http://www.it-financeconnection.com Businesses Thrive When IT and Finance Communicate Effectively Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:42:29 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Businesses are discovering that their success is increasingly tied to the quality of their information. Organizations rely on data to make significant decisions that can affect customer retention, supply chain efficiency and regulatory compliance. As companies collect more and more information about their customers, products, suppliers, inventory and finances, it ... http://www.it-financeconnection.com/data-management-finding-common-ground-between-business-and-it The advantages of VoIP over traditional phone services are growing as the technology becomes more sophisticated. Optimum Lightpath’s Glenn Calafati and David Strauss–Director of Product Development and Vice President of Marketing, respectively–say that IT can play a vital role in ensuring financial folks truly understand these benefits. [audio:cablevisionfinal.mp3] Photograph courtesy TurboPhoto. http://www.it-financeconnection.com/podcast-getting-the-ceo-and-cfo-to-yes Mobilizing the workforce is more a business than technical challenge, says Shane Yu, Avaya’s Director of Unified Communications Consulting. Cooperation and communications between the CIO and CFO, CEO and other offices is vital at every step – from the strategic decision about how much mobility is needed through tactical issues ... http://www.it-financeconnection.com/podcast-deep-communications-key-the-best-strategic-tactical-decisions The VoIP decision making process is perhaps the most important an organization will make. It involves the very lifeblood of a company: The means by which it communicates with partners, customers, prospects – and each other. The key is to understand both what the company needs and the ramifications of moving ... http://www.it-financeconnection.com/the-view-from-here-first-determine-the-questions-then-decide-if-voip-is-the-answer A common disconnect between finance and IT stems from a different understanding of what risk is. IT has a tendency to view risk through the prism of security—managing controls and compliance through checklists and best practices. From the finance side, however, true risk management deals with uncertainty around outcomes–looking at ... http://www.it-financeconnection.com/risk-management-is-far-more-than-security 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 ... http://www.it-financeconnection.com/podcast-unified-communications-isnt-an-overnight-sensation On Monday, we posted a story written by Dr. Vas Srinivasan, the Vice President of Marketing at Sonasoft, on disaster recovery/business continuity planning. The need for IT and financial people—the check signers—to communicate effectively is nowhere greater than in DR/BC. For a plan to actually be effective—not just to make people ... http://www.it-financeconnection.com/the-view-from-here-it-bcdr-planning-must-be-proactive-and-all-inclusive In recent years, disaster recovery and business continuity are getting increased attention not only from CIOs and IT Directors but also from CEOs and CFOs. The reason for the increased importance and awareness is the need to protect valuable data and information. In business, a computer disaster equals an event that ... http://www.it-financeconnection.com/237 IT budgets are finite. But the demands on IT always seem infinite. Making matters worse, CIOs have to work faster than ever before. In the past, organizations had 18 to 24 months to deliver new IT systems. Now CIOs and their teams are being asked to deliver tangible results in ... http://www.it-financeconnection.com/it-in-the-spotlight New research released today from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), sponsored by Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), shows the top concerns among small business owners are business costs, particularly those that are difficult to control such as health insurance costs, energy costs and inflation. The survey results are from ... http://www.it-financeconnection.com/whats-bothering-small-business