Tim Richardson CPA Australian Finance Executive

For information to be useful, it needs to be understandable and be in the hands of the people who need it when they need it. Then information becomes influential. Information without influence is a waste of time and money. IT = Influencing Technology?

Mastery of technology is important for a few reasons. Firstly, to a modern enterprise a lot of data is available, and this is an opportunity which will be exploited either by competitors, customers or suppliers. To translate data into information is the important skill. Part of this is linking data from various systems to create new insights; this requires technical skills and insights into system design. I am very strong at this, and this is a great way of adding value. I can use SQL, database tools and programming to make information from huge volumes of data much faster than most people. This means my ad-hoc querying skills are very strong. In a dynamic business, things happens which will leave existing reports well behind, and then my advantages become clear.

Being able to drilldown is very useful, but where and when to do it? This is where my business intelligence comes into play. My broad cross-functional experience, and the strong networks I build with people, let me make connections and insights to inform me where and when I should start investigating. My first Dutch job description mentioned being "a spider in the web"; perhaps a little predatory, but you get the point about how well connected a Finance leader needs to be.

The technology aspects of IT mean we can move beyond facts. IT can help through modelling. Modelling means what-if decision making: opportunities and risks can be simulated. I like modelling. I build good but simple models which help with decision making. You can't build a simple, useful model if you can't conceptualise and abstact the business. Since models are limited by their assumptions, they can guide decision making, but not replace it. The only useful model is an influential model, and therefore it needs to be understood by its users.

So clearly, I believe IT is a waste of time without considering how it informs human decision making, not as a retrofit, but something to be considered upfront. It's not a matter of paying for a report-writing tool; that is a belief that you just need to throw more technology at the "users". This doesn't give you good IT.

Information systems need to be consistent and understandable. They should usually be subordinated to expert judgement, and if you remember that, then you will avoid the trap of false accuracy and detail. It is better for IT investments to support forward-looking decision making and not historical reporting.

There is a lot of value in data mining. The information is out there, and will be used by someone. Look for trends and changes by correlating data.

Personally, I bring with me very good soft IT skills. That is, I am very strong at understanding how people use and misuse the tools, reports and data available to them, such as by misunderstanding master data definitions.

Of course, with my development and consulting background, I am a highly effective IT broker, that is, seeing where systems can be improved and making sure a good job is done.

I'm a good role model. I am a very strong personal organiser of electronic data. I am an advanced user of search tools, and of ad-hoc data technologies such as Excel and SQL tools.

I innovate and make myself and others more productive, by quickly designing tools and by automating repetitive processes.

Some more details about my experience:

Programming changes and additions to the ERP system MFG/PRO, in all three main areas of MFG/PRO: sales, finance and manufacturing (MRP). I also worked on an advanced "data-cube" sales-analysis tool, and advanced pricing modules with sophisticated promotional pricing.

Being a small company, analysts were encouraged to make customer contact. Soon I was working on site, helping with MFG/PRO implementations. Clients in Australia and Asia included parts of National Foods, Eveready, Sara Lee and Daewoo.

The natural progression was to lead implementations. When I joined Philips in Indoensia, I became what the Dutch call a "five legged sheep" (meaning versatile), and I lead non-IT projects such as outsourcing and internal control improvements, financial restructuring and customer collateral review projects, as well as running ERP and other IT and communication technology projects.

Supplier and purchasing negotiations, team management, infrastructure deployments, infrastructure rationalisation, system and master-data harmonisation, strategy, budgeting, capex applications.