Home-sourcing, Crowd-sourcing, or just Partnering: Outsourcing Can Increase Efficiency and Improve Profitability

out·source (outsôrs, -srs) tr.v. out·sourced, out·sourc·ing, out·sourc·ers. To send out (work, for example) to an outside provider.

Outsourcing certain non-core business functions has become recognized as one approach to improving business process efficiency in terms of cost and personnel productivity. Through outsourcing non-core business processes, many organizations find that they are able to focus their energies, and their financial resources, on building the business rather than facilitating internal business processes. Perhaps outsourcing can provide a similar benefit to your practice – outsourcing IT operations and/or outsourcing mechanical bookkeeping and similar work.

Enabling technologies keep it all under control.

Enabling technologies and services, such as online application services and application hosting from InsynQ, help businesses work closer together in strictly controlled, secure environments. When your outsource partners and providers utilize the same platform that you do, it helps to ensure that client data is secure and well-managed, and keeps all applications and data available to the accountant and client business at all times.

Similar in nature to the information technology outsourcing model, the “e-Accounting” outsource model was created to deliver significant value to the professional accountant, or top-level provider. Understanding that the value of the business relationship is held by this trusted advisor, all supporting services must first deliver value to the accountant.

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CFO versus CIO: IT Procurement in the Cloud

CFO versus CIO: IT Procurement in the CloudFor as long as there has been technology, there has been a struggle for power between the enterprise CFO and CIO.  The reasons aren’t at the level of rocket science… they’re actually pretty straightforward.  The CFO simply wants to know what the expected return on the investment will be.  The CIO knows there is not always a straight line to be drawn between an IT expenditure and a near-term positive business outcome.  Sometimes it takes a while to reap the benefits of an IT project… and sometimes it’s necessary to spend the money just to maintain status quo.

There is evidence, however, that things may be changing a bit – evidence that the CFO’s influence in the enterprise may be extending more into the areas where the CIO traditionally ruled, and it’s due – at least in part – to SaaS and the Cloud.

A survey performed by Gartner and Financial Executives International revealed a number of interesting results which indicate that the balance of IT procurement power may be shifting within the enterprise.  344 senior financial executives were surveyed, and they revealed that:

• in 45% of organizations, the CFO makes or leads IT investment strategy
• about 75% of surveyed CFOs said they have little confidence in their own IT departments

A CFO.com article on the subject also mentions a KPMG study from April, in which it was reported that “73% of CFOs identified IT as the greatest risk to finance meeting its objectives”.