CFOs and senior finance executives are dealing with a growing number of responsibilities and demands as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report.
The report, from consulting firm Protiviti, found that the pandemic has been a wake-up call to finance departments that weren’t already investing, or weren’t investing enough, in cloud-based systems as they have struggled to shift to the remote work environment. Eighty percent of the 1,057 finance leaders surveyed ranked security and privacy of data as a top priority, while 78 percent cited enhanced data analytics, and 72 percent cited cloud-based applications.
With over 25 years of experience, Tracie is a seasoned professional in the insurance industry, with experience across a diverse range of products and disciplines. Beginning her career in Australia, Tracie has since worked in various regions around the world, where she has held many influential global executive positions, namely in Aon and AIG. Tracie's extensive experience across the value chain of the insurance industry solidifies her beliefs of the important impact insurance has on the world.
Tracie is now part of the leadership team at global insuretech provider Cytora where she draws on her industry background to help define how Cytora delivers technology that supports how (re)insurers operate.
Peter Piotrowski is Hippo's Chief Claims Officer. He and his team provide Hippo customers with a technology-enabled, industry-leading claims experience. Pete is a key member of Hippo's executive team and possesses an intimate knowledge of claims management, loss prevention, and mitigation strategies essential to supporting customers when they need it the most. Pete previously served as Chief Claims Officer at Vault and held leadership roles at The Hanover Insurance Group, AIG, and Chubb. He earned a BS in Business Administration and Management from Montclair State University.
Donna Roughan is CEO of Accountests. A Chartered Accountant, she brings 22 years of accounting and business advisory experience, including as a director with PwC New Zealand and as a CFO.
Of those respondents who are CFOs and vice presidents of finance, 72 percent ranked cloud-based applications as a top priority to address over the next 12 months. Seventeen percent ranked cloud-based applications as the most important finance priority for their organizations to address, signifying a big jump from the 8 percent of respondents who indicated so in a similar survey by Protiviti last year.
“Having the right technology infrastructure and cloud capabilities is now considered a baseline in order to operate effectively and efficiently and will continue to be as organizations move into a hybrid work environment,” said Chris Wright, managing director and global leader of Protiviti’s Business Performance Improvement practice, in a statement. “COVID-19 disruptions underscored the critical nature of a truly digital finance workforce and companies without advanced technologies and digital processes faced a difficult transition to remote work. We’re now seeing an increasing number of boards and CEOs tap their finance leaders for guidance about whether their organization is allocating enough resources to their technology infrastructure.”
Labor models are changing, in part as a result of the pandemic, with 18 percent of the finance leaders surveyed saying their organizations are relying on managed services providers, while 29 percent are augmenting their staff to handle financial planning and analysis with greater speed and agility.
