Transforming Finance: The Microsoft Journey

Transforming Finance: The Microsoft Journey

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Challenges Faced by Finance Organizations
3. Microsoft's Journey of Digital Transformation
4. The Role of CFO in Microsoft
5. The Concept of Modern Finance
6. Impact of Modern Finance in Microsoft
7. Leveraging Technology for Compliance
8. Empowering People in Modern Finance
9. Collaboration and Culture in Modern Finance
10. Personal Experience of Jane Hesmondhalgh, CFO of Global Sales and Marketing Operations
11. Guiding Customers in their Digital Transformation Journey

Introduction

Today, finance organizations are faced with significant challenges in making confident decisions for their company, teams, and customers. Microsoft, as a company, understands these challenges and is actively working on technologies to help address them. The goal is to enable people to be more productive, effective, and make better decisions. This article explores Microsoft's journey of digital transformation and how it impacts finance organizations, particularly with insights shared by Jane Hesmondhalgh, the CFO of Global Sales and Marketing Operations at Microsoft. The article discusses the concept of modern finance, the use of technology for compliance, the empowerment of people, and the role of collaboration and culture in achieving modern finance. Additionally, it provides a personal perspective from Jane Hesmondhalgh on how technology and tools have empowered her as a CFO in a global organization. Finally, the article concludes with guidance for organizations and CFOs looking to embark on their own digital transformation journey.

Challenges Faced by Finance Organizations

Finance organizations today encounter significant challenges in making confident decisions for their company, teams, and customers. Whether it's the need to grow revenue or allocate resources, technology is often the most efficient path to better, more confident action. However, navigating the rapidly changing business environment requires finance professionals to stay ahead of the curve and embrace digital transformation.

Microsoft's Journey of Digital Transformation

At Microsoft, the company is not only helping its customers digitally transform but is also undergoing its own digital transformation within its business operations. This journey involves leveraging technology to enable people to be more productive, effective, and better decision-makers. Microsoft understands the importance of both following the change and getting ahead of it to bring the most value to an organization.

The Role of CFO in Microsoft

Jane Hesmondhalgh, the CFO of Global Sales and Marketing Operations at Microsoft, leads a global team of finance professionals across 117 sales locations. Her team is responsible for financials, compliance, and statutory tax across Microsoft's entities and subsidiaries worldwide. In her role, she focuses on business planning, operational execution, business strategy, forecasting, and resource allocation.

The Concept of Modern Finance

Microsoft embraces the concept of modern finance, which goes beyond just keeping up with change and aims to proactively lead and bring the most value to an organization. Modern finance involves defining roles and leveraging technologies that enable finance professionals to be more productive. Microsoft's mission to empower every person to achieve more extends to empowering finance organizations to achieve more and enable company and customer success.

Impact of Modern Finance in Microsoft

Microsoft's focus on modern finance has had a significant impact on how the company runs its finance operations. One area of impact is in the strategy and planning of the business, where the use of technology, such as machine learning, has improved the accuracy and quality of forecasting. By leveraging historical data and commercial predictability, finance teams can focus on pattern matching and providing valuable insights.

Leveraging Technology for Compliance

Compliance is a critical aspect of finance operations, and Microsoft has leveraged technology to navigate the complexity of the compliance landscape. By using technology to identify and assess potential high-risk deals, Microsoft's finance organization can proactively address compliance issues. Additionally, the use of technology has improved collaboration, especially in areas like compliance, where chatbots have been developed to provide quick and accurate information to employees.

Empowering People in Modern Finance

In the journey of modern finance, Microsoft recognizes that technology is just a tool, and the real change starts with the people. Engaging leaders, nurturing talent, and fostering a culture of accountability and growth mindset are essential in empowering finance professionals to do their best work. By freeing up time from transactional processes, finance professionals can focus on interpreting data, providing insights, and making impactful decisions.

Collaboration and Culture in Modern Finance

Collaboration plays a vital role in modern finance, especially in global organizations like Microsoft. Tools like Microsoft Teams and OneNote facilitate seamless collaboration and communication across geographies and time zones. By enabling remote work and enhanced productivity, these tools bridge the gap and foster a culture of collaboration, trust, and accountability.

Personal Experience of Jane Hesmondhalgh, CFO of Global Sales and Marketing Operations

Jane Hesmondhalgh shares her personal experience of how technology has empowered her as a CFO in a global organization. Tools like Teams and OneNote enable her to stay connected with her global team and access information easily. The self-serve nature of technology allows her to access data and insights Instantly, reducing the need for long meetings and improving productivity.

Guiding Customers in their Digital Transformation Journey

Based on Microsoft's experiences, Jane Hesmondhalgh offers guidance to customers embarking on their own digital transformation journey. She encourages organizations to get started by defining a vision and involving people in the process. Skilling and nurturing existing talent are crucial in achieving digital transformation. Microsoft can help organizations navigate this journey by providing the right technology solutions and assisting in problem-solving.

Highlights

• Modern finance goes beyond keeping up with change and aims to proactively lead organizations.
• Leveraging technology improves accuracy, quality, and efficiency in finance operations.
• Empowering people through collaboration and culture is key for successful digital transformation.
• Tools like Microsoft Teams and OneNote enable seamless communication and collaboration.
• Self-serve access to data and insights improves productivity and decision-making.
• Microsoft can guide organizations in their digital transformation journey with the right technology solutions and support.

FAQ

Q: What is modern finance? A: Modern finance goes beyond keeping up with change and aims to proactively lead organizations by leveraging technology and empowering people.

Q: How does Microsoft leverage technology for compliance? A: Microsoft uses technology, such as machine learning and chatbots, to identify and assess high-risk deals and provide quick and accurate compliance information to employees.

Q: How does modern finance impact collaboration and culture? A: Modern finance promotes collaboration and fosters a culture of trust, accountability, and growth mindset through tools like Microsoft Teams and OneNote.

Q: How does technology empower finance professionals? A: Technology empowers finance professionals by freeing up time from transactional processes, enabling them to focus on data interpretation, insights, and impactful decision-making.

Q: How can Microsoft guide organizations in their digital transformation journey? A: Microsoft can guide organizations by providing the right technology solutions and supporting them in defining a vision, nurturing talent, and problem-solving.