1. Company insight > Asset finance & leasing
Finance Director Europe | www.the-financedirector.com58
N
o matter how they differ in terms of size or
business models, enterprises across Europe
share a familiar challenge. A growing wave of
technology innovation is sweeping the continent and
creating opportunities to improve efficiency, reduce costs
and serve customers with exciting new services.
Unfortunately, continuing economic challenges are
forcing prudent senior executives to maintain tight
control on budgets, which makes funding for new
technology investments scarce. The question is: how
can organisations capitalise on technology advances to
compete and grow while addressing budget realities?
The answer for a growing number of enterprise leaders
lies in creating flexible financing models that augment
traditional IT budgets. The key players in this solution
are chief financial officers that play strategic roles in
finding flexible funding solutions and the right technology
partners that not only deliver industry-leading
technologies, but also offer expertise in funding solutions
and financing tools.
Disruption reigns
Technology disruption is the new normal in Europe today.
The catalysts are four game-changing trends:
„„ Cloud computing − organisations can dynamically
provision IT resources to business units as needed to
address spikes in demand or new opportunities.
Business leaders no longer have to wait weeks to
procure and implement new hardware and software.
„„ Mobile computing − agile mobile applications and
hardware deliver enterprise data and services to staff
members and clients anytime and anywhere they’re needed
to increase efficiency and improve customer service.
„„ Social media − by engaging customers through
familiar social networks, enterprises maintain consistent
communications and higher levels of customer experience.
Enterprise leaders face a delicate balancing act − how to quickly capitalise on
the benefits of today’s innovative technologies while simultaneously addressing
the realities of ongoing budget constraints. Stephan van Beek, EMEA director
of marketing and business development at Oracle Financing, explains how
creative funding models provide the answer.
Flexible funding models
fuel innovation
Oracle Corporation, a global provider of hardware and software solutions, has its iconic headquarters in Redwood City, California, US.

2. Company insight > Asset finance & leasing
Finance Director Europe | www.the-financedirector.com 59
„„ Big data − sophisticated solutions for managing and
analysing all types of data enable organisations to
understand new business opportunities faster than
competitors and quickly address emerging problems
before they develop.
Together, these disruptive forces are creating significant
opportunities for cutting costs, increasing efficiency and
delivering innovative services − but only if line of business
managers can quickly capitalise on these technologies.
Unfortunately, IT budgets at many organisations today
provide little extra funding for new technology projects.
The result is that, in some cases, line of business managers
eager to implement a new service or capability may find
they have to invest money from their own budgets, rather
than do without an innovation because the IT department
can’t pay for it.
The strategic CFO
Given these challenges, how can organisations find the
funding they need for innovation, while balancing cost
constraints? CFOs are on the front lines of these powerful
forces, and increasingly these executives are helping to
drive change throughout their organisations due to their
ability to bridge activities between the IT department and
the line of business units.
Their expertise in financial matters further enables them
to help find new ways to fund technology innovation
outside of the traditional IT budget. With creative funding
models that take advantage of all available tools and
resources, enterprises can make strategic IT acquisitions
that align project expenses with the organisation’s business
objectives and internal processes.
Another key component for developing customised and
innovative funding strategies is a technology partner that
understands the funding challenge enterprises grapple with
today and that has unique financial resources for addressing
the challenge. With help from the right partner, CFOs can
benefit from investment vehicles that fund transformational
technologies outside standard IT budgets. Some savvy
enterprises are working with their technology vendor to create
multiyear funding plans that leverage expected future revenues
or cost savings that result from an investment in innovation.
For example, financial experts within Oracle Financing
are adept at helping European enterprises balance modern
business goals with new IT business models and create
plans for optimising investments in technology based on
the value a new project will deliver to the business. One
funding option is a self-funded, multiyear implementation
plan with phased-in upgrades across all operations. Using
this system, each operating unit is able to align the cost of
access to new technology with the practical benefits they
expect to receive.
While each funding strategy should be customised to the
unique needs of individual organisations, the process of
creating the right plan typically requires four key ingredients:
1. Experts who can work with CFOs, business managers
and IT executives to analyse near and long-term IT
goals to create a framework for determining the best
funding model.
2. Advisers who have extensive expertise in investment
best practices for both software and hardware solutions.
This expertise is essential for helping customers
determine whether the best funding approach is one
that will draw from the operational or the capital budget.
3. Choice aligned with customer preferences in how they
want to use, locate, manage and acquire technology.
The right partner will enable customer choice with a
wide range of financial solutions designed to optimise a
client’s technology acquisition.
4. Business partners with the ability to help enterprise
leaders determine the best acquisition strategy.
For example, some solutions may be funded best
through working capital, while others will benefit from
payments made over time with leasing contracts that
can bring costs in line with the benefits gained from
the new technology.
A roadmap for success
Innovative technologies don’t have to be disruptive to
business plans for funding models. CFOs just need a
technology partner with a full portfolio of innovative
solutions, a long history of helping customers develop
creative financial strategies for new projects and keen
understanding of today’s economic realities. Together
they can determine the best roadmap for technology
investments and a funding model that promotes success.
Further information
Oracle Financing
www.oracle.com/financing
Enabling innovation
What progressive
enterprises need
What Oracle Financing delivers
The flexibility to fund IT
investments as a cost of
sales, or as a percentage
of revenue
Multiyear investment plans
aligned with growth projections
Options to pay for IT
modernisations as benefits
from investments accrue over
multiple years
A plan for consistent
payments over time based
on the additional revenues
resulting from new investments
Tailored licensing agreements
for new software
Expertise in determining the
right licensing model for new
business requirements
Financial analysis of the
various acquisition options
and how they may impact key
corporate metrics
Deep experience in how
technology and the latest
innovations benefit business
operations and an understanding
of financial best practices to
identify the right funding model
for each situation