TCS Study Finds More Than 50% of Global Senior Financial Leaders Get Short-Term Forecasts Wrong
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS), a leading global IT services, consulting, and business solutions organization, published the TCS 2021 Global Financial Leadership Study: The Next Era in FP&A, based on a survey of 750 global senior finance leaders. According to the new study, many of these executives admit they rely on their instincts rather than data, and their financial forecasting falls short—and it’s especially true during the ongoing pandemic.
The study reveals 50% of respondents say they consistently fail to deliver short-term forecasts or make significant errors. What’s more, only 54% percent say their teams possess sufficient risk assessment capabilities. These executives estimate that, on average, 43% of their financial planning and forecasting relies on intuition instead of analytics.
However, a small group of finance executives are leading the way. TCS’ study dubs them financial ‘Trendsetters’. Making up only 6% of the total respondents, they have more mature digital capabilities, operate in a more agile manner, and demonstrate greater use of AI and machine learning. Trendsetters also invest more in transformational financial planning and analysis capabilities to future-proof their respective organizations before the next big disruption.
The clincher: Trendsetters are clear leaders in agility, effectiveness, and investments while others(Followers) are simply trying to keep up:
o 9 out of 10 Trendsetters (91%) say they can reallocate resources quickly when business demands
shift. Fewer than half (48%) of Followers can say the same.
o 78% of Trendsetters believe they can develop budgets effectively, compared to only 43% of
Followers.
o 83% of Trendsetters say they are planning to increase investments in artificial intelligence and
machine learning capabilities throughout the next year, compared to 55% of Followers.
Despite the divide, current finance planning and forecasting shortcomings are driving organizations across the board to boost technology investments:
o 69% of all respondents said they plan to increase investments in cloud-based systems over the next
12 months; 63% say they already increased investments in cloud-based systems throughout the past
year.
o 67% plan to increase investments in data and analytics over the next year; 61% said they already did
so within the last 12 months.
Economist Impact launches The Sustainability Project with Infosys as Digital Innovation Partner
: Infosys (NSE, BSE, NYSE: INFY), a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, is the digital innovation partner for Economist Impact’s The Sustainability Project. The initiative is the first from Economist Impact, a new business within The Economist Group designed to catalyze growth and create change through a combination of policy research and insights, creative innovation and influence by working with leading organisations, NGOs, governments and foundations. Today marks the launch of The Sustainability Project which will deliver new content and community tools designed to accelerate sustainability solutions and drive worldchanging impact: economistimpact.com/sustainability
Economist Impact’s The Sustainability Project will actively engage a multi-disciplinary mix of stakeholders through market-leading policy research and insights, original content, events and interactive tools. To allow for an in-depth discussion around the most pressing issues, The Sustainability Project is designed to focus on five areas: Net Zero & Energy, Resilience & Adaptation, Circular Economies, Ecosystems & Resources and Social Sustainability.
Economist Impact and Infosys will continue to build upon the dynamic framework for The Sustainability Project including new interactive tools and community features that will enable convening and collaboration. This will include the development of a suite of participant services that will allow users to connect on solution-based discussions.
Claudia Malley, President/Managing Director partnerships, Economist Impact, said “We are working through a critical time in our world which is why we are investing in this new content and community platform. We are thrilled to work with Infosys on this important initiative to amplify the sustainability work from Economist Impact. We believe we can put the global spotlight on the most important issues around sustainability and elevate critical policy research, insights and partner work, not only to inform the discourse, but to convene the right community of leaders necessary for creating a sustainable future.”
Ashiss Kumar Dash, EVP and Segment Head - services, utilities, resources, energy at Infosys, emphasized “As the digital innovation partner of The Sustainability Project, Infosys will bring its digital services and capabilities to create an innovative experience that will contextualize the important issues and facilitate solutions-based thinking in order to set the agenda for global sustainability transformation. In a rapidly transforming world, such a dynamic project will bring stakeholders in the sustainability journey closer to the positive change our environment desperately needs”
HCL Technologies Named a Leader in IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Managed Multicloud Services
HCL Technologies (HCL), a leading global technology company, was named a leader in IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Managed Multicloud Services 2021 Vendor Assessment (Doc #US45977020, October 2021).
According to the report, through its portfolio of cloud services, HCL can assist enterprises in migrating and modernizing enterprise organizational structures, processes and IT environments to operate in a cloud model. Key building blocks involve HCL's end-to-end portfolio of managed multicloud services from transformation to operations, ecosystem operating model, industry-based solutions and automation, frameworks and accelerators.
