57 Finance Monthly. F i nanc i a l Innov a t i on & F i nTech processes, and bringing a realtime view of data to inform proactive decisions that drives improvements. Many businesses are seeing how NetSuite takes the complexity out of ERP and adopting our system to gain the visibility, agility, and flexibility they need to eliminate challenges and capitalise on opportunities. What challenges have your customers been facing over the last two years and how are they looking to overcome them? It’s not news that organisations across every industry have been running a gauntlet of challenges over the last 18 months. Between changing work models, supply chain issues, financial pressures, stock issues, labour shortages, and employee retention, there has been a lot to cause business disruption. Being agile has become a fundamental requirement. Organisations need to be able to adapt their business models, change operational elements such as supply chain structures, and evolve their customer and employee engagement approaches. It’s never been more important to bring together all aspects of the business to drive decision making with confidence. In doing so, threats can be identified and mitigated, sales revenues accurately forecasted, and the supply chain and resourcing proactively managed. What should businesses be looking for in an ERP provider? At a first glance, it can be hard to distinguish one ERP provider from another by looking at top-line functionality. Knowing how the technology works in the real world is critical. Is the ERP technology easy to use? Can I get the business level insights I need at-a-glance but also allow others to drill down into the detail? Does it recognise the currencies and languages I work in? Is there an understanding of the governance and compliance aspects of each market? Look for an ERP provider that brings a true understanding of your world, and customers often approach us with a particular goal in mind. Our new Advanced Customer Support service provides prescriptive playbooks to help meet a particular goal and help enable customers accelerate their return on ERP investment. The playbooks are based on our experience and the data and insights from thousands of NetSuite implementations and can help customers address a multitude of aims, including operational challenges such as revenue recognition, or preparation for an IPO and merger/acquisition activity. At NetSuite, we are helping more than 28,000 businesses, with the majority being challenger brands and or those with high-growth ambitions, and we’re focused on ensuring they can demonstrate clear, measurable impact. As a big proponent of improving women’s role in technology, what are your observations about the sector as we approach 2022? Elevating women into senior roles within technology is a topic close to my heart. In the last few years, we have seen a pattern of change throughout the industry, but there is still massive room for improvement. I recently took part in a brilliant session organised by Oracle Women’s Leadership (OWL) on the theme of ‘I have your back’, discussing how we can empower and develop current and future generations of female leaders in our business. Industry-wide, I think we need to acknowledge the need for conscious change when it comes to both women in leadership and wider diversity and inclusion issues. We need to constantly challenge ourselves to lay the groundwork for people to prosper socially, economically, culturally and politically.
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