Enabling Decisions - Number 1

Number 1 June 2021

Enabling decisions A magazine about finance and technology by inlumi Research Hub

INTELLIGENT PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

“I was raised being told I could do anything I put my mind to.”

Net-zero: How going carbon neutral became a major CXO Agenda item

Breaking down silos

Women in tech

Corporate social responsibility

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If you redesign how your people interact with one another and how they interact with the technology platform, you will very quickly find areas where your people are able to increase their positive impact on the business. Procedural bottlenecks and redundant process loops will be a thing of the past, with collaboration and a focused approach to adding value becoming the way of the future.

Breaking down silos with Intelligent Performance Management page 6

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Welcome to the inaugural edition of Enabling Decisions by the inlumi Research Hub (“iRH”). The brainchild of the imaginative Omer Cander, Enabling Decisions incubated in his subconscious, and was born into existence for the fun of the journey and the edification of all readers!

All members of the iRH are boots-on-the-ground consultants, curious and intrigued by what they observe in the world, with a desire to express and share. The articles are the result of their own dedicated research, opinions, and experiences.

Our first edition topics were curated with intention and care. The cover story in particular talks to a theme that is very close to our heart – the intersection of people and technology – something which is hard to escape in both our personal and professional lives. We believe if you design technology around people, there will always be a positive impact to your business. Ensuring there is a direct and tangible connection to people is something we care deeply about. It is central to how we think about problems, and indeed our own company.

Over the course of the last decade, the finance function has continued to transform and has increasingly become a strategic advisor to the business. New technologies such as advanced data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning are equipping finance leaders to widen the impact they have across the organisation. The events of the last year have accelerated this seismic shift, with businesses relying on finance to generate insights and enable them to respond faster than the competition in volatile markets. Enabling Decisions will help you in this journey, considering all aspects of the business – from technology adoption to talent management.

Our aim is to publish content at least twice a year. So if you enjoyed this edition, do look out for the next one. If you have any ideas you would like us to explore, please let us know. We welcome your thoughts, suggestions, and feedback.

Until next time, Ash. 

Ashley Chapman

Head of Consulting ashley.chapman@inlumi.com

Contents

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6 Intelligent Performance Management Breaking down silos

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Strategies for implementing change

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“I was raised being told I could do anything I put my mind to.”

Interview with Sue Gittings, Executive Principal

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Seismic events and their impact on Finance Functions

Contents

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“Being resilient is about how effectively you heal and come back again.”

Interview with Jane Atherton, CEO of Om Phoenix

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Robotic process automation: The robots of EPM

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Net-zero: How going carbon neutral became a major CXO mindset Corporate social responsibility

The power of unusual data points in analytics

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BREAKING DOWN SILOS WITH INTELLIGENT PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT In an ever-changing business environment, teams need to work together to sustain business performance and deliver value.

However, oftentimes barriers still exist with organisational silos preventing collaboration, effectiveness and efficiency. In this article we will take a look at the reasons why silos exist, the related risks, and factors driving the change towards integrated, end-to-end processes.

By Lauren Hargreaves

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There are 3 main factors driving the need for endto-end integrated processes: 1. The macroeconomic environment 2. Technology, and 3. The microeconomic environment.

1. Macroeconomic environment

In the words of John Allen Paulos, ‘Uncertainty is the only certainty’. This perfectly captures the times we are living in, where uncertainty and volatility are ever present. From a global pandemic and climate change to Brexit – there are several global economic factors that have a very real impact on businesses. It is vital that businesses change so that they stay relevant, but simply changing isn’t enough. Businesses need to change very quickly if they want to stand a chance of succeeding.

Processes need to be structured in such a way that they are resilient to change and allow the organisation to act quickly. The ability to act quickly relies on the organisation being connected.

Strategies that are both realistic and feasible need to be put into place and for these strategies to be realised, the right teams need to be able to interact with one another.

The term ‘interact’ in this context has multiple meanings depending on how the process is structured. It may be sharing financial or non-financial data, shared via verbal/written communication or through automation of tasks that feed data from one team to another.

Regardless of how it happens and what data is shared, the take-away here is that processes need to be in place, and they need to be integrated to ensure there is communication and collaboration. This will enable the organisation to manage inevitable changes in the macroeconomic environment.

Let’s look at our current situation as an example. Covid has wreaked havoc over the past year. It was a change that couldn’t have been predicted and couldn’t be left ignored. Businesses

needed to develop new strategies to survive, with airlines turning to transporting cargo, for example.

For these strategies to be effectively realised, processes needed to be amended or developed that guided employees in this new strategic direction, providing everyone with appropriate information and connecting the organisation as a whole.

2. Technological advances

To slightly contradict what we’ve said above, there is one thing we can be certain of and that’s technological change. Technology is constantly improving and evolving.

Let’s take the simple example of the mobile phone or cell phone. The first cell phone call was made in April 1973 on what today we’d call a brick. Who would have thought that decades later, this humble device would be capable of so much more? Those who adopted this new technology reaped the benefits, but those who didn’t were left behind.

You might be surprised to hear that the first Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) software was available 3 years before the cell phone. It started out simple, by collecting budgeting and financial information for reporting purposes. The introduction of the spreadsheet in the 1980s gave finance the first taste of automation, enabling users to replace manual worksheets with automated budgets and reports.

Fast forward 10 years to the 1990s and the introduction of email. This allowed spreadsheets to be shared, budgeting and reporting data to be efficiently collected, and collaboration between teams to be improved. During this time, EPM software packages started automating the financial consolidation and reporting process.

Thirty years on, and its evolution into the software we have accessible today is simply mind-blowing.

Businesses had to adopt and adapt to new technologies, or simply fall.

As you can see, the ability to keep up with and successfully adopt and implement new

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technologies can act as a major competitive advantage. We already know that technology enables the integration of data and processes, and is improving rapidly. Adopting new technology is no longer an option, it’s expected. However, having access to technology does not mean that different parts of the organisation are working together.

Silos may still exist. Having integrated processes in place which exploit new technology is the key differentiator.

To recap, integrated processes need to be developed which exploit current (and future) technology for the organisation to really add value and remain competitive.

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3. Microeconomic environment

We cannot ignore the microeconomic environment. An organisation needs to adapt to changes within the organisation itself and in the market it operates in. Processes need to be able to identify, communicate and plan for potential threats in the external environment. At the same time, they need to be able to recognise, communicate and exploit opportunities they face.

Technology, information and people are crucial to enabling this, but for the right information to meet the right people at the right time, the right business processes need to be in place: J Competition. Change has been a common theme so far, and it also applies to your competitors. Competitors’ actions, strategies and communication will always change, and you need to be aware of changes in competitor behaviour to be able to proactively plan your response. End-to-end processes need to be in place that connect the relevant teams and allow for collaboration and access to this competitor data. Take the supermarket chain Lidl, for example. They pride themselves on low prices for customer and directly compare prices to their competitors’ in adverts.

