Tuesday, July 28, 2015

16NTC and a new respect for the back office

My introduction to technology as a career was as a Finance Director at a local YMCA back in the 1990's. During those days it typically fell on the Finance or Accounting staff to manage technology  (actually it is still true for some today).

My initial interactions with technology in the Finance role highlighted the ability to transform operations, streamline process and automate manual procedures. This was before the consumerization  of tech with gadgets and before the onslaught of Social Media.  We knew technology could help our org run better.  But I wonder if we take it for granted now and ignore the new capabilities technology has to transform how we work.

As I have begun my new role at NetSuite on the Social Impact team, we have been taking time to think through the capacity of our Grantees to use a solution like NetSuite.  This really got me thinking, when was the last time I saw a session at NTEN focused on finance\operations and technology at NTC? But then I wondered, would anyone even go, they are not nearly as exciting as the scads of crowdsourcing and social media sessions?

So I have been resisting the urge to promote the sessions I suggested, hoping the inherit value would garnish votes, but alas here is my attempt at suggesting we pay attention to the back office.  So please take a moment (if you agree) to vote for these sessions.

Don’t ignore the back office
http://16ntc.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Looking-to-Scale-Don-t-Ignore-the-Back-Office/119489-35237

IT Alignment:

Leveraging Expert or Technical Volunteers

Process Map to Business Requirement


I hope to see all of you at 16NTC!