Proformative Announces Winners of Inaugural ProformaTECH 2014 Awards for Excellence

LAS VEGAS, Feb. 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Proformative, the pioneering leader in Enterprise Social Procurement™ for the office of the CFO, today announced the winners of the company's first annual ProformaTECH 2014 Awards for Excellence, designed to honor visionary CFOs and their teams who have fully embraced technology as a vehicle for driving breakthrough performance. Winners in three categories will be recognized during the closing presentation of ProformaTECH 2014—the premier technology conference for senior corporate finance-related executives—which is being held today at the Venetian Las Vegas.

Nominations for the ProformaTECH 2014 Awards for Excellence were evaluated by an independent panel of volunteer corporate finance executives chaired by Robert Kugel, CFA, senior vice president and research director at Ventana Research.

"As the CFO role continues to grow more strategic, the finance organization is increasingly called upon to enable corporate strategy and help their enterprises make better, more intelligent operating decisions," commented Kugel. "Technology is a crucial component to enabling these finance transformations and the winners of the ProformaTECH Awards for Excellence exemplify the tremendous potential and value of visionary and bold financial leadership."

Tom Walker, CFO of Tableau Software (NYSE: DATA), will be honored with the CFO Technology Leader of the Year Award for his leadership in leveraging technology to create a nimble data-driven finance organization. Designed with data consistency, flexibility, and scalability in mind, the company's new finance system is powered by a number of next-generation technologies, including cloud technology and the company's own groundbreaking data visualization software. Under Walker's leadership, Tableau's financial and enterprise performance management system—which enables real time decision-making capabilities—has been instrumental in driving the company's rapid growth.

Ginger Bleess will receive the award for Pioneering Finance Technology Leader of the Year as the financial planning and analysis manager of Aaron's, Inc. (NYSE: AAN), a specialty retailer of consumer electronics, computers, furniture, household appliances, and accessories. Responsible for FP&A for more than 1,800 franchise retail outlets, Bleess re-invented the company's outdated and unwieldy finance system by transitioning to a unified cloud-based platform. With the new financial and real time modeling capabilities, the company has seen a cascade of strategic benefits, which have enabled an unprecedented level of enterprise agility and innovation.

Windstream Holdings (NASDAQ: WIN) will be named the winner of the Most Effective Adoption of Technology by a Finance Organization award, which will be received by senior accountant Jennifer Moline. A leading provider of advanced network communications and managed services, the company embarked on an ambitious program to integrate multiple legacy systems into a single streamlined management reporting and forecasting system. With the successful finance transformation, Windstream has been able to dramatically boost the efficiency and effectiveness of the company's financial reporting, forecasting, and analysis capabilities.

The only practitioner-driven conference designed specifically for the CFO and the office of finance, ProformaTECH 2014 combines educational sessions, best practices and expert advice with a showcase of real-world applications across multiple technologies and industries. The event will feature CFOs and renowned subject matter experts who will share insights and advice on how leading organizations are leveraging technology to re-invent their corporate finance operations and enterprises, drive new growth, shrink operating costs, and discover new sources of competitive advantage.

"In industry after industry, technology is enabling the office of the CFO to fulfill its strategic potential by driving change and breakthrough performance across not only the finance function, but throughout the entire enterprise," commented Proformative co-founder and CEO John Kogan. "Proformative is proud to honor the vision and contributions of these extraordinary finance leaders and their organizations with our inaugural ProformaTECH Awards for Excellence."

About Proformative
The largest and fastest-growing online community and resource for the office of the CFO, Proformative is the pioneer in Enterprise Social Procurement™, a peer-driven community model enabling corporate finance professionals to make smarter, more informed purchasing decisions for complex enterprise products and services. Based in Silicon Valley, CA, Proformative reaches more than a million corporate finance and related executives at companies ranging from start-ups to the Fortune 500 and is comprised of more than 50,000 community members. Enterprise Social Procurement^TM is a trademark of Proformative.

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SOURCE Proformative