财务与IT的契合度

Corporate finance and IT departments have become ever more closely intertwined.

企业财务部门和IT部门之间的联系日益紧密。

Chief financial officers (CFOs) need IT tools to monitor and run the finance function, ensure data are secure, and help them in their role as strategic advisers. IT needs the CFO to sign off budgets, pay the bills and help sponsor initiatives for business development.

首席财务官需要应用IT工具来监督和运行财务职能，保障数据安全，并帮助他们当好公司战略顾问这个角色。IT部门则需要首席财务官批准预算，支付各种费用，为企业发展举措提供资金。

Mike McKeon, finance director of Severn Trent Water, the UK utility, says: “Good IT investments can make an organisation, while poor investments can break it. As CFO, I am interested in taking the business forward to success and to do that the CIO and I need to work together ... Separately, we will fail.

英国公用事业企业Severn Trent Water首席财务官迈克·麦基翁(Mike McKeon)表示：“好的IT投资可以成就一家企业，而糟糕的IT投资可以毁掉一家企业。作为首席财务官，我有志于推动企业走向成功，与首席信息官进行必要的合作……如果不合作，我们都会失败。

Myron Hrycyk, Severn Trent chief information officer (CIO), echoes the sentiment.

Severn Trent Water首席信息官迈伦·赫利西科(Myron Hrycyk)赞同这种说法。

Over the past few years, the two have worked together on some of the company’s most important IT initiatives, including the introduction of an enterprise resource management system and a move of the company’s headquarters.

在过去数年内，该公司一些最重要的IT举措都是两人携手实施的，包括引进企业资源管理系统、给公司总部搬家。

“We both understand what we need to do for the company, says Mr Hrycyk. Unlike in some companies, both the CFO and CIO report directly to the chief executive at Severn Trent.

赫利西科表示：“我们两人都明白我们需要为公司做什么。与有些公司不同，在Severn Trent Water，首席财务官和首席信息官都直接向首席执行官塞弗恩·特伦特(Severn Trent)报告。

“I am Mike’s peer, says Mr Hrycyk, while acknowledging that his counterpart has “a higher profile in the business.

赫利西科称：“我与迈克平级。他同时承认，迈克“在公司里的知名度更高。

He adds: “I think reporting to the chief executive gave IT a credibility it would not have had if I reported to the CFO or chief operating officer.

他补充称：“我认为向首席执行官直接报告工作这一点让IT部门具有了一种可信度——如果我向首席财务官或首席运营官报告，就不会有这种可信度。

The two say their success in modernising Severn Trent’s IT systems and cutting costs highlights the benefits of close co-operation and shared goals.

两人都表示，他们在公司IT系统现代化改造和削减成本上取得的成功，突显出密切合作和目标一致的好处。

But it also reflects other factors that CFOs and their IT counterparts say are important to extract the maximum value from IT spending.

但从中也反映出其他一些重要因素，这些因素在首席财务官们和首席信息官们看来关系到如何从IT支出中获取最大价值。

“Maintaining flexibility is the key, says Mike Wroe, CFO of Just-Eat, an online fast food takeaway service. “Support on contracts and cash planning is [also] important.

在线快餐外卖服务公司Just-Eat首席财务官迈克·沃劳(Mike Wroe)表示：“保持灵活性是关键。对合同和现金规划的支持（也）很重要。

“By having a day-to-day presence in IT, finance can be part of the decision-making process, ensuring spending is planned and monitored in advance, rather than in arrears when it is too late to influence behaviour.

“通过参与IT部门的日常业务，财务部门可以成为决策过程的一部分，确保提前规划和监督支出，而不是事后付款——那时已无法影响支出行为。

Like other CFOs, Mr Wroe also acknowledges that the finance function is, “heavily dependent on back office IT systems to provide robust and timely data.

与其他首席财务官一样，沃劳也承认，财务部门“非常依赖后台IT系统提供可靠、及时的数据。

Just-Eats’ financial accounting and group analysis team extracts data from IT systems and for this it relies on the technical staff he says.

沃劳表示，在Just-Eat，财务会计及集团分析团队要从IT系统中提取数据，为此依赖于技术部门。

Finance has dedicated IT staff for the accounting systems.

在财务方面有专门的IT人员负责会计系统。

Like his counterparts in the private sector, Mike Bailey, finance director for the City of Redmond finance and information services in Washington State in the US, says that IT systems can be a powerful tool for improving and streamlining operations. “Today’s challenging economic situation puts focus on the need for increased efficiencies, which can maintain services in tight budgets, he explains.

与私人企业的财务总监一样，美国华盛顿州雷德蒙德市财政信息服务署的财政主任迈克·贝利(Mike Bailey)表示，在改进和简化业务方面，IT系统是一种具有强大功效的工具。他解释称：“如今经济形势严峻，人们要着重考虑如何提高效率，以便在预算紧张的情况下维持服务。

“Significant improvements in today’s ERP [enterprise resource planning] systems not only enable process improvements but improve the controls that often drive the complexity of the processes.