Integrated processes would need to be in place for this strategy to work operationally,

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with any necessary change in pricing being communicated across the value chain.

Suppliers and distribution channels.

Managing the supply chain and distribution network should be a key focus point for all businesses. If properly managed, they can reduce operational costs and improve efficiency. For this to be achieved, a comprehensive supply chain process needs to be in place that uses enterprise-wide data to make and act on informed decisions. The supply chain process should touch many areas of the business, with finance being actively involved in forecasting and demand planning.

Finance acts as the broker of information, but end-to-end processes are needed to act on the information provided.

Sophisticated customers. In today’s environment, consumers are spoilt for choice and have become increasingly demanding. If businesses want to add value to customers, they need to be able to understand their needs and work collaboratively, using data available.

Buying trends identified by finance need to be fed back into the organisation, and end-toend processes need to be in place to act on the information provided.

Cost pressures. Inefficient or duplicated processes waste time and, simply put, time is money. Integrated processes, enabled by technology, reduce cost pressures by providing more efficient ways of working.

People. For employees to do their work effectively and efficiently and to add value, processes need to be in place to support them.

Processes act as guidance for employees, making sure they are working towards achieving the business’s objectives. Technology helps connect employees, a unified platform integrates data sources and ensures data is available, but processes need to be integrated and inclusive in order to drive collaboration and add value to the internal teams involved.

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The existence of processes alone does not guarantee fulfilment of strategic objectives.

Root causes and risks of isolated processes

In an ideal world, strategies and related objectives are developed by an organisation, which are then broken down into KPIs which provide direction for your business. These are distributed to different business units/departments which will have business processes in place to provide a targeted pathway towards achieving the specific objectives. Simple. Unfortunately, in reality this is often not the case, as the existence of processes alone does not guarantee fulfilment of strategic objectives.

One of the main reasons for this is because processes have been developed in isolation, without careful consideration of supplementary or complimentary processes already in place. This leads to a ‘silo mentality’. It is important to look at why these siloed processes exist to be able to identify the root causes and prevent such processes from being developed in the future.

J Culture. The wrong kind of competitive culture leads to isolated thinking, and a lack of teamwork and collaboration.

J The basis of incentives. If teams are solely being targeted/incentivised based on the financial/operation performance of their specific division, they will naturally work towards achieving the set objectives. This thinking does not promote communication

and collaboration between teams as it isn’t required to achieve the objective.

J A hierarchical organisational structure.

A formal hierarchy creates distinct vertical and horizontal division. This acts as a barrier to both collaboration and functional/ departmental team interaction.

J Technology and data model. This is when the business doesn’t have the correct technology suite and data model in place to enable teams to effectively work together and access the same information.

The risks of isolated processes, and a ‘silo mentality’ include the following: J Operational inefficiencies. Isolated business processes do not take into consideration the tasks performed by or the information available in other divisions. This may lead to unnecessary resource constraints as time may be spent duplicating tasks already being performed elsewhere.

J Barriers to sharing information and expertise. Information may not be shared with the rest of the business. Again, this may be intentional or perhaps a result of not having the right technology or culture in place to encourage or enable such sharing. Unnecessary time might be spent obtaining the data elsewhere.

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In order for businesses to be dynamic, collaborative, and responsive to change, connected and integrated business process without silos are needed.

J Use of outdated information. Processes which block access to information may lead to the use of outdated information. This has a knock-on effect on decision-making, which will likely be negatively impacted as a result.

J Lack of collaboration. The individualistic view inherent in silos does not encourage collaboration and teamwork.

J Slow to respond. As mentioned before, we operate in an ever-changing environment and to remain competitive we need to be dynamic and adapt. Processes in place need to support this approach, and having isolated processes means a business will be slow to respond and can result in missed opportunities.

In order for businesses to be dynamic, collaborative, and responsive to change, connected and integrated business process without silos are needed.

Take an example of an online retailer.

Let’s say the support team is incentivised based purely on number of tickets responded to. They find that the majority of tickets coming through from customers relate to items arriving later than communicated online. In this instance, the motivator is ticket responses so they would reply

to update the customer with the actual expected delivery time. To access this information, they may need to manually contact the drivers who don’t often answer their phones as they’re driving (of course). Often, the items have arrived by the time the customer gets a response. As a result, an increasing number of customers are moving to the competitor.

The problem areas here are quite easy to identify. The presence of an end-to-end process that involves integrating this data back into the value chain, and facilitating cross-functional communication and collaboration would have helped identify the root cause earlier, and lead to an improvement in the customer experience.

How can end-to-end processes be implemented?

Lastly, and arguably most importantly, how can we implement processes that span the organisation? We identified 3 focus points.

1. Data model: Organisations need an enterprise-wide data model that supports enterprise-wide processes.

A standardised data model is no longer

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It’s clear that the finance function is extending beyond reporting and compliance and evolving into a finance-focused strategic business driver. sufficient to empower the organisation.

Instead, organisations must make a deliberate move towards formal collaboration and a common cross-functional taxonomy which improves the ability to find information within the organisation’s systems.

2. Collaboration: If you really want to maximise the positive impact to your business, a formal collaborative and cross-functional model is needed. The organisational hierarchy in place should support collaboration between individuals and teams, with collaborative techniques being built into business processes so that it becomes a part of an employee’s day-to-day way of working. A culture of collaboration should be actively promoted by management, with senior executives leading by example.

If we focus on the finance function, it’s clear that their role is extending beyond reporting and compliance and evolving into a finance-focused strategic business driver, collaborating with all teams throughout the organisation to deliver value.

3. Technology: Technology is what connects us and should act as the foundation of processes.

You might have noticed throughout the article that we speak of technology acting as an ‘enabler’. It enables employees to work on a unified platform with access to data from throughout the organisation. If we look specifically at EPM software, the enterprisewide data it houses and insights it generates alone are valuable. When the finance team uses their new-age skillset to select the relevant information and feed it back into the organisation, it increases in value. But the showstopper here is having integrated processes in place that take advantage of the technology. This is where information is turned into action and where Intelligent Performance Management* kicks into gear.

Integrated processes require communication and collaboration and EPM software alone may not be the sole source of this. Real-time collaboration and communication have become increasingly vital, especially given today’s remote working circumstances. We can no longer tell the colleague in finance about the drama that happened in the factory while grabbing a cup of coffee at 9am before heading to our desk.

This sort of unstructured communication

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would be lost if it weren’t for technology.

Luckily, technology exists that enable this type of ‘live’ interaction to take place.

