Technology: Page 33

  • Robotic process automation as an innovation improving productivity, reliability and repeatability in systems
    Image attribution tooltip
    NicoElNino. Retrieved from Shutterstock.
    Image attribution tooltip

    Power Scourge

    If you thought computer hardware and software were expensive, consider that the electric bill for a data center caneat up 25 to 44 percent of its budget. That raises concerns not justabout the bottom line, but also about brownouts or blackouts. Arecent study by Stanford professor Jonathan Koomey ...

    By Karen M. Kroll • Aug. 27, 2007
  • Robotic process automation as an innovation improving productivity, reliability and repeatability in systems
    Image attribution tooltip
    NicoElNino. Retrieved from Shutterstock.
    Image attribution tooltip

    Ay, Caramba!

    A recent survey from the American ManagementAssociation found that over the past fiveyears the number of companies that monitoremployee Internet use has risen 13 percent. Morethan three-fourths of employers now trackemployee Web use to some degree, and dozensof software companies offer programs t...

    By Kate Plourd • Aug. 20, 2007
  • a bunch of conversation bubbles with glowing, unreadable text and a robot head in the background Explore the Trendline➔
    Image attribution tooltip
    Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip
    Trendline

    The CFO Strategy for Artificial Intelligence

    Artificial intelligence’s impact on the office of the CFO continues to evolve, and finance chiefs must be aware of the opportunities it will create for growth. 

    By CFO.com staff
  • Robotic process automation as an innovation improving productivity, reliability and repeatability in systems
    Image attribution tooltip
    NicoElNino. Retrieved from Shutterstock.
    Image attribution tooltip

    When Virtual Crises Turn Real

    Inside the banking offices of Ginko Financial, an eerie crisis has developed. A collection of almost impossibly strapping men and buxom women, along with various furry creatures with wagging tails, crowd around a cash machine. But no cash can be drawn, and the teller windows are empty.“The threat...

    By Alan Rappeport • Aug. 16, 2007
  • Robotic process automation as an innovation improving productivity, reliability and repeatability in systems
    Image attribution tooltip
    NicoElNino. Retrieved from Shutterstock.
    Image attribution tooltip

    Will Outsourcing Fly?

    Ask Philip Chu what he thinks of outsourcing, and he doesn’t hold much back. “We’ve tried it twice before, and the results were not good,” says the CFO of Datacraft, aSingapore-based IT service provider. His first try involved human resources. “Our HR function was spread across many countries and...

    By Don Durfee • Aug. 14, 2007
  • Robotic process automation as an innovation improving productivity, reliability and repeatability in systems
    Image attribution tooltip
    NicoElNino. Retrieved from Shutterstock.
    Image attribution tooltip

    Tickling the Keyboard: 10 Spreadsheet Tips

    It may not be one of the seven wonders of the digital world, but for CFOs, nothing compares with Microsoft’s Excel for performing calculations, tracking a variety of business items, and making forecasts of what the future might hold in store. The problem is that the program is so complicated that...

    By Brian Nadel • Aug. 13, 2007
  • Robotic process automation as an innovation improving productivity, reliability and repeatability in systems
    Image attribution tooltip
    NicoElNino. Retrieved from Shutterstock.
    Image attribution tooltip

    Beyond Excel

    Business modeling is crucial work at L’Oreal UK, which markets its array of cosmetics to British retailers — including supermarkets, a major drug store chain, and various specialty outlets. But while L’Oreal’s marketing team was up to the task of modeling and planning, its spreadsheet software wa...

    By John Edwards • Aug. 9, 2007
  • Robotic process automation as an innovation improving productivity, reliability and repeatability in systems
    Image attribution tooltip
    NicoElNino. Retrieved from Shutterstock.
    Image attribution tooltip

    Spreadsheets Are Free

    A spreadsheet program that doesn’t cost anything and may even be better than Microsoft Excel? For Jeffrey Causey, president of Strategic Innovations, a Graham, N.C., company that provides strategic planning services to local governments and non-profit organizations, the opportunity sounded too go...

    By John Edwards • Aug. 2, 2007
  • Robotic process automation as an innovation improving productivity, reliability and repeatability in systems
    Image attribution tooltip
    NicoElNino. Retrieved from Shutterstock.
    Image attribution tooltip

    The Ultimate Test Drive

    In 1927, the first cars rolled off the production line at fledgling Swedish automaker Volvo. The inaugural $800 sedan came in two versions: an open-bodied touring model and a “saloon” (that is, covered) model. Guess which one sold? Customers in Sweden, it turns out, were not enthusiastic about th...

