Pandemic sparks efficiency surge for finance professionals, says new research by Onguard

Furthermore, 21% reported that their organisation invested in specialist software in order to facilitate the transition to remote working, resulting in just under three quarters of respondents stating they can now work effectively from home, and only 35% still in need of software to collaborate well.

Marieke Saeij (pictured), chief executive officer of Onguard, explained: “It is certainly admirable how English businesses have adapted during the pandemic. Pre-pandemic, digital transformation initiatives within many organisations were to be spread across multiple years, but the events of this year meant that businesses could not wait to implement further strategies. Almost exclusively, colleagues now update each other digitally. Because of this, it’s crucial that organisations have the right software in place to keep everything running effectively.”

Founded in 1993, Onguard began as a credit management software provider and over the last 27 years has evolved to offer a wide range of innovative solutions for the order-to-cash chain. Its integrated platform is designed to connect all processes involved in the order-to-cash chain and enables the sharing of critical data.

With customers spread across more than 50 countries, Onguard’s platform uses a selection of key technologies such as API’s, robotics, machine learning, bid data and AI to boost each customer’s efficiency in the order-to-cash process.

The company also pointed to research conducted in the UK prior to the pandemic which suggested that employees’ resistance to digital transformation was a major challenge, whereas in the post-pandemic world, only 11% of organisations view employee attitudes as a barrier to change.

Saeij continued: “Due to the challenge of finance professionals communicating via digital tools, it is important that data is kept up-to-date and contains real-time insights so professionals can make the correct remote decisions in an efficient and collaborative way. With the help of the right software, the finance professional can be sure they always have the correct data to do their job and assist both the organisation and customer moving forward.”

Looking ahead, 61% of financial professionals would like the flexibility to keep working from home permanently, thanks to the benefits provided by new technology.