CFOs Adapt Business Models to Real Time Metrics, Data

The role of the chief financial officer has changed over the last 10 years. It’s no longer just about financial statements and the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Instead, it involves developing and managing operations and growth strategies.

“In my mind, the CFO’s role today is very focused on scaling the business and making data-driven decisions,” Avi Israel, CFO of Ermetic, told PYMNTS. “We need to build the infrastructure to support rapid growth and use data to measure all aspects of the business.”

Israel will be doing just that as CFO of Ermetic, the cloud infrastructure security company that named him to the job last month after it raised $100 million in Series B funding.

Meeting the Pressing Demands of a Rapidly Growing Business

Israel told PYMNTS that the most pressing demands he faces as the CFO of a rapidly growing business are building and continuously refining the business model, efficiency metrics and tracking data on every part of the business.

“We are experiencing significant growth that brings challenges on all fronts,” Israel said of Ermetic. “Our main challenge is to stay ahead of the game while allowing the company to grow rapidly with a responsible management of the financials and resources in general.”

The cybersecurity industry in which Ermetic works achieved another new all-time high last year, and that segment will probably remain a leader within the software-as-a-service (SaaS) sector, Israel said.

“Customers recognize they need cloud-native security solutions and are making near-term investments,” Israel said. “I believe this trend will continue in 2022 as more and more companies, not just early adopters, will deploy cloud security products like Ermetic’s.”

Improving Customer Experience

Like other companies, Ermetic is focusing on automation and streamlining workflows both to remain efficient and to deliver service to customers.

“As a business-to-business company, payments are usually not made via credit cards due to the larger amounts,” Israel said. “However, at scale, the process of invoicing a customer and getting paid is definitely part of the efficiency and the ease of doing business that a company wants and has to present to its customers.”

Israel said Ermetic doesn’t issue checks but sometimes gets checks from customers in the U.S.

“It is not ideal, especially with today’s challenging postal environment,” Israel said. “Having said that, checks represent a very small portion of our payments.”

Following its most recent funding round, Ermetic aims to continue its rapid growth.

“We plan to invest the funds in continuous innovation of our technology in order to always improve the experience we provide to our customers,” Israel said. “We will also use the funds to support growth and scale up the business.”