Whether it be sharing valuable information, sharing knowledge or expertise, or working together to solve an important issue, real-time communication and collaboration is required and technology enables this. *Intelligent Performance Management You would have likely heard of EPM or CPM – Enterprise or Corporate Performance Management. These focus on technology-driven transformation to enable a Finance function that is fit for the future. At inlumi we take this one step further and talk about Intelligent Performance Management (IPM). IPM incorporates the latest technological advancements, coupled with the new-age skill set of the finance team, to drive insight throughout the business. Key to the concept of Intelligent Performance Management is the presence of processes that span the organisation.

Closing notes

Mercer’s 2020 Global Talent Trends study, which involves input from 300+ C-suite executives, HR leaders and employees in 34 countries, revealed that 98% of executives planned to redesign their organisations to make them ‘fit for tomorrow’.

This involves vertical cuts into departments and functions, delayering of existing structures and moving to a matrixed structure. It’s clear that organisations have caught onto the fact that

enterprise-wide processes and cross-functional collaboration need to be the norm.

For this to be achieved, a solid technology platform and enterprise-wide data model should form the foundation. However, to truly benefit, you also need to change your ways of working in line with the new technology platform. Time needs to be spent mapping and re-evaluating existing processes to ensure they are aligned and collectively work towards achieving your strategy.

If you redesign how your people interact with one another and how they interact with the technology platform, you will very quickly find areas where your people are able to increase their positive impact on the business. Procedural bottlenecks and redundant process loops will be a thing of the past, with collaboration and a focused approach to adding value becoming the way of the future.

Intelligent Performance Management will be at the heart of your organisation. 

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STRATEGIES FOR IMPLEMENTING CHANGE

By Robert Wang

Implementing and managing change has always been vital for companies to adapt to changing market demands. In an age of increased market transparency, labour mobility, globalization, instantaneous communication platforms and constant access to information, companies have been forced into a more flexible and holistic approach to their business strategy. Those that can make even marginally more accurate market trend forecasts than the rest of the industry often obtain a significant competitive advantage.

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We need only look as far as Netflix and Amazon to understand the importance of company adaptability with respect to market demands.

Moreover, the recession of out-of-date brands such as Blockbuster and Kodak has illustrated the dangers of routine and comfort when developing strategies for firms. As the technology and capabilities of modern society accelerates, so too does the required speed of change.

In this article, we will explore the current fundamental models that have already been theorised for successful change management. We will then explore ‘critical events’, which consist of large, intermittent phenomena that lead to unpredictable and rapid change on a larger scale, and their influence on the factors within these models. Finally, we will use the analysis of these ‘critical events’ to deduce the importance of time when strategizing or implementing change.

Introduction: Fundamental models

Several models have been developed to understand which are the significant factors with regards to carrying out successful change. These models include, but are not limited by: 1. Kotter’s 8 stage process 2. McKinsey’s 7S model 3. ADKAR model 4. Kubler-Ross model 5. Lewin’s model 6. Bridges’ transition model In this article, we will look closer at Kotter’s 8 stage process and McKinsey’s 7S model.

Kotter’s 8 stage process 1. Establishing a sense of urgency 2. Creating the guiding coalition 3. Develop a vision and strategy 4. Communicating the change vision 5. Empowering broad-based change 6. Generating short-term wins

7. Consolidating gains and producing more change 8. Anchoring new approaches in the culture This model is regarded as one of the most effective models for implementing change and has been studied and used since John Kotter first introduced it in his 1996 publication, Leading Change.

Despite its popularity, Kotter’s process has attracted a lot of debate as to its effectiveness and utility in various circumstances. It has been argued that the linearity of the model often downplays the complexity of actually implementing the process.

Each step within the process would usually involve many smaller sub-tasks which carry their own challenges. It has also been suggested that this model, along with many others, simply doesn’t provide enough detail on how change can actually be achieved and thus is not a good stand-alone strategy for every project.1 McKinsey’s 7S model The McKinsey 7S model is one of the longestlasting and most established change management frameworks.

This model consists of seven crucial categories that companies should be aware of when implementing change: 1. Strategy – This refers to the change management plan that consists of a step-bystep procedure.

2. Structure – This factor describes the structure into which the organization is divided or managed.

3. Systems – This point focuses on the systems that are used to perform everyday tasks and activities.

4. Shared values – This refers to the core values by which a firm or organisation operates.

5. Style – How a firm adopts or implements its change is known as its ‘change style’.

6. Staff – This point refers to the workforce or

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The most significant factors for successful change include communication with all stakeholders involved, maintaining solid leadership, and conveying a vision to the change. employees and their performance capabilities.

7. Skills – This refers to competencies and other skills possessed by the workforce within the organization.

There are documented advantages to this model. A few are listed below: 1. The model helps bring the various departments and processes in sync with each other, especially in the event of mergers and acquisitions.

2. The model helps facilitate the systematic application of policies, regulations and strategies as developed by management.

3. Management can analyse the effects of changing corporate culture, policies, strategies, structure, technology using the model as a framework.

4. It is a broad approach as it compares the seven elements and their correlation with each other.

This makes the model useful when approaching change from a lower-level perspective.

5. This model has already been tested in a practical setting and applied to managing existing business organizations.

On the other hand, one of the most significant issues with the 7S model is that its implementation consumes significant time and resources within a company. Again, similar to Kotter’s 8 stage process, the 7S process is a very generalised strategy and provides a broad framework for a firm to build off.2

Arguably, obtaining a single, universal framework which is detailed enough to cover all issues an individual company may experience whilst still remaining broad enough to be applied in different companies, is by definition very difficult, if not impossible to achieve. However, identifying the factors that are likely to feature in most change projects is often beneficial for business owners to appreciate when predicting the challenges to be overcome. From the frameworks discussed and listed above, it has been found that the most significant and common factors

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for successful change under standard operating conditions include constant and appropriate communication with all stakeholders involved, maintaining solid leadership for the change, and conveying a vision or benefit to the change.3 However, as we shall see, change strategies may vary when significant, industry-impacting events occur; what we refer to as ‘critical events’.

The impact of Covid-19

Covid-19 has left businesses reeling in uncertainty, forcing business adaptation to be accelerated at an unprecedented rate. As a result, successful change management has become an even more significant factor in the success or failure of a company.

Several change management strategies have been developed, each highlighting different factors which influence the success or failure of a change within firms. As each have varying degrees of applicability under different circumstances, it is possible to study which strategies, and more specifically which factors, have increased

in significance under the current and unique social, economic, and political climate posed by COVID-19.

The virus has taken away an important variable in change management that often plays a large role in its success: time. With constant changes in government regulations throughout the Western world, most companies are forced to adapt at pace. One obvious example is the shift to remote working that has been widely adopted in various sectors. Under most circumstances, companies would aim to plan out a period of time to carry out a change that they wish to implement.

