Name: Fintan Diviney
Title: Area vice president for Australia and New Zealand, Adaptive Insights
Twitter handle: @fintandiv
How long have you been in your current role?
Four months. I spend the previous 13 years at Hyperion and Oracle. I was attracted to Adaptive Insights by the massive growth potential as well as the opportunity to work for the company with the highest customer satisfaction ratings in corporate performance management solutions (CPM).
What business technology issue is your organisation focusing on?
The speed of business is evolving, becoming faster than ever before. With this new found speed, business must accelerate responsiveness and implement data-driven strategic leadership to keep up with the pace. Adaptive Insights are enabling financial and operational leaders to manage with greater speed, intelligence, and control, enabling them to develop and execute plans and strategies that accelerate growth and drive success. By improving efficiency and freeing-up more time, Adaptive Insights is allowing finance to do what everyone really wants them to do – focus on analysing and sharing financial and operational metrics with executive decision-makers, helping businesses become more nimble and strategic.
With the emergence of cloud and SaaS, CIOs have a fantastic opportunity to help reduce IT spend and deliver more flexible and nimble business solutions.
What are your interests away from work?
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My family and staying fit. I am a keen runner but have to find an event to enter to ensure I have a goal and a plan to get there. I am also heavily involved with a charity, Cerebral Palsy Alliance and each year we take a group of young people with Cerebral Palsy to the top of Mount Kosciuszko to show disability is no barrier to personal achievement.
What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?
As a kid going to school one of my teachers would say, “Good better best, never let it rest until you’re good is better and you’re better best.” I think in today’s world you have to constantly evolve and improve to stay ahead of the competition.
Professionally, who do you admire most?
Sir Richard Branson. I love his passion and the fact that he challenges conventional business and rules.
How long have you been working in IT? How did you get into IT?
I have been in IT since leaving high school when I got offered a place at a local college in IT studies. I was tossing up IT and civil engineering, and on the advice of my dad took the IT offer. After graduating I worked as an analyst programmer and consultant working with finance to use technology as a way of improving processes and reducing costs.
If you weren't working in IT, what would you be doing?
Possibly running the family beef and dairy farm back in Ireland. You can take the boy out of the farm but you can’t take the farm out of the boy.
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A key pointer for keeping abreast of business technology trends?
Continue to research and network. Ensure you take the time to read and keep up-to-date with the fantastic online publications available. I take time every morning to read the latest business and IT news.
Working with CIOs across sectors, what is a key trend that is profoundly impacting the role, and how are they tackling it?
With the rapid pace of technology and business change, organisations cannot afford to be slow. CIOs are looking at how technology can make organisations more efficient, agile and competitive. With the emergence of cloud and SaaS, CIOs have a fantastic opportunity to help reduce IT spend and deliver more flexible and nimble business solutions.
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