    By Esther Shein • Aug. 1, 2007
  • Robotic process automation as an innovation improving productivity, reliability and repeatability in systems
    Image attribution tooltip
    NicoElNino. Retrieved from Shutterstock.
    Image attribution tooltip

    What’s Hot This Summer

    Here at CFO, we get a lot of information from technology vendors offering products that promise to do everything from scrubbing your numbers to cleaning your computer screen. We dutifully evaluate these offerings so you don’t have to. Lo and behold, some actually merit a little ink.To winnow down...

    By Esther Shein • Aug. 1, 2007
  • Robotic process automation as an innovation improving productivity, reliability and repeatability in systems
    Image attribution tooltip
    NicoElNino. Retrieved from Shutterstock.
    Image attribution tooltip

    How Green Was My Tally

    No sooner had Target Corp. announced inApril that it had installed solar systems atop 4California retail stores (with plans for more) thanWal-Mart announced a similar project for 22 of itsstores. Last year a nearly identical battle took placein Silicon Valley when Microsoft’s boast of having thel...

    By Kate Galbraith • July 27, 2007
  • Robotic process automation as an innovation improving productivity, reliability and repeatability in systems
    Image attribution tooltip
    NicoElNino. Retrieved from Shutterstock.
    Image attribution tooltip

    Report: Audit Inspectors Sidestepping Clunky System

    The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board was designed to keep a close eye on auditors, ensuring that their reports are informative, fair, and independent. But even the PCAOB must open up its books sometimes.This month it did so, as the board’s Internal Oversight and Performance Assurance uni...

    By Alan Rappeport • July 25, 2007
  • Robotic process automation as an innovation improving productivity, reliability and repeatability in systems
    Image attribution tooltip
    NicoElNino. Retrieved from Shutterstock.
    Image attribution tooltip

    Fix or Fraud?

    A little more than five years ago, Richard E. Fresia was part of a new management team brought into the telecommunications subsidiary of utility company NorthWestern Corp. to help straighten out an ERP implementation gone horribly awry. On Monday, he was charged by the Securities and Exchange Com...

    By Tim Reason • July 24, 2007
  • Robotic process automation as an innovation improving productivity, reliability and repeatability in systems
    Image attribution tooltip
    NicoElNino. Retrieved from Shutterstock.
    Image attribution tooltip

    SEC Removes Terrorism Tool amid Backlash

    The Securities and Exchange Commission removed the controversial terrorism tool from its website on Friday evening, nearly a month after it launched.The tool drew ire from companies, business lobby groups, and the House Committee on Financial Services, which argued that it had unfairly “blacklist...

    By Alan Rappeport • July 23, 2007
  • Robotic process automation as an innovation improving productivity, reliability and repeatability in systems
    Image attribution tooltip
    NicoElNino. Retrieved from Shutterstock.
    Image attribution tooltip

    Patents Bending

    The U.S. Supreme Court recently put the pedal to the metal in a case that manypatent experts say will accelerate a drive toward a more rigorous interpretation of“obviousness.” In KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., the Court ruled unanimously that a Teleflex patent that combined an adjustable...

    By Karen M. Kroll • July 23, 2007
  • Robotic process automation as an innovation improving productivity, reliability and repeatability in systems
    Image attribution tooltip
    NicoElNino. Retrieved from Shutterstock.
    Image attribution tooltip

    Whole Foods CEO Apologizes for “Error”

    Whole Foods Market Inc. confirmed late Tuesday on its website that the Securities and Exchange Commission had contacted the company and is probing CEO John Mackey’s financial message-board postings about Whole Foods and Wild Oats Market, a rival chain the company is trying to acquire.The postings...

    By Alan Rappeport • July 18, 2007
  • Robotic process automation as an innovation improving productivity, reliability and repeatability in systems
    Image attribution tooltip
    NicoElNino. Retrieved from Shutterstock.
    Image attribution tooltip

    Did Whole Foods CEO Blog Illegally?

    In the wake of a reported probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission, securities experts have been confounded by the question of whether the online actions of John Mackey, the CEO of Whole Foods Market, were legal. Many have concluded that it would be hard to prove that he was intentionally ...

