New Infrastructure
A cloud-based infrastructure is pretty common these days but that does not mean that a CFO who comes from a non-technical background will be immediately familiar with cloud technology and the associated benefits. Like anything else that is new, a bit of time investment is needed to become familiar with cloud computing and general software as a service technology.
This innovative technology is likely to form a major part of any future business strategy, so a lack of knowledge of it and how it is deployed is no longer an option. If you are a regular reader of the business news, you will quickly gain an understanding of just how influential this cloud technology is becoming and how it can be a key asset for business growth. Gartner stated in a recent article that “worldwide public cloud services market is forecast to grow 17% in 2020 to total $266.4 billion” - so there can be no doubt cloud services have really entered the mainstream.
Today’s CFOs have a duty of care and obligation to immerse themselves in all information available to them about technology innovation and cloud solutions that are likely to have an impact on the way their business delivers on its core objectives. The CFO needs to have a clear understanding of the basics of the cloud environment and come to the table with opinions on how this technology can be leveraged for the benefit of the multinational. In this article, we'll take a closer look at cloud technology and examine what today's CFO needs to know about it.
Cloud Deployment
While not every company has adopted the cloud environment in their business models, it is safe to say that many multinationals who have undergone some form of digital transformation in the last decade, will currently be deploying at least some of their services in a cloud based environment. Many companies today are also what you would call digital natives, in that they operate entirely in the cloud and would not consider operating business services in any other model such is the level of efficiency, cost saving and innovation they believe this model brings.
Like all new things on the market, the cloud existed for a while in a basic format-but as the years passed and technology investment grew, the cloud evolved, became more secure and began to offer a range of new features. Early adopters who took to it right from the start were ahead of the curve while many others may have come to it late in the game but are now convinced of the merits. Some multinationals have even been forced into the cloud due to recommendations from their information security teams around the data security advantages of the cloud over an on -premise application.
Overall, we are seeing a deeper level of integration with cloud- based applications happening at companies and enterprises all over the world. Like a lot of technology innovation, it is starting to display mass market appeal and become adopted as a new working normal. It is rapidly becoming a question of who is not working in the cloud and CFOs keen to move with times are becoming advocates.
Some Key cloud features that every CFO should know about include:
Cloud Efficiency
Companies who use an outsource cloud-based model find that there are a lot of productivity gains and cost savings to be seen around day-to-day maintenance- they simply spend much less time on daily chores which have proved in the past to be a time drain. Day-to-day maintenance is usually handled by the cloud provider and it is a far more flexible environment when it comes to changing course or going in a new direction.
Daily maintenance and regular upgrades have become easier, faster and more cost effective when deployed in a cloud-based environment. CFOs will always be interested in anything that can drive efficiency and improve processes in their internal finance teams and other business functions. Even better if they can work with cloud applications that deliver ROI improvements or measurable cost savings.
Cloud Transparency
Transparency has become more important with the explosion in big data that has happened in the last decade. Data has reached a level of excess and has become almost unmanageable in any other environment other than the cloud. Due to its nature, financial data is high volume, often sensitive or private and increasing in complexity on an almost daily basis. A tight process needs to be in place to ensure transparency and control is maintained.
The cloud environment offers controlled data rights and highly visible audit trails along with detailed transaction records. A cloud platform offers ease of access to these records in a way that helps accountability among internal stakeholders and compliance in relation to the regulatory obligations of a multinational.
Cloud Security
The cloud environment addresses some of the security concerns associated with the on-premise environment and strives to mitigate risk in this area. Access to cloud folders can be restricted and allocated to authorized individuals only. A stronger degree of password and other online cybersecurity measures, like Two-Factor Authentication or mobile security can be implemented far quicker in a cloud-based environment.
There have been a lot of advances in cloud-based security since the model first surfaced and cloud-based operators are in a position to dedicate more tools to key concerns like data security, privacy and online access. A CFO will always have an obligation to remove risk from the business environment and therefore will be interested in the security features associated with the cloud. Many cloud app companies today also own and operate their own data centers and link them to their encrypted cloud products for additional security.
Cloud Control
A sense of control is something that is always important to a chief financial officer, the role demands control and the nature of financial stability generally depends on controlling the environment in which you operate. There has been a concern among CFOs that moving to a cloud-based environment would mean giving up a certain amount of this control and entering into the unknown- particularly when it comes to third party cloud providers.
But in reality, moving to a cloud platform is taking back control in a sense, because you delegate daily maintenance duties and general upkeep to someone else, allowing you to prioritize and control more important matters. Also, knowing that time consuming daily duties are in good hands and that your data remains secure is a form of control in itself.
Cloud Performance
The performance of key applications generally improves when moved to the cloud environment- here they are subject to more rigorous checking and regular updates, and they can also be integrated with other applications which improve speed and efficiency. Third party cloud providers focus heavily on high speed connectivity and powerful networks as these are a major selling point for them.
SLAs tend to be tight and controlled and many cloud providers can offer impressive KPI statistics. These providers can also supply helpful statistics around network latency, data security and other performance related elements. Scalability can be related to performance too, and many cloud vendors allow you to access and upgrade to additional services as and when you need them- they can scale your services in line with your growth.
Payslip and the Cloud
Payslip is fully deployed in the cloud and operates with industry standard security measures around data exchanges. The cloud deployment supports automation features which remove the risk associated with manual process while increasing speed and efficiency when delivering global payroll. Clients using the platform can switch tasks easily between people in different countries and the cloud deployment also supports the rapid onboarding of a new payroll vendor should you need to make a switch.
Data storage and document sharing is a key feature of the Payslip cloud platform, allowing global payroll teams to access crucial pay run data in a remote environment- this has proven to be a very helpful feature in times of unprecedented events such as the global pandemic we are experiencing right now.
Payslip features a cloud based user-friendly dashboard allowing employers to see exactly what is happening with each payroll in each country- this provides them with visibility and control over their payroll process. When payrolls are deployed in a cloud environment it is much easier to enable central governance as well as reporting on a global consolidated level.
Talk to our team today to learn more about how you can begin managing your end to end global payroll process in a cloud-based environment.