecture problem.? They have to start to think about it differently.”

Ultimately, the transition to cloud-based financial system requires the organization be prepared at multiple levels. As Jane Aboyoun, vice president of technology for the New York Public Library, explained, the cloud transformation goes beyond technology and individual applications. “The technology piece really was not the roadblock,” she said. “It required a cultural change, a process change, a behavioral change, and a cultural change.”

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