1. VP Service Source: Finance has a lotmore time for businessanalytics
Opento learning,understandingandgoodcooperationprocesses are the drivingforces behindhis
personal andbusinesslife forMike Lemberg(picture).Lemberghasspenthiscareerin bothlisted
and venture-backedtechnologycompanies.He isnow vice presidentof Service Source,aservice
providerinRecurringRevenueManagement.CFO.nl wentwithhimtotalkaboutchange,technology
and the transformative role of finance.
In the classicGrand Hotel Huister Duinen,betweenbaroquepaintings,goldpanelingandcrystal
chandeliers, we foundoutLembergwasaheadof itstime.Where many financials incompaniesare
strugglingwiththe adventof technologyandthe implicationsthathasfor the finance function, the
financialsof Service Source have littledoubt."Beforewe workedwithCloudService Source software
didmost of the planningandreportinginMS Excel and were 80 percentof our time engagedinthe
processingof dataand making connections.WithanintegratedHRandfinance system, we cannow
investourtime analyzestosupportthe business."
Knowledge businessdrivers
That a financial joinedin ateachmeetingisnotgoodnews inthe eyesof a classicbusiness.Few
employees are waitingforacontrollingfinancial whichiswatchingoverthe shoulderslookingfor
budgetoverrunsandrisks.AccordingtoLemberg that isnot goingonat Service Source."My
colleaguesinthe businesshave astrongneedforknowledgeaboutthe driversof the market.They
have manyquestionswhichare noteasyto findan answer.Finance canhelpinthis."Lembergherein
are linkingthe rise of bigdata.Salesprocessesandmarketingcampaignsare oftendigitallyand
customerbehaviorcanbe measuredonline.Thiswill bringmore andmore dataisavailable where
valuable informationisprivate.The knowledgeandskillstofilteroutthe useful informationisshared
betweenthe businessandpartlytofinance.
More time for businessanalytics
A prerequisite forcooperationwiththe financebusinessisthatnotall day behindanExcel
spreadsheetistogetthe financialsinorder.Thanks tothe new software implementation, financials
have more time."The companyhas more than fifteenyearsandisincreasinglyfocusingonthe
managementof the lifecycle of sales.We workworldwidewiththree thousandmen.Inthe beginning
we were able tomanage well withExcel,butasthe businessgrew alsotookthe complexityof
financials.There wasrelativelymuchtime sittingincheckingthe figuresandthe systemlessstable.
"Whenit became clearthatthe systembasedonExcel wasnot easymaintainablefinance,in
collaborationwithITandthe business,startedlookingforagood scalable systemforasmuchas
financials andHR.Theirsearch resultedinapartnershipwithWorkday,whichshe co-developmentof
a processwhichcontractedService Source alongwithWorkdaysoftware adaptedtothe needsof the
company.
Newsystemsare oftenencounteredwith muchresistance.At Service Source,the new software was
usedquickly."Withinamonthafterlaunchwas99.4 percentof employeesloggedintothe new
system.One of the reasonsisthat the systemprovidesaccesstodata that employeesgotothe very

2. heart,such as holidaysandthe daythe salary waspaid.That's one of the advantagesof combining
HR data and financialsinthe same system."Asthe financial andHRdata neatlyintoawell-running
systemare maintained,the financeteaminvestedindataanalysistosupportthe business.Forthis,
software ispurchasedfromAnaplan,bywhichinusingthe datafrom strategicWorkdaydata
analyzescanbe made.
Valuable analytics for business
Accordingto Lembergpreciselythe combinationof bothsystemshighaddedvalue."Withthe new
software,we hadreliable figuresinmuchlesstime.Thattime savingswe couldconvertthe systemof
Anaplanvaluable analysisforthe business."The vice presidentseesthe future of finance.He believes
that the functionof finance ismovingfurther towardmakinganalyzestosupportthe business.Thisis
of greatimportance forthe activityof Service Source.
By analyzingtrends,Service Source adapteditsownbusinessmodeltochangesincustomer
behavior.The companystartedthe processof taking overcontract renewal companies.Lemberg:
"We work stronglydatadriven.Ourvalue propositionwas:give usresponsibilityforthe contract
renewal thenwe will ensure thatyoursalesby15 percentincreases."Thiswasanattractive
propositionandlongservice Source couldthusconquerthe market. The situationchangedbecause
there are fewerandfewercompaniesare workingwithannual contractrenewalsandbecause the
cost and efforttoswitchcustomersare shrinking.Therefore Service Source alsohadto adapt its
offeringandthe companyisnowfocusedonautomatingandoptimizingrecurringrevenuestreams."
Growingwith the right information
Lembergisveryimportantthattheycontinue tofollow exactlywhatthe customerwants."We have a
rapidly changingmarketwhere customerswantyourmoves."The abilitytoquicklyswitchaccording
to the financial animportantdriverforthe growthof the company.Andgrowth,Lembergthere isa
happyman. "Iwant to winwitha goodteam andgrow the business.I have workedformany
technologycompanies.The keytogrowthisto have the right informationinanautomatedand
scalable solution.Sowe can stabbingourtime inanalyzesthatthe rightdecisionscanbe made."