This would include an involved planning process where firms would communicate with their stakeholders about the impending change and about its potential benefits and downsides, before then carrying out a phased change process whereby they would hopefully buffer the shock of the change for all those involved. During COVID, firms and stakeholders were not able to experience that ‘buffer period’ and most were forced to move

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The virus has taken away an important variable in change management that often plays a large role in its success: time.

their business to remote in a matter of weeks, if not days. This sudden and rapid change would normally be incredibly difficult to justify, not to mention carry out. However, we see now that many companies have managed to successfully adapt to these unstable circumstances.

The overwhelming factor which has allowed this to occur is, for the most part, pure survival. As mentioned previously, communicating and convincing stakeholders of the benefits is often the first crucial step to carrying out successful change. Without the confidence and support of those involved, the project has very little chance of success. If we consider this, then COVID has in a way communicated these things automatically. All stakeholders understood that in order to survive, they were forced to adapt, and so the ‘benefit’ in this case was to remain afloat. Once this was understood, companies were able to implement change on a much shorter time scale than previously possible. This illustrates how important it is for all stakeholders involved to understand the positive impacts of a change, even during an economic crisis. Though this may seem like a given, under normal circumstances it is much less obvious when appropriate communication has been reached.

It has been found, through systematic research and meta-analysis on barriers to organisational change, that of the many factors that play a large role in change failure, one of the most common (and thus arguably the most significant) is an inability to communicate appropriately with the team or to convey a vision. Ineffective training and a lack of employee involvement also rank very highly on the list.4 However, another very important conclusion that may be drawn from the study is the diversity and quantity of factors that caused organisational change failure. Within the study, it was found that there were 55 different barriers that had prevented the organisations to implement their desired change. This highly reinforces the notion that the challenges behind change management vary a great deal from case to case, and that a universal rule for successful change management is almost never appropriate as an absolute model.

Though there are some challenges that are commonplace and that most companies may expect to face when implementing a change (such as vision-communication), each change project will additionally carry with it the unique characteristics of each company with respect to their culture, size, flexibility, etc.

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Conclusions

As we have seen from the past few months, the impact of significant ‘critical events’ causes an altering of stakeholder behaviour and change strategy within strategy. This is mainly through the sudden and rapid nature of the change that it provokes. Though it has also been observed that certain factors, such as conveying a sense of urgency and purpose behind the change to be carried out, remain vital both in standard operating circumstances and during critical events. Understanding the factors that are significant in various operating circumstances will become important in allocating appropriate company resources to ensure minimal waste and expenditure whilst maintaining a smooth transition.

However, appreciating the individuality of every change project is imperative. Understanding where one stands as a company within an industry and the firm-specific vision that one wishes to carry out will play a central role in designing a change strategy. Consequently, any model should only be used as a section or base of a greater change strategy that takes into account many other factors. This is reflected in the broad wording and structure of the existing models which show that a generalised or universal change strategy can only be used up to a certain point for most change projects. 

References 1. Appelbaum, S. H., Habashy, S., Malo, J. L. & Shafiq, H. Back to the future: Revisiting Kotter’s 1996 change model. J. Manag. Dev. 31, 764–782 (2012).

2. Kocaoglu, B. & Demir, E. The use of McKinsey s 7S framework as a strategic planning and economic assestment tool in the process of digital transformation. Pressacademia 9, (2019).

3. Pollack, J. & Pollack, R. Using Kotter’s Eight Stage Process to Manage an Organisational Change Program: Presentation and Practice.

Syst. Pract. Action Res. 28, 51–66 (2015).

4. Mosadeghrad, A. M. & Ansarian, M. Why do organisational change programmes fail? Int. J. Strateg. Chang.

Manag. 5, 189 (2014).

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“I was raised being told I could do anything I put my mind to.”

As part of our interview series, we want to hear from women in technology on the topic of diversity in the workplace, family, and mentoring. In this story, we speak to Susan Gittings, leader, consultant and mother.

By Lavinia Negoita

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Can you share a little about what you do at inlumi and what philosophy drives you to deliver the best every day?

As an Executive Principal for inlumi, I am part of the UK leadership team. My role includes business development, practice management, team leadership and mentorship and finally, my clientfacing, project delivery focus area. At inlumi, we help our clients to utilise technology to transform how they report and monitor the performance of their business and how they can exploit data to give them the insights they need to steer their business.

Innovation drives me. I believe that everything that we do can be improved upon the next time around by constantly applying what we have learnt along the way. I fear stagnation and the thought that any status quo is forever!

How have you managed to juggle a career and family life, and do you have any advice to other young women looking to do the same?

First off, I absolutely get the point of this question in the spirit of the interview and I am more than happy to share my experience and my views.

But we need to reflect on why none of my male

colleagues would ever have been asked this question in their careers. My hope is not that we stop asking this question, but instead that one day it will be asked of all working parents, regardless of gender.

But, to your question.

I often think back to when I first became a “Working Mom” and I remember just how tough it was. For me, it was not tough because of a lack of support. On the contrary, my husband and I have always had a mutual respect for each other’s ambitions and careers, which means we have always shared our childcare responsibilities.

Instead, for me, it was tough because of the inner struggle I was dealing with. I felt guilty for wanting a career when “society” told me I should be at home raising my children. I felt guilty for loving my family and my career. It was made so much worse by being in a male-dominated industry where the lack of female colleagues made me really question whether I was doing the right thing.

But that was some time ago now. I remember having an absolute epiphany when I read two books, the first being Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In and the second being Tilt: 7 Solutions To Be A GuiltFree Working Mom by Marci Fair. Those books

“Innovation drives me. I believe that everything that we do can be improved upon the next time around by constantly applying what we have learnt along the way.”

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gave me the reassurance that I was not “wrong” or “greedy” for wanting both, and they helped me realise that I could be true to myself. So, I dropped the guilt and I stopped being apologetic for pursuing my career.

Does this mean it is always easy? Absolutely not, especially in this last year of on-and-off homeschooling and lockdown. There are of course times when life is too busy and when the “juggle is real”.

For me though, it’s worth it. I am fulfilled by my family and by my career, and I am committed to making them co-exist.

My advice to young women is to know what you want.

Do you think women naturally bring a different perspective to the tech sector?

I think diversity in general will always bring a different perspective to everything we do. I believe that a design or development process from a narrow perspective will never be as strong as that from a diverse perspective.

Specifically, on woman in tech, we absolutely bring immense value and a different perspective. Thankfully we are no longer still

arguing the archaic misconception that women’s and men’s brains are wired differently when it comes to maths or logic. With that misconception largely behind us, we can focus on the real gender perspective of what woman bring - our ideas and views which are based on our different experiences, challenges, societal expectations and priorities. In my mind there is absolutely no doubt that women bring a different perspective and that’s why it’s so important that we have to deliberately focus on reducing the very real gender gap in tech.

Could you pinpoint the most career-defining moment that you are proud of?

