If you’re the company’s chief information officer screening the sales pitches for business analytics, take a long look and ask the right questions for your company’s welfare.
CIOs would seem to have the biggest interest in acquiring data functions and business analytics.
But hold on, CFOs have an even bigger interest. So you have to collaborate and make the chief financial officer happy.
Don’t pre-judge. For CFOs, it isn’t all about the cost of investment.
CFO concerns
CFOs and their employees will be the chief users.
More importantly, CFOs increasingly have big picture – or strategic – concerns.
They’ll want to know how the data will enhance efficiencies and how it will cut expenses companywide.
So your screening process will need to examine the desired deliverables of the new products.
Specifically, you’ll need to learn several insights:
Determine how the analytics will insure compliance; mitigate risks; enhance long-term financial planning and reporting; accelerate growth; meet the challenges of globalization; and help solve marketplace challenges.
At the minimum, consider the following issues:
1. Why outsource business analytics?
An exemplary sales pitch should reveal to you how the outsourcing will help your company maximize the value of your investment.
The responses should explain they stay current and will advise you on changes and functionality.
You should learn if and how your finance-department employees can best analyze the results, make recommendations, and it’s security to be worry-free in the process.
2. How will outsourcing benefit operational planning?
Of course in this digital age, your CFO and staff already use data. It’s important to isolate the inefficiencies in the hunt for profits.
So to buy new software, the CFO will only be impressed about achieving new efficiencies.
3. How will the outsourcing promote growth?
Determine the productivity and passion of the vendor.
In the midst of marketplace turbulence and changing customer preferences, it’s an overwhelming challenge to identify changes and their causes.
“Our technological powers increase, but the side effects and potential hazards also escalate.”
-Alvin Toffler
Credible cutting-edge solutions are important to identify and analyze problems to implement the right changes.
By picking the right vendor and software, your company will benefit because savvy service providers have the broad experience to advise you as a strategic partner should.
4. How will outsourcing provide better insight on the marketplace?
Your vendor, as an outside participant, should demonstrate their expertise and how they’re objective.
Objectivity enables the identifying of trends, and it leads to better decisions to acquire customers and to retain them; to shrink costs; and to monitor key financial indicators.
It also helps for better risk management – to spot negative events and trends and how to mitigate them.
From the Coach’s Corner, editor’s picks:
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“Our technological powers increase, but the side effects and potential hazards also escalate.”
-Alvin Toffler
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