Dive Brief:

• A joint study conducted by Oracle and the MIT Technology Review found that cloud-based data-sharing between HR and finance allows companies to better manage change. The study polled 700 C-level executives and HR, finance and IT managers.
• The study also shows that 46% of managers and 47% of C-level executives said they were better able to reshape and resize their organizations after implementing data sharing via the cloud. More than a third of the respondents said that cloud-based data sharing removed some of their tedious work, allowing them to focus on strategic initiatives.
• Other key results from the study found that 37% of the respondents used the cloud to improve data-sharing; 52% of C-level executives said the relationships between HR, finance and IT were better after sharing data; and 42% of the respondents planned to give employees management-skills training to help advance them beyond their back-office responsibilities.

Dive Insight:

Departments that share data beyond their typical silos have always served their organizations well, long before cloud technology came on the scene. However, the technology has made data sharing easier and more effective, as the study shows.

HR is more than ready for cloud-based data sharing. An Information Services Group study predicted that more than half of participants will have their HR systems fully or partially cloud-based by 2020. Researchers also believe that 32% of companies will be entirely cloud-based by that same year.

HR professionals have long sought a seat at the table alongside other C-level executives, like those in finance and marketing. HR leaders know that understanding the finance side of their organizations and aligning HR strategic goals with their organizations' is a crucial way to gain that seat.

Cloud-based data sharing can help cement HR — the overseer of human capital management — as a strategic business partner.