Concerns over data quality and integrity, long relegated to the information technology domain, are registering ever higher on the radar of CFOs, and even prompting some to become integrally involved in efforts to ensure more reliability. A joint survey by Financial Executives International (FEI) and Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) found that some 70% of the 650 participating CFOs said they plan to establish programs this year to address data quality. That's hardly surprising since 63% said data errors had hurt their companies' profits.
In the ninth annual FEI-CSC technology survey, only one in five respon-dents reported being satisfied with their information integrity. The distress over data quality and information integrity was so great as to push data security–previously the most worrisome issue–to fourth place. Coming in second and third were prioritizing technology investments and aligning business and IT strategies.
This comes as no surprise to Edward Gourley, CFO of Infogix Inc., a maker of independent automated information controls. CFOs have been slowly breaking through the IT silo to create enterprise-wide solutions, but now, momentum is accelerating, claims Gourley. "The CFO is rapidly becoming a driver of information integrity and all things that require accurate, consistent and reliable data," he says.
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Taylor Hawes, controller for finance operations at Microsoft Corp. and chairman of the FEI committee responsible for the survey, couldn't agree more. "At Microsoft, the business side is playing a more active role," says Hawes. "Initiatives include standardizing our customer mastering and definitions."
Concerns over accuracy are linked to a CFO's responsibility to ensure other C-suite executives and board members that the reporting process is reliable from start to finish, says David Rogers, global product marketing manager for risk at SAS Institute Inc., a provider of business intelligence software.
Ultimately, says Hawes, ensuring data quality helps protect both a company's compliance efforts and bottom line: "It has a direct impact on shareholder value."
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