The leadership team at Washington State University had just completed a major project—moving from a 40-year-old mainframe accounting and HR system to the cloud—when the COVID-19 pandemic upended everything yet again. WSU’s Chief Financial Officer and Vice President for Finance and Administration Stacy Pearson oversaw the university’s move to the cloud, and was integral in managing the institution’s response to the pandemic. In this sponsored episode of Cloud Wars Live, Stacy gives us a look into both of those major challenges, talks the evolution of the CFO role, and the future of higher education and technology.
The Big Themes:
- The lessons of the pandemic response – Stacy says she and her colleagues discovered that WSU as an institution could be much more nimble and fast-moving than they might have thought before
- Change management when moving to the cloud – Workday’s systems revolutionized the employee experience at WSU, which involved some challenges but mostly major benefits
- Evolution in the CFO role and in higher education in general – a need for flexibility and the breaking down of silos are key themes prompting change and technology adoption in both areas
The Big Quote: “Everything’s going to involve money. It’s all going to involve technology, high-level decisions about impacts, the need for data analysis and all of that… I think it’s a welcomed change that those silos will be broken down, not just for the CFO, but for other leaders at the campuses.”
You can also stream this episode in audio-only format:
This episode is brought to you by Workday.