Yes, that’s an easy one. I received such a heartfelt letter of thanks from a female colleague and mentee for changing her views about pursuing a career and becoming a mother. She was seriously considering stepping back from work and had reluctantly decided not to go for a promotion.

I recognised the struggle and spoke about my experience – both the challenges and rewards. We worked on changing her ingrained belief that she should not even try. It was so incredibly rewarding when she decided to go for the promotion; she got the role and is today thriving as a woman in tech. Her letter meant the world to me and I love knowing that I played a part in retaining a brilliant female in this industry.

Who has been your biggest advocate or mentor in the workspace throughout your career and why?

Well, it’s not in the workplace but rather in life in general. My mom, without a doubt, has been the most important mentor for me when it comes to my career. There are two things my mom did that have had the biggest impact. First of all, she had an unwavering belief in me – I was raised being told I could do anything I put my mind to. Secondly, my mom was a working mom herself and so I grew up with that as my norm. My norm was to see

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“For my female mentees, my message is simple, and that is: ‘Yes, you can!’”

strength, independence, and success in my mom, and that meant I never had any limiting beliefs of a woman’s role and what we can achieve.

You’re on a mission to inspire, grow and champion women in this field. Tell us one of the inspiring stories you share with your mentees.

Not so much an inspiring story but there is a story I like to tell as an example of a more overt bias I have personally experienced. I was working at a different consultancy and I remember being pregnant with my first child when a male colleague – my career coach, in fact – told me that it will be almost impossible for me to “have my cake and eat it.” That was not easy to hear and it caused me to question whether my career aspirations were realistic. I like to look back at that comment as a turning point because I came to see it as a challenge. I now oscillate between wanting to be able to say to him now “take that” or actually thanking him for giving me something to disprove.

What steps are you taking for your mentees now, to guide them through a successful career and develop the best talent?

I like to think that my actions and my working style demonstrates to both my male and female mentees and colleagues that what’s important is diversity and a different perspective. Its not about changing myself to fit a mould and into a male dominated industry, but rather about being myself,

being authentic and not being afraid to have a different opinion and working style. Specifically, for my female mentees, my message is simple, and that is: “Yes, you can!”

Do you believe there are challenges to being a female leader in tech? What do you think of the progress with regards to women entering this field?

There is no doubt in my mind that there are challenges. I just have to look around any room I sit in to see the very real underrepresentation of women, especially in senior leadership positions.

In my 20 years of consulting I can literally count on one hand the number of clients I have worked with where there are female tech-related C-suite executives.

We know that progress has historically been far too slow, and unfortunately it continues to be far too slow.

On the positive, there is amazing progress in the way young girls are increasingly being encouraged into STEM subjects. This means that we will see the gender gap progressively narrow in time. The problem though, is the workplace now.

We need to address the challenges that women are facing today and why progress into senior leadership positions is still too slow. 

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SEISMIC EVENTS AND THEIR IMPACT ON FINANCE FUNCTIONS

By Emma Noble Catastrophic events are happening more frequently than ever imagined. In the past decade, seven of the ten most costly disasters have occurred since 1980 (OECD, 2015). Organisations need to take into consideration what their current disaster recovery plans look like and what needs to be changed. Just as importantly, they need to review their current use of finance functions and uncover the benefits to not solely rely on a DR plan when a catastrophic event occurs.

Finance functions provide financial information, allowing other business functions to operate effectively and efficiently. They are needed to support business planning, enabling stakeholders to make informed, quick decisions when necessary.

As a consequence of the high economic costs suffered by disasters and the growing risk in the future, strengthening financial resilience to disasters should become a priority. Financial

strategies can complement and reinforce disaster risk reduction initiatives whilst also benefiting from them. Investments in prevention, for example, can contribute significantly to the reduction of financial exposure to disasters (UNISDR, 2013). Companies based in more disaster-prone countries are more prepared, thanks to their long-term investments in finance systems, which minimise operating disruption and provide more financial flexibility (Elnahas, Kim, and Kim, 2018).

There are constant pressures to improve performance, which comes from a variety of stakeholders who are always wanting the best.

Organisations need analytical answers in real time, so they are able to react when such an event happens and plan more accurately and perform analytics across their business. Predictive analytics is seen as this next evolutionary step, providing deeper insights into business performance

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variances and the real causes behind them. This allows managers to make better judgements and have a better idea of future outcomes, allowing the organisation to stay ahead of competitors and reducing risk. As described by Hurbean (2005), predictive analytics consolidates data from all key business functions offering the following three core capabilities: J Discovery: looks at key performance indicators and automatically discovers variances that can be used to analyse the root cause in the business performance data that exceed their limit.

J Prediction: provides tools that produce predictions. For example, on-demand forecasts are alerts or early-warning indicators which demonstrate different performance scenarios and their impact on business performance.

J Delivery: delivers the above information to key decision-makers in the appropriate format and context.

Historically, organisations have relied on data entered and kept on Excel or in a similar format, which was called upon as the source of corporate intelligence. The importance of unstructured data is increasing in value as it is found to gather 85% of corporate knowledge (Cowan, 2004). This demonstrates how critical it is to gain a complete understanding of organisational performance.

Information that is spread across multiple locations and is available to a variety of users is of no use. This is why EPM software is key to bringing an organisation’s business information into a single location. This will enable companies to gain a detailed understanding of their current performance, while building an accurate forecast for the future to reduce risk and vulnerability during a crisis. It also showcases the relevant requirements needed in order to continue business in unexpected scenarios.

Overall, a number of arguments can be

made to suggest that finance functions can have a positive impact when faced with unexpected catastrophic events, opening up more time to implement strategies and the necessary finance changes already planned for. As research suggests, various finance tools and policies can be used in different ways to help both forecast and overall organisational performance. 

References Cowan, T. (2004) Unified Business Performance Management. [Online] www.businessintelligence.com Elnahas, A., Kim, D. and Kim, I. (2018) Natural Disaster Risk and Corporate Leverage.

Hurbean, L. (2005) Performance Management with Business Intelligence.

West University of Timisoara IDC predictions (2005) Convergence, consolidation, and realignment as the new IT game plan accelerates. [Online] [Accessed on 2nd October] www.idc. com OECD (2015) UNISDR (2013) Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction: From Shared Risk to Shared Value – The Business Case for Disaster Risk Reduction. United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Geneva.

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“Being resilient is about how effectively you heal and come back again.”

Jane Atherton is CEO of Om Phoenix, a training consultancy that specialises in leadership and mindset development, combining Eastern Philosophy with Western strategy. With fourteen years’ experience, Jane has inspired thousands of business professionals looking to enhance mental resilience to create a positive working culture.

By Mai Vuova and Omer Cander

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Mindfulness and resilience are terms that we hear more and more frequently within the context of business. What is mindfulness, in a nutshell?