    By Alan Rappeport • July 17, 2007
  • Robotic process automation as an innovation improving productivity, reliability and repeatability in systems
    Image attribution tooltip
    NicoElNino. Retrieved from Shutterstock.
    Image attribution tooltip

    SAP-Oracle Tussle Could Roil ERP Market

    SAP AG’s admission that its TomorrowNow subsidiary “inappropriately” downloaded material from Oracle Corp. may have its greatest impact in the huge market for third-party maintenance for enterprise-resource-planning (ERP) software. In addition, of course, the concession could hurt SAP in the four...

    By Kate Plourd • July 11, 2007
  • Robotic process automation as an innovation improving productivity, reliability and repeatability in systems
    Image attribution tooltip
    NicoElNino. Retrieved from Shutterstock.
    Image attribution tooltip

    How Software Swords Slay Compensation Dragons

    Ask CFOs to draw a picture of themselves when they are calculating incentive compensation and they inevitably draw an angry, two-headed monster with red question marks shooting out of their mouths like flames.Or offer words to that effect. Along with marketing spend, the payment of commissions an...

    By Elaine Appleton Grant • July 9, 2007
  • Robotic process automation as an innovation improving productivity, reliability and repeatability in systems
    Image attribution tooltip
    NicoElNino. Retrieved from Shutterstock.
    Image attribution tooltip

    Intertwined

    As the CFO of Dassault Systemes, Thibault de Tersant knows a thing or two about integration. After all, a big part of the product lifecycle management (PLM) software applications that the €1.2 billion French company sells helps its corporate customers “see the whole life of a product,” he says. “...

    By Jon Mainwaring • July 9, 2007
  • Robotic process automation as an innovation improving productivity, reliability and repeatability in systems
    Image attribution tooltip
    NicoElNino. Retrieved from Shutterstock.
    Image attribution tooltip

    Middle Man

    Joseph Anichebe knows which side he’s on. Despite a hybrid title — IT CFO for the investment banking arm of UBS — Anichebe’s allegiance, first and foremost, is to finance. His team of more than 50, which oversees billions of dollars in annual IT spending at the Swiss bank, works with IT to monito...

    By Jason Karaian • July 2, 2007
  • Robotic process automation as an innovation improving productivity, reliability and repeatability in systems
    Image attribution tooltip
    NicoElNino. Retrieved from Shutterstock.
    Image attribution tooltip

    You Oughta Be on YouTube

    Daughtry and Bon Jovi aren’t the only outfits promoting hip new videos these days. In an odd twist on financial reporting, a handful of companies are imploring shareholders to check out their videos.Management at marquee businesses such as Sealy Corp. and Ruth’s Chris Steak House Inc. are activel...

    By John Goff • July 2, 2007
  • Robotic process automation as an innovation improving productivity, reliability and repeatability in systems
    Image attribution tooltip
    NicoElNino. Retrieved from Shutterstock.
    Image attribution tooltip

    The Onus of Bonus

    Ask CFOs to draw a picture of themselves when they are calculating incentive compensation and they inevitably draw an angry, two-headed monster with red question marks shooting out of their mouths like flames.Or offer words to that effect. Along with marketing spend, the payment of commissions an...

    By Elaine Appleton Grant • July 1, 2007
  • Robotic process automation as an innovation improving productivity, reliability and repeatability in systems
    Image attribution tooltip
    NicoElNino. Retrieved from Shutterstock.
    Image attribution tooltip

    Ahead of the Tape

    Inventors of trading algorithms—computer programs that generate buy and sell orders and make lightning-quick trades — have picked up a bit of timeless wisdom from the stock operators of old. “The best of all tipsters,” Edwin Lefèvre wrote in a 1923 fictional account of the markets, “is the tape.”...

    By Economist Staff • June 25, 2007
  • Robotic process automation as an innovation improving productivity, reliability and repeatability in systems
    Image attribution tooltip
    NicoElNino. Retrieved from Shutterstock.
    Image attribution tooltip

    Ready for a Test Drive: XBRL Financial Tags

    The future of interactive data will be a lot nearer next month. The reason: A user-ready version of XBRL labels for information reported under generally accepted accounting principles will soon be ready for a test run.Speaking before the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council, Rob Blake,...

    By Alan Rappeport • June 19, 2007
  • Robotic process automation as an innovation improving productivity, reliability and repeatability in systems
    Image attribution tooltip
    NicoElNino. Retrieved from Shutterstock.
    Image attribution tooltip

    The Simple Complexity of XBRL

    The Securities and Exchange Commission’s push for interactive data is intended to make it simpler for people to use financial information. But as with any innovation intended to simplify life, it also comes with potential complications.At the recent SEC and Financial Reporting Institute Conferenc...

    By Alan Rappeport • June 13, 2007