“对现行企业资源规划(ERP)系统的重大改进不仅能改善流程，而且还能改进那些往往给流程带来复杂性的控制措施。

Nevertheless Mr Bailey cautions that, “many organisations – both public and private sector – are stuck with ineffective ERP systems that aren’t designed to accommodate how work is actually done.

然而，贝利警告称，“许多企业（无论是公共部门还是私营部门）都遇到了无效ERP系统的困扰，这些系统不是按照工作的实际需要设计出来的。

These “legacy systems often hamper process improvements, he says. “Worse than that, legacy systems often do not meet organisational needs, resulting in the growth of shadow systems that can have unreliable and inefficient results for the organisation as a whole.

贝利表示，这些“遗留系统往往阻碍流程改进。“更糟糕的是，遗留系统通常不能满足组织的需要，反而导致影子系统(shadow systems)的滋长，而这种系统会给整个组织产生不可靠、无效的结果。

To address these shortcomings, Redmond recently overhauled its ERP as part of a wider technology plan. “The new system was designed and implemented with a focus on creating an organisation-wide approach, says Mr Bailey.

为了解决这些问题，雷德蒙德市最近对ERP系统进行了更新，作为一项更广泛的技术计划的一部分。贝利表示：“我们设计并运行了新系统，重点是打造一个在整个组织内部通用的模式。

Technology – including tablets and smartphones – is also making it easier for senior executives to access the data generated by ERP and by other systems, such as business intelligence and analytics.

新科技产品（包括平板电脑和智能手机）也让高管们更容易获得ERP以及其它系统产生的数据，比如商业情报和分析。

ERP developers, including SAP, a software group, and business intelligence companies such as MicroStrategy, have built apps for devices including the iPad, to provide CFOs and other company bosses with instant access to key data.

软件集团SAP等ERP开发商以及微策略(MicroStrategy)等商业情报公司针对iPad等设备开发了相关应用，便于首席财务官和其他高管即时获得关键数据。

Rather than modernise their own systems, some companies such as BP, in collaboration with Accenture, decided to outsource the IT that supports finance. Accenture says BP’s shared service centre in Aberdeen, built for finance and administration and SAP support in the 1990s, is still a pivotal part of the business.

一些公司没有对自身系统进行现代化改造，而是将为财务部门提供支持的IT业务外包出去，比如英国石油(BP)就与埃森哲(Accenture)进行了合作。埃森哲表示，位于阿伯丁的BP共享服务中心，是上世纪90年代为财务和行政职能以及SAP支持而建的，目前仍然是该企业的一个重要部分。

“Shared services and business process outsourcing can be used to reduce the operating costs of finance, says Paul van Kessel, Ernst and Young Advisory Global IT Risk and Assurance leader, “but deciding when to use them can be fraught with challenges. CFOs need to learn from the success and failures of others.

安永(Ernst and Young Advisory)全球IT风险咨询服务主管保罗·范·凯赛尔(Paul van Kessel)表示：“共享服务和企业流程外包可以降低财务运营成本，但人们可能很难决定何时使用它们。首席财务官们需要借鉴别人的成功和失败经验。

“The key benefits of business process outsourcing [BPO] are obvious. It allows organisations to focus on their core activity and, in addition, cost savings can be achieved. BPO also brings significant risks to organisations. Key risks include data security, compliance and quality issues. The key to success is solid supplier management and third party reporting.

“企业流程外包(BPO)的主要益处是显而易见的。它可以让企业专注于核心事务，而且可以节省开支。BPO也给企业带来巨大的风险，主要包括数据安全、合规和质量问题。取得成功的关键是可靠的供应商管理和第三方报告。

Matthew Buckley from EMC, a data storage company agrees. “The challenge for CFOs, in determining which processes are appropriate for outsourcing, often comes down to evaluating the appropriate level of risk.

数据存储公司EMC的马修·巴克利(Matthew Buckley)对此表示赞同，他说：“首席财务官们在决定哪些流程适合外包时面临的挑战，往往在于评估适当的风险水平。

“Heavily regulated data are likely to require a higher level of control, and therefore will not be appropriate for outsourcing.

“受到严格监管的数据可能需要更严格的控制，因此不宜外包出去。

“However, businesses may look to outsourcing processes and data management for content that is less sensitive, such as emails.

“至于电子邮件等敏感度较低的内容，企业可能会寻求将相关流程和数据管理外包。

“An interesting approach that has emerged is the use of hybrid [clouds] in organisations, which enables them to enjoy the benefits of public cloud resources for certain applications, alongside the greater control and security afforded by a private, in-house ‘cloud’, for others.

“现在出现了一种有趣的做法，也就是在组织中使用混合（云），既可以在一些应用方面享受公共云资源，同时又可以在其它应用方面享受私人的内部‘云’所带来的更严密的控制和更高的安全性。

Indeed, because of the pivotal role that the finance function plays in almost all companies, it is crucial for CFOs to be closely involved in developing security policies.

实际上，由于财务职能在几乎所有企业中都有着至为重要的地位，作为首席财务官，很关键的一点是要密切参与安全政策的制定。