Realizing the need for IT divisions to efficiently manage their finances, global IT provider HP recently expanded its IT Financial Management suite to include HP Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A), a solution for CIOs to “run IT like a business.”
The new offering, HP said, combines a financial planning and analysis capability linked to a financial data model, consolidating financial information from project, asset and configuration management systems, as well as enterprise resource planning (ERP) software.
FP&A will aid IT organizations use business analytics to improve decision making, operate efficiently and better align with the rest of the business, transforming IT into a performance-based, metrics-driven organization, the company said.
“IT organizations will be able to further streamline their businesses and track their company standing, with the help of readily available financial data. Companies who rely on IT services, meanwhile, will find that the FP&A solution validates IT as a strategic investment,” said David Tan, managing director, HP Philippines. “With FP&A, companies can quantify how their respective IT investments have affected workplace productivity and profitability.”
HP said the new offering’s approach will provide visibility of the end-to-end costs of a business service, aiding CIOs reduce variances between planned and actual spending, optimize underutilized assets and accurately allocate IT costs.
Furthermore, HP FP&A is capable of automating the process of consolidating financial information across labor and technology assets, the firm said. The software can be used as a standalone or in conjunction with other HP software from its financial management suite.
“HP is helping us enhance operational and strategic decision making by identifying ways to drive more value to our business while driving out inefficiencies,” said Allan Hackney, chief information officer, John Hancock Financial Services. “Our IT organization is better able to attract internal capital for investment by managing itself like a business in a transparent, fact-based manner.”
