“The CFO role is not getting easier as time goes on,” Brian admits. One of the things that makes his job more difficult and will continue to do so in the future is the explosion of big data and analytics.“To add value going forward,”he says,“we as a finance team have to figure out how we use data and analytics internally to make ourselves better as a finance function and as a business. More important, we have to help the business team figure out how to monetize it. I’ve put some of my best people to work with the digital folks. And they’re not there just to forecast or track costs. They’re sitting there looking at how to commercialize data and analytics.”
“隨著時間的推移,CFO的角色不會變得越來越容易?!盙E石油天然氣集團CFO Brian Worrell坦言。讓CFO工作變得更加困難的一個原因是,大數(shù)據(jù)和分析的爆炸性增長,并且未來還會繼續(xù)。他說:“為了創(chuàng)造價值,財務團隊必須弄清楚如何在內(nèi)部使用數(shù)據(jù)和分析,使自己成為更優(yōu)秀的財務團隊和更優(yōu)秀的企業(yè)。更重要的是,我們必須幫助業(yè)務團隊想辦法把它轉(zhuǎn)變成收益。我已經(jīng)讓一些最優(yōu)秀的財務人員去和數(shù)字化部門的人一起工作,不只是為了預測或跟蹤成本,而是研究如何將數(shù)據(jù)和分析商業(yè)化。”
Kavanaugh says,setting traditional financial targets can be a vexed matter. “In that time period, we used to run specific financial targets for a period of time like three to 5 years. And, we got off that model in 2014, as we had to embark on this transformation that is now culminating in a cloud platform and cognitive solutions company.I found out, when this industry moves so fast, you can’t get locked into something that’s long-term that might prevent you from identifying new, emerging areas of opportunity;we've got to be agile and adapt."
IBM CFO James Kavanaugh說,傳統(tǒng)的制定財務目標的做法有時候并不好?!斑^去,我們總是制定三至五年的長期財務目標,從2014年開始,我們著手進行改變。作為一家云平臺和認知解決方案公司,這種改變正在到達頂峰。我發(fā)現(xiàn),當這個行業(yè)發(fā)展如此之快的時候,被一種長期的模式束縛可能會阻礙你發(fā)現(xiàn)新的、正在出現(xiàn)的機會領域;我們必須保持敏捷和靈活?!?/p>
“This industry is in a great spot,” he says. One stat: Spending on equipment is at a 15-year low as a percentage of profits, even though spending keeps going up. So much money is being made, the economics are terrific for the chip makers. At the moment, and for the foreseeable future, he implies, “demand is driving things.” The includes a vast expansion in the need for silicon for autonomous vehicles, A.I., the Internet of Things, etc., etc.
全球第三大半導體制造商Lam Research CFO Doug Bettinger強調(diào),“這個行業(yè)正處于一個很好的時期。”統(tǒng)計數(shù)據(jù)顯示,盡管支出持續(xù)上升,但設備支出在利潤中所占的比例為15年以來的最低點。投入這么多的資金,Lam看到的經(jīng)濟效益顯然是非常可觀的。在可預見的未來,他暗示,“需求驅(qū)動著行業(yè)的發(fā)展,其中自動駕駛汽車、人工智能和物聯(lián)網(wǎng)等的發(fā)展對硅的需求增長迅速。”