The value proposition of #HCLCloudSmart program is to maximize business value, reinvent the customer experience, modernize the digital core, drive continuous innovation, develop a comprehensive cloud culture and create a sustainable future,” said David Tapper, Vice President, Outsourcing and Managed Cloud Services, IDC. “HCL does this by combining its three strategic business segments — IT and Business Services (ITBS), Engineering and R&D Services (ERS), and Products and Platforms (P&P) — into what the company calls a Cloud Smart ecosystem."
The report evaluated managed multicloud service providers based on more than 100 criteria and 27 indepth customer interviews, spanning 10 countries and 11 industries. With this recognition, HCL has been named a leader for cloud services in all the major analyst assessments.
“Our end-to-end portfolio of managed multicloud services, combined with the #HCLCloudSmart strategy helps enterprises rethink organizational agility, drive operational excellence and reimagine how to thrive in this hypercompetitive world,” said Kalyan Kumar, Chief Technology Officer and Head of Ecosystems, HCL Technologies. “We bring more certainty to the cloud journey through our proven expertise, automated frameworks and ecosystem of leading technology partners.”
Cipla launches Spirofy®: Strengthens its lung leadership position by facilitating early diagnosis for COPD
: Cipla Limited (BSE: 500087; NSE: CIPLA EQ; and hereafter referred to as "Cipla") announced the launch of Spirofy®, India's first pneumotach based portable, wireless Spirometer, on World COPD Day. With this launch, the company intends to revolutionize Obstructive Airway Disease (OAD) diagnosis, in line with its ambition to strengthen its position as the lung leader in India. This a part of the Company’s #LungAttack campaign that endeavors to drive awareness about COPD and encourage early diagnosis.
Cipla's Spirofy® is a result of 5 years of meticulous in-house research by the Integrated Product Development (IPD) team, and it aims to transform Obstructive Airway Disease (OAD) diagnosis in India. This advanced device ensures high result accuracy and individual patient safety using Bacterial Viral Filters. Spirofy® is entirely wireless with good battery backup, making it suitable for use in outdoor camps, remote areas with power shortages, or simply providing physicians' flexibility and ease of use. The device generates reports in real-time, which can be printed using a portable wireless thermal printer instantly, or a pdf version can be shared on the phone. Cipla will undertake training of physicians in the interpretation of spirometry results.
Spirometry is the gold standard for COPD diagnosis, however owing to the bulky size, complex functionality, need for regular maintenance are some reasons that impacted the widespread acceptance of conventional spirometers by medical practitioners. This resulted in underdiagnosis or misdiagnosis of COPD cases in India. Currently, COPD remains the 2nd most common cause of death2 in India after heart diseases, where India alone bears 32% of the global COPD burden.
ABB India flags off ‘Energy Efficiency Movement’ and highlights the importance of industrial energy efficiency
• ABB’s #energyefficiencymovement is a multi-stakeholder initiative to raise
awareness and initiate action to reduce energy consumption and carbon
emissions to combat climate change
• Introduces ‘synchronous reluctance motor technology and drive package' that
takes energy standards to IE5 level in India
• Partners with ‘Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy’ (AEEE) to champion
the cause of sustainable technologies
• ABB India’s 10 years of motors and drives installed base saved nearly 12 terrawatt hours of electricity, equivalent to 1% of India’s annual energy consumption
As Energy efficiency becomes a center point in reducing climate change risks, the need to promote adoption of sustainable technologies gain greater significance. ABB India is playing an active role in leading this movement, by bringing stakeholders together and offering solutions that can help in achieving energy goals.
Decarbonizing industries with a focus on SMEs While industries are the economic growth engines, they account for around one-fourth of the total greenhouse gas emissions.
“Driving carbon neutrality would not only help India meet its net zero targets but would also help in adopting a green economic model on a large scale. At ABB, we are working closely with both large industries and the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to accomplish their energy goals,” said Sanjeev Arora, President, Motion Business, ABB India Ltd. “Our technologically superior motors, drives and digital technologies facilitate industries, buildings and infrastructure sector to optimize operations while reducing environmental impact,“ he added.
Keeping the world turning, while saving energy every day! Over the past 10 years, ABB’s installed base of motors and drives in India has saved nearly 12 terra-watt hours of electricity. ABB is determined to achieve carbon neutrality in its own operations by 2030. While leading by example, ABB is also creating an impact by enabling its customers operating in different industrial segments, to reduce carbon footprint. ABB has helped Wonder Cement – a leading cement manufacturing company in Rajasthan with its regenerative solution to save close to 2 giga-watt hours which is equivalent to monthly energy consumption of over 9000 Indian households or 1400 tons of CO₂. Rs. 4 Lakhs of electricty consumption and provided better power quality. This solution was delivered in collaboration with the centrifuge manufacturer D. Parikh Engineering Works. Introducing the best available motor efficiency technology for Indian custom