Gartner predicts: Financial management business applications embrace the cloud

Predicting the future is no easy task, however Gartner takes on the challenge in the report Predicts 2016: Financial Management Applications.

Despite the title, we believe that its conclusions are applicable on 2017 as well. And the result comes as no surprise: financial management business applications are currently going through a period of substantial change, and a growing number of enterprises are embracing the cloud. And it looks like this is just the beginning.

Cloud-based financial systems on the rise

Gartner forecasts that by 2018, at least 25% of new core financial application deployments in large corporates will be hosted in the cloud. This means that in order for the modern CFO to stay at the forefront, modern technologies play a key role in the lives of the modern CFO. Mattias Bolander, in his article for the magazine CFO World, explains this phenomenon which is caused by several factors.

Growing need for real-time data and analysis

Unlike the past, when the finance department mostly spent time on operational tasks, the finance department is now expected to provide information and insights to the CEO and work as an advisor in various strategic decisions. This new role requires systems that can provide a profound basis for this type of decision making. As Bolander puts it, “there is a need for finance management systems that can quickly provide accurate real-time data as well as a clear overview of the current state of the company”.

Flexibility and scalability

Change is the only constant, and modern companies must adapt to this reality. The CFO needs to look for ways to provide flexibility and scalability to the organisation. According to Bolander, a cloud-based finance management system can be a solution for companies coping with the ever-evolving business landscape.

Increased operating efficiency

Time is one of today’s most valuable assets, and CFOs are on the continuous quest to find increased efficiency. As a cloud-based system enables the finance department to spend less time on manual tasks and instead focus on value adding activities, this can help increase the overall efficiency. Also, with a cloud-based system there is no need to spend lots of time working outside the existing system to gather information and control processes. Instead, they can access real-time information in seconds.

Automate your P2P process in the cloud

Would you like to know more about how you can automate the purchase to pay (P2P) process in the cloud? At Palette we offer modern solutions for P2P as SaaS. Read about our different could based solutions here.

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