A study from Dun & Bradstreet recently revealed that while finance leaders remain tasked with business profitability, their remit has expanded to include the sharing of data across the organisation and management of risk.

The Risk Revolution found the top challenge for finance leaders today is monitoring risks within a business’ customer, supplier, or partner base (38%). The second biggest concern for finance leaders was found to be forecasting or predicting risk, while the third was growing profitability.

When it comes to managing risk, data is an invaluable insight for businesses. However, according to the study, 60% of finance leaders said that their data currently exists in organisational silos, with over half reporting difficulty sharing, linking and using data to drive their risk management strategies and are unable therefore to effectively harness the data to mitigate and manage business risk.

Commenting on the report, Tim Vine, Head of European Trade Credit at Dun & Bradstreet said: “A changing business environment, coupled with political and economic uncertainty, is making it increasingly challenging for finance leaders to manage risk effectively. Data-driven tools can uncover valuable insights to inform strategic decisions and drive business performance, but our report shows that adoption of these tools is still relatively low. Finance leaders who are able to leverage data can help their organisation navigate uncertainties in the market, manage risks and grow profitability.”

(Source: Dun & Bradstreet)