Market Perspectives

The annual Ventana Research Digital Innovation Awards showcase advances in the productivity and potential of business applications, as well as technology that contributes significantly to the improved processes and performance of an organization. Our goal is to recognize technology and vendors that have introduced noteworthy digital innovations to advance business and IT.

Ventana Research has awarded Workiva ESG its prestigious 2023 Office of Finance Digital Innovation Award. This award is given to the vendor that best exemplifies innovation and change for the Office of Finance, supporting an organization’s ability to maximize its people, processes, information and technology. All finalists in the area of Office of Finance were considered for this award.

After a decade of limited technological innovation, the Office of Finance is experiencing significant transformation. The need to operate with greater agility and make more effective use of departmental resources is driving executives to invest in technology to meet the growing demands.

Ventana Research selected Workiva for the 16th Annual Office of Finance Digital Innovation Award for Workiva ESG. Workiva defines its mission as facilitating better communication between organizations and its shareholders, consumers, employees and other stakeholders about its financial and non-financial information. Its software is designed to streamline processes, connect data and teams, and ensure consistency within its platform.

Demand for environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting is growing worldwide, so organizations are being called on to provide disclosures about their environmental stewardship, social responsibility and corporate governance. Regardless of whether and to what extent these are formally mandated or not, organizations need the ability to streamline the collection and staging of ESG-related data to be able to report this information accurately and consistently within mandated or generally accepted guidelines. Workiva ESG makes this possible utilizing the capabilities of the Workiva platform while providing the ability to craft and assemble the narratives, charts, tables and exhibits for formal disclosures in whatever format is required.

Managing sustainability and ESG requires reporting that supports complex topics confronting senior executives, especially given the degree of uncertainty around pending legal and regulatory requirements. Systems must be able to relate these to internal objectives, methods and frameworks for assessing these non-financial elements of a company’s performance. FP&A groups need a strategy to enable their organization to meet ESG reporting needs, especially in managing the process of evolving objectives across the organization.

Technology is the key to achieving efficient compliance with ESG mandates. We recommend that organizations assess and evaluate Workiva for its ability to make compliance and reporting mandates easier, more assured and more productive. Congratulations, Workiva, for your continued innovation.