Where BI and EPM Software Meet
September 22, 2008
David Abdo, the CEO of Bitam, says that everyone has their own definitions of business intelligence software and enterprise performance management software. Thus, it is important for the CIO, CEO and CFO to have a clear understanding of what the software packages do, how they work together and how to use them.
SaaS and Desktop Productivity Tools
September 15, 2008
Software -as-a-service desktop applications provide employees with a consistent set of tools and applications wherever they are. This flexibility greatly enhances productivity and cut costs, says InfoStreet CEO Siamak Farah. The biggest challenge, he says, is employee buy-in.
Virtual PBXes Offer Great Advantages — If Used Correctly
September 2, 2008
Virtual PBXes are software-as-a-service tools in which on-site hardware and software are replaced with downloads from the Internet cloud. Steve Adams, Protus’ Vice President of Marketing, says that Finance and IT executives must be clear on the overall costs and the organization’s needs.
Podcast: Where Does Telepresence Fit In?
August 25, 2008
The growth of powerful end point technology and bandwidth- rich networks makes telepresence–a step beyond tele-conferencing–a feasible tool for a wider variety of corporate workers. Jim Kaufold, the Senior Vice President of Global Sales for Teliris, tells The IT-Finance Connection that a cohesive deployment strategy agreed upon by IT and end-users is necessary to make sure that these projects succeed.
Security and Compliance: IT and Finance Must Work Together
August 5, 2008
The CFO and the CIO and their departments must reach a new level of understanding as regulatory and security issues coalesce. Avishai Wool, the CEO and Co-Founder of AlgoSec, says that the interplay of the two departments is particularly important in PCI-related issues because the data that is being stored and provided to regulators belongs to the CFO’s office.
The Road to Compliance
July 17, 2008
Compliance is a tricky job even if all the data, devices and people are in the office. 
Introducing mobility to the equation makes the task significantly more complex. Amanda Finch, the CEO of ADV Group, says that the conversation between IT and the more financially-oriented parts of the organization often starts too late — after something bad has happened.
IT Risk, and the Solutions, Run Deep
July 7, 2008
Companies spend as much as 80 percent of their compliance budgets securing IT, says Patrick Conte, the CEO of Agiliance. It’s a complex area featuring three interdependent layers that must be addressed: These areas–or, as Conte calls them, stacked dependencies–are the applications, the databases and the underlying infrastructure.
Unified Communications: No Overnight Sensation
June 18, 2008
Unified Communications is featured in the second of an ongoing podcast series looking at how communications 
between IT and the other departments impacts deployment of platforms and applications. Charles Thompson, the Manager of Systems Engineering for Network Instruments says that, among other things, successful rollouts depend on careful planning, reasonable expectations and a robust underlying infrastructure. CIOs and their staffs must have a deep understanding of the business in order to make the best recommendations.
SaaS: Faster Change, Deeper IT Involvement
June 11, 2008
In the first of a series drilling down into IT/Finance communications and various platforms and services, Ariel Kelman — Salesforce.com’s senior director of platform product marketing — says that the switch to software-as-a- service accelerates the pace of change and enables IT to be more deeply involved in creating the applications that the organization uses.
CIOs Gain by Seeing Beyond Technology
June 3, 2008
The increasingly strategic role played by technology is an opportunity for CIOs and their departments to raise their profile and get a full seat at the corporate table. The most important step is to shift from a narrow concentration on technology to the bigger picture of the company’s goals, says Prevoyance Group president and founder Patrick Gray.