Mindfulness is being present in the moment, so being mindful of how you feel and what surrounds you through your five senses. In order to be mindful, you need to be aware of your senses. If you stop and think “Oh, what can I hear in my room?” and notice the heating made a noise, or that you feel yourself sitting in your seat, you can bring yourself into presence. The benefits are that you feel much more content and calm. The basic technique I would recommend for staying aware is to focus on your breathing. If you just start consciously breath using the “3-4-5 breathing”, you can bring yourself into mindfulness. You breathe in for the count of 3, hold for 4, and then breath out for 5.

makes us happy, and we are not moving enough when working from home.

How do you manage to contain emotional reactions in difficult situations?

I would say, notice your triggers. If there is something that triggers you, for example you are working on a very challenging project, and you are consciously aware that it is making you feel irritable, you can choose to respond rather than to instinctively react. Response is more considered and rational and it can help us in the moment not to snap or get frustrated. If we notice when our emotions get triggered, once we are aware of it, we can start to choose the response.

How do you cope if you haven’t achieved something that is important to you?

It depends on the context, but if it’s an insignificant “I didn’t make it through my to-do list”, it’s good With the current developments all around us to find a way to accept it and take a breath, let it and the general stress of work, do you have any go and go for a walk. It’s okay to say, “I haven’t got suggestions for using mindfulness and resilience around to this today, I am on it tomorrow,” so we to cope with the difficulties of work life? set the expectation.

Yes, 100%! In terms of neuroscience, to deal with

If it’s something bigger, for example this very uncertain time, we need to balance brain losing a pitch, the situation will trigger a stronger chemistry to help us be resilient and come into the emotional reaction. My first suggestion is, if you present moment. When we are overwhelmed, our can, to take a moment to feel how you feel, because brain releases too much cortisol and adrenalin. we are allowed to feel disappointed. The strategy A little bit of these is healthy and it stimulates us, for releasing emotions is to either move, write in a but often our system releases too much and we are journal, or vent to a friend or a colleague, and then not switching off properly. This causes us to lose do something that lifts your energy and brings you focus, and feel more anxious and stressed. It also back. activates the less evolved part of the brain called the reptilian, and we don’t think strategically from Is there a limit to resilience? Do you think too there. much resilience can be a bad thing?

My main recommendation would be to If someone is so determined to be resilient, they breathe properly. It is all about the breath, because are not vulnerable, because things hurt us. Part if you breathe more deeply, it balances the brain of being resilient is feeling your feelings. Being chemistry and straight away, the brain knows resilient doesn’t mean you are never sad. It’s not its not in the fight or flight mode and the whole about never feeling negative feelings, but it’s about system can relax. The second recommendation how quickly or effectively you heal and come would be to “move”. It releases dopamine and back again. I supposed if you define resilience as

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“Everything we teach, I do myself, and that’s how we run the whole business.”

bouncing back from things in heathy way, there is no limit.

day...” Those are the main things I do to elevate the consciousness.

How has mindfulness helped you in your professional environment?

Mindfulness has always served me before doing something that might be nerve-wracking or that can cause a bit of anxiety, such as a client pitch.

Basically, through being mindful, I make sure my brain chemistry is balanced, by breathing calmly and making sure I feel grounded. So before I am about to present, there are steps that I follow that helps me perform better:

Why did you choose this profession?

I feel like it chose me. I feel like it’s my purpose. this profession is a mix of my passion plus what I seem to be good at, and now there is a need for it. It is also motivating when I get feedback from the stakeholders that they notice there is more harmony in the team or that team members that used be stressed and anxious are more relaxed now. Sometimes after working with us, they also notice better business results once the team members started using certain mindfulness techniques.

I want to add that, if people are interested in this, it’s a game changer for business and for life. Everything we teach, I do myself, and that’s how we run the whole business. I have never been happier in my whole life despite Covid-19 and despite of being a single mum, and it’s thanks to these practices. It keeps me genuinely happy and joyful.

We have so much more choice over our state of mind than we realize. Ultimately it’s about knowing what you can do to help yourself, and the key is the rituals that you choose to do. 

1. Slow the breathing 2. Make sure I am grounded 3. Self talk: “This will go well”, “ We are going to make a great connection” 4. Gratitude practice; think of something you are grateful for, which will open the heart and will make you connect with the client.

What are the actions you do on a daily basis to be more mindful and reduce stress?

The process I do most days, besides focusing on breathing and staying physically active, is grounding and self-talk. I also do mantra, which is an eastern philosophy that I learned in India.

With mantra, you have a few words and you repeat them or chant them. You can say, for example, “Today is a good day, today is a good

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ROBOTIC PROCESS AUTOMATION: THE ROBOTS OF EPM

By Lavinia Negoita According to a report by McKinsey and Co on emerging and disruptive technologies, automation technologies such as Robotic Process Automation, or RPA, will have a huge potential economic impact, being valued behind the rise of mobile Internet for smartphones and tablets. According to Gartner, the worldwide RPA software revenue is expected to reach $1.58 billion, an 11.9% increase from 2019. It’s clear that the RPA market is on the rise.

If we look forward and combine robotic, intelligent and autonomous systems, what we get is even more powerful and exciting: Intelligent Automation (IA). Enhancing RPA with IA technology amplifies the scope and scale of process automation – with “bots” being able to automate tasks and make decisions, and contributing as a valuable resource in the human-digital workforce.

History

Automation has always been around, from historic screen scraping technologies (which existed even before the Internet was developed) to present day automation of script-writing to perform repetitive, data-intensive and logic-based tasks. This was followed by “workflow automation applications”, a term used frequently after 1990, even though it dated back to the industrial revolution.

Artificial Intelligence was the next evolutionary step, bringing in the capability to perform tasks that required human intervention and intellect.

Each improvement in automation technology had its major impact on society, but IA has the capability of combining all these elements, resulting in improvements using the latest available software technology to handle highly structured, routine and repetitive computer tasks.

Unsurprisingly, it has become a platform adopted across all industries.

Major software companies have caught onto this trend and are either partnering or acquiring RPA software providers, e.g. Oracle and UiPath, IBM acquired WDG Automation, Microsoft acquired Softmotive. The message in the market is clear: early adopters will benefit from process efficiencies.

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Market growth

The process automation market is on a growth trend, with organisations needing to automate repetitive processes, in order to focus on their core business activities. This has been exacerbated by the current worldwide work scenario which, driven by the pandemic, is expected to have a major impact on business operations and the need to reduce costs through automation. As “the key driver for RPA projects is their ability to improve process quality, speed and productivity”, according to Fabrizio Biscotti, Research Vice President at Gartner, it’s clear that the popularity of this advanced technology is only expected to rise.

