"At SAP, we are using breakthrough new technologies to provide finance organisations with the platform and tools to allow them to completely reinvent how they work in the digital era," says Neil Herbert, director of business analytics at SAP, a platinum partner at the Finance Indaba Africa 2016 on 13 and 14 October 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.
- REGISTER NOW for the Finance Indaba. Limited FREE tickets with with invitation code: FB2017
In the coming weeks and months, we will be chatting to all the Indaba partners, asking them why they are joining the event and what their most important message for finance professionals is.
Do you want to hear more about SAP's world-changing innovations? Do you want to be informed about the latest and greatest in finance? Then don't miss the Finance Indaba Africa 2016.
SAP is the world leader in enterprise applications in terms of software and software-related service revenue. Based on market capitalization, it is the world's third-largest independent software manufacturer. SAP innovations help 320 000 customers worldwide work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively. The company's vision is to help the world run better and improve people's lives and its technology impacts healthcare, youth, sport and prosperity around the world.
"The Finance Indaba Africa continues to attract leading brands keen to showcase their incredible solutions but, most importantly, contribute to the learning and insights of thousands of finance professionals. SAP is a global leaders and will be showcasing global trends together with expert insights," says CFO SA MD Graham Fehrsen.
Why will you be present at the Finance Indaba?
"SAP solutions lie at the heart of helping organisations, particularly in the finance space. At SAP, we are using breakthrough new technologies to provide finance organisations with the platform and tools to allow them to completely reinvent how they work in the digital era. We see a future in which finance organisations focus their efforts on developing and executing the organisation's strategy, where the expertise of finance professionals is focused on solving business challenges and driving performance - a future in which all members of the organisation, from the boardroom to the front lines, have the information they need to make decisions at the speed of thought."
What will you be talking about?
"We will be covering the world of digital finance and what it means for different organisations. This could include:
· Real time, continuous processes, with no manual processes or media breaks.
· Full transparency of all information accessible to everyone in the moment.
· Transforming finance for live business in terms of strategy, business performance, efficiency and compliance.
We will also be taking a look at how SAP's flagship cloud application, S/4HANA Finance, in combination with the massively powerful SAP HANA innovation platform, is supporting live business right now to:
· Shape new business models for growth.
· Collaborate and connect the "live" business.
· Be an engine of insight.
· Manage risks and help ensure compliance
· Optimise and automate."
What are the challenges you can help finance professionals/firms with in 2016?
"We can help organisations overcome the challenges of:
· Long, complex IT projects by architecting new business models which will ensure flexible business modelling, deep analysis and rapid implementation of new business models.
· Late, off target, inconsistent reporting by placing Insight in the hands of the business. SAP Finance solutions give instant insight-to-action anytime, anywhere enabled by a single source of truth.
· Burning the midnight oil by ensuring lights-out finance processes with automated and networked processes, event-driven and inherently compliant."
SAP was certified as one of the top employers in Africa for 2016. What went into achieving this?
"Independent research revealed that SAP Africa provides exceptional employee conditions, nurtures and develops talent throughout all levels of the organisation and has demonstrated its leadership status in the HR environment, always striving to optimise its employment practices and develop its employees."
How important is innovation to SAP?
"Innovation lies at the heart of SAP. It is who we are and it is what drives us. Our customers success is our success - in order to keep our customers relevant in today's digital economy, innovation allows us to create opportunities from disruption in order to gain a competitive advantage.
"SAP is four to five years ahead of the rest in terms of in-memory computing giving CFOs the ability to derive much faster insights and reduce business complexity. This allows for better governance and compliance in a more complex and volatile world. We enable the CFO to become a strategic adviser to the board by a) freeing up her time and b) providing much richer insights and the ability to predict/simulate outcomes."
