The Shared Services challenge: data to drive your business

CEOs in the world’s growth markets are looking for transparency, business integration, and to extract every advantage they can from the data within their reach. Jane Ann Westpheling, who heads IBM’s global process services group for growth markets, challenges shared services to think about how they could be of more value to their enterprise by taking advantage of the data that already exists in their organization. She talks "CEO priorities" with SSON’s Barbara Hodge.

If you were charged with managing global process services for all the world’s "growth markets" [basically, everything except North America, Europe and Japan] you’d want to know what CEOs are thinking – right? Jane Ann Westpheling does know, as she has clocked up many hours and many miles talking to heads of organizations in Asia, South America, and other regions with growth potential.

What they've told her is that they need to be able "to fit the data together" – whether internal or external. They especially want insights to their customers, whose behaviors are constantly changing, so it’s important to understand what drives their decision-making.

Greater visibility and transparency when it comes to employees, financial systems, and clients are going to help CEOs succeed in growth markets.

Don't miss this interview with one of today's global thought leaders.

[inlinead]