EPM

The blending of IA and EPM has been a critical trend that influenced the growth of EPM adoption year on year. When IA is deployed in numerous areas of EPM, you can see benefits such as time savings, minimizing errors and improvements in overall productivity. Using IA not only replicates existing processes, but is an opportunity to make them more efficient and effective as the process flow improves.

To name a few use cases for the IA transformation: J Automated data entry J Application monitoring – Financial close and tracking task completeness J Repetitive tasks – such as monthly reporting packages J Process reconciliation – Accounts receivable processing J Data validation J Creation of reoccurring monthly journals and validations J Intercompany eliminations and analysis

Where to?

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, companies have been looking at cost-saving methods.

Unfortunately, this has resulted in a reduction of the number of employees performing redundant tasks, but also in the investment in automation software to improve the efficiency of the workforce. The good news is that IA adoption has increased for small and medium companies that now need to monitor their costs.

There’s a large offering of software players with presence across the world, to name a few: UiPath, Automation Anywhere, Blue Prism, NTT Advanced Technology Corporation, EdgeVerve Systems Limited, and HelpSystems. The biggest market to date is the USA, but the fastest growing market is Asia-Pacific. With endless possibilities, the potential of such companies is very exciting.

Conclusion

An increase in Intelligent Automation doesn’t mean that robots will replace their human counterparts. It only means that humans are free to perform higher-value activities, more in-depth analysis or tasks which cannot be automated.

Ultimately, IA has the potential to impact all industries and to make work more exciting, rewarding and interesting.

In the words of Frank Casale’s, the founder of the Institute of RPA: “As we look to history to help us predict the future, we cannot deny that automation is today’s version of outsourcing – unstoppable.” What do you think the future of such automation has in store? 

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THE POWER OF UNUSUAL DATA POINTS IN ANALYTICS

By Kimborey Lam

Companies have been running predictive analytics for decades to help plan better for the future. The technology improvements have helped make this exercise much simpler and faster. Techniques like linear regression are now widely used, analysing years upon years of historical data to build previsions, trends, risk assessments and so on.

As unusual data points may be caused by a data entry error or other problem, they are usually identified and removed from the analysis.

However, if an unusual data point has a high leverage or influence on predictive analysis, it needs to be analysed further as it can contain useful information. How can an unusual data point can be analysed to understand whether it has leverage or influence? If so, how can it be considered in predictive analytics?

Unusual data points, also called “outliers” in analytics, are data points that do not follow the “general trend” of the data. The general trend is a very subjective concept left up to the analyst to decide and will therefore vary by analysis. An unusual data point can either be an outlier or a leverage point which would have a significant influence on the analysis. Predictive analytics consists of analysing historical data using statistical algorithms and machine learning

techniques to anticipate future events. Its objective is to help plan better for the future based on past events.

A data value can be either usual or unusual; the appreciation of the criteria of a usual point is left to the analyst. Any value falling out of this criteria will be considered as an unusual data point. Unusual data points would typically be identified and removed during cleanse activities.

However, simply removing all unusual data point could eliminate important points that could help build predictive scenarios and therefore plan better.

Once identified, unusual data points need be analysed to determine whether they are simple outliers or have leverage or influence on the overall analysis. Removing these points can drastically modify the results of an analysis. It is therefore not enough anymore to simply eliminate unusual data points and it is becoming crucial to investigate them further to determine whether they are real errors or could, on the contrary, better inform any predictive analytics.

Because high-leverage data points can considerably change the outcome of an analysis, they are important for preparing worst case scenarios. It is becoming increasingly essential

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that companies plan for recovery from a potential catastrophic event. Not only should companies plan for the better outcomes, they must now be prepared for the worst scenarios. Software vendors like Oracle, OneStream, and Anaplan propose predictive analysis solutions to help companies build predictions based on historical data and build what-if and worst-case scenario analysis.

Unusual data points can sometimes be more important than usual ones as they represent the key risks a company needs to prepare contingencies for. If a company is able to analyse these unusual data points, determine the ones that have a leverage or influence on the overall analysis

and consider them as part of their predictive scenarios, they would be more informed and prepared for future events.

However, the predictive exercise is already a complex exercise on its own, requiring a lot of data, resources and time. Adding unusual data points to the mix increases its complexity, giving more options and possible outcomes. The time spent to analyse the unusual data points versus its real benefit is sometimes minimal and this is why companies often run simple analysis, removing all unusual data points. 

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NET-ZERO: HOW GOING CARBON NEUTRAL BECAME A MAJOR CXO MINDSET

By Mai Vuova

All over the world, there is a growing pressure to address increasing carbon emissions. It is no longer a discussion of whether climate change exists, but of how significant the impact could be. The primary goal of the CXO agenda is to continually improve and deliver better experiences for our clients, as we live in the world where everything is about experience.

Services we provide are mostly undifferentiated. It is the experience that clients have with inlumi that

makes the difference. At inlumi we see the urgency for sustainability, and we believe our clients can play a crucial role in contributing to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly future. We believe that communicating our values towards the environment is one of the reasons that clients choose us over others.

inlumi sees climate change as one of the defining challenges of our time, which will have a major impact on businesses, governments and humanity as a whole. We believe that it is important to understand which directions and measures will lead to reducing the impact of climate change to a level that scientists would consider acceptable.

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Climate change is becoming increasingly obvious, with rising average temperatures, acute threats such as heat waves, extreme rainfall, more frequent and more severe forest fires, as well as chronic issues such as drought and sea level rise.

Scientific evidence shows that to prevent the worst effects of climate change, we have to avoid an increase in average global temperature, and greenhouse gas emission from human activity must reach net-zero by 2050. If we are to have a chance to achieve this goal, the decarbonization process must accelerate now.

Global annual average temperature has increased by almost 1°C in the period 1986 - 2016 relative to 1901 – 1960 (www.globalchange.gov).

The European Commission responded to this in December 2019 by announcing a Green Deal for Europe. If it’s going to be approved by all members,

the EU will need to achieve a net-zero greenhouse gas emission rate by 2050. At the UN climate change conference in Paris, governments agreed that action must come from government, cities, regions and businesses together.

Achieving a net zero greenhouse gas emission rate by 2050 is going to be challenge for every country. That’s why everyone plays a crucial role, and why inlumi, as part of the worldwide community, is also effectively implementing changes as our response to climate change.

At inlumi, we are helping organizations make a lasting improvement to their performance and to realise their goals. Regardless of the industry a client works in or the specific business problem that we are helping them address, all of our clients have an impact on society, whether it is through their products, services or their workforce.

We believe that communicating our values towards the environment is one of the reasons that will make clients choose us over others.

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Working with our clients, we are also striving to help them shape their environmental and social impact.

The basic attribute of inlumi is a sense of responsibility, not only to our clients but also to our community. There is no one right way for companies to practice corporate social responsibility (CSR). However, it does provide an opportunity to strengthen business positioning by creating value, not only for the shareholders, but also for society.

Most companies take part in “pet” projects with the goal of showcasing the personal interests of an individual. These activities are quick and

easy to implement. However, they usually offer minimal benefits to business and society. The main question for us should be: where do we focus our CSR activities? As with every organization, we have finite resources, and so we must balance our efforts to maximize the benefits to our business with being responsible to our greater society. The aim for us is to move towards CSR strategies that will create a long-term impact and value for the business and society.

Our long-term goals are related to climate and environment as it is one of the most urgent challenges. This commitment is a step forward within inlumi’s journey to a net-zero carbon

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future. We aim to partner with our clients to help them realize their net-zero ambitions as well as to continue to change the way we operate as a company.

As a company we are also committed to reducing waste. We promote reusing and recycling, as well as the use of supplies that have been recycled. We also engage with our suppliers to reduce the environmental impact and develop more sustainable methods of operations.

Changes in lifestyle and consumer behavior or the development of the circular economy can also contribute to reducing emissions. Long-term strategies for climate protection should take

into account the possible impact of changes in behavioral patterns.

Smart partnering

We partner with organizations that are creating meaningful change in our communities. One of them is Mossy Earth, an enterprise whose main aim is, by restoring ecosystems, to deliver real environmental change and make a positive impact on the state of the planet’s wilderness.

By contributing to rewilding projects, inlumi is focusing on the long-term intangible benefits that are strategically critical to our business reputation as a role model and eco-friendly company, but

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also for the community in the fight against climate change.

To stakeholders, inlumi communicates the long-term commitment to making a positive impact rather than focusing on quick fixes, backed up with solid promises and measurable commitments to demonstrate added value over time. With support from inlumi, Mossy Earth has undertaken numerous projects in support of its mission to restore wild ecosystems and conserve wildlife and biodiversity, fighting climate change and building a future in which we can live in harmony with nature.

Every month, Mossy Earth plants 4 native

trees for each inlumi team member. That is 48 trees per year per person to counter deforestation in key ecosystems and reduce our carbon footprint.

With our international reach spanning every significant industry and function, we can make the biggest contribution to overcome the climate change crisis through the support and collaboration with our clients. It is an exciting time as we can partner with our clients to help them not only to strengthen their operation and business, but also to transition to a net-zero future to reduce the climate change impact as quickly as possible.

We encourage our clients to take part in

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Photo: Duarte (left) and Matthew (right), founders of Mossy Earth.

Mossy Earth has been instrumental in helping us deliver our conservation commitment through its rewilding and conservation projects.

environment projects. Beyond supporting our clients and changing our own operations, we are committed to advancing global progress toward the net-zero ambition. We are making our efforts visible to the public and we shout about it to inspire other to work towards to a solution that will work for our planet. 

So far, inlumi has contributed to the planting of trees in several key areas: e Native Oak Woodland 150 425 e Wildfire Restoration e Southern Carpathians 495 4172 e Membership trees Event booth prize 38 e e Total 5280

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Meet the team

Lauren Hargreaves joined inlumi as an Advisory Consultant in 2021. Before this she worked for 6+ years in Group Finance roles at a multinational IT company and in a Customer Success role at a rapidly growing Fintech start-up. This has allowed her to develop a deep understanding of how different systems and processes function.

Robert Wang joined inlumi as a graduate Consultant in 2020. Previously, he had majored in Materials Engineering. He has worked for international investment companies and consultancies which have introduced him to the financial world, allowing him to utilise the skills in his degree in other ways. Robert spends much of his free time fencing, drawing, and most recently, cooking.

Lavinia Negoita is a Managing Consultant at inlumi, specialized in EPM software implementations. For the past 10 years she has helped customers successfully implement finance transformation projects across the globe, from health services to insurance companies. To disconnect from work, Lavinia enjoys cooking, gardening and long nature walks.

Emma Noble is a Consultant at inlumi and joined in 2017. During this time Emma has worked in a Service Management role before moving to Consulting where she has worked on OneStream implementation projects. In her spare time, Emma enjoys spending time with friends and family, walking, and exploring new places.

Meet the team

Mai Vuova is a consultant at inlumi. Before joining inlumi in 2018, she was working in finance roles in large corporations, including Coca Cola. Before starting her professional career, Mai has earned a master’s degree in finance and is currently pursuing her CIMA qualification. In her free time, Mai enjoys reading, socialising with friends, and traveling.

Omer Cander, a principal at inlumi, is the editor of Enabling Decisions and the global OneStream community lead for inlumi. He has 15 years of experience in helping customers towards achieving Finance Function effectiveness through financial and digital transformation. He is a keen singer and tries to sing at every occasion his dog, Muriel, allows him.

Kimborey Lam is a Managing Consultant at inlumi and specialises in Finance advisory and EPM implementations. He graduated from a Masters in Finance and Accounting and started his career in the Middle East before moving to London. When he’s not working, Kim spends most of time climbing and trying to teach his little one how to say “Daddy”.

Peter Wilson joined inlumi as a Managing Consultant in 2019. He co-heads the OneStream capability at inlumi and has been delivering EPM solutions in OneStream and Hyperion for nearly 20 years in a range of industries. He is also a Chartered Accountant. Originally from Sydney, to unwind from work Peter likes to cook, play 5 a side football, and build elaborate and expensive Lego sets.

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About inlumi inlumi is a unique full-service provider of Enterprise Performance Management & Analytics services – from advisory and implementation to operations.

With our combined finance and technology expertise we help our customers to perform at their best by enabling them to make sense of their enterprise and financial data – key to their future success.

We take our customers to the next level of Performance Management and Analytics – to allow informed decision making.

The inlumi culture is characterised by professionalism, entrepreneurship and team spirit – to ultimately strive to exceed the expectations of our clients.

While we are professional, we enjoy our work and develop good personal relationships with our clients and co-workers alike. Our talented and experienced pool of 150 team members in seven countries have solid finance and IT backgrounds and speak the language of CFOs and CIOs.

Enabling Decisions is a magazine by inlumi Research Hub. Contributors Business Sponsors Ashley Chapman Susan Gittings Editor Omer Cander Team Leader Lavinia Negoita Team Kimborey Lam Emma Noble Lauren Hargreaves Robert Wang Mai Vuova Peter Wilson Design & Marketing Anna Larsson Kaitlin van Baarle inlumi +44 (0) 203 875 0504 UK office: China Works, Black Prince Road, London SE1 7SJ Headquarters: Parijsboulevard 143 C 3541 CS Utrecht The Netherlands enablingdecisions@inlumi.com www.inlumi.com

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Visit www.inlumi.com and access the Future CEO report by Raconteur in the Times, featuring a Q&A with Ashley Chapman, Head of Consulting at inlumi.

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