25 lessons from my 25 years

August 31, 2011. I have just officially turned 26. A new leaf of a new beginning is about to unfold. At this moment, I am in a state of nostalgia of the past 25 years of my life trying to recall all the memories and the lessons learned from the past 25 years of my existence. As a result, I come up with the 25 things I learned about life, love, friendship, failure and success for the past 25 years.

1.       A life without a purpose is like a gun without a bullet - it’s useless.

2.       There are no bad decisions. Only a failure to make one.

3.       All stories are love stories.

4.       Inferiority is a disease while superiority is hallucination.

5.       The world is initially black and white until one experienced to love and be loved.

6.       Big waves come from small scribbles.

7.       Success in business and in life depends more on your mental attitude than your mental capabilities.

8.       Friends come and go but their influences remain.

9.       A job is far different from a career.

10.   There is a world of difference between sound good reasons and reasons that sound good.

11.   Sell the sizzle not the steak.

12.   To gain one pound of success, be willing to eat tons of failure.

13.   Never ever say “I told you so”. Instead, ask them “How can I help?”

14.   If you can’t find a way, make one.

15.   Be not afraid.

16.   Algebra teaches us that in order to solve for “x”, we need to understand first “y”. The same is true in life.

17.   You are what you are not because of your upbringing, family, or affiliations but because of the choices you’ve made.

18.   Money is important but not essential. Dignity and integrity are.

19.   If you have the beauty, brains, money, and power, sleeping at night can be so difficult.

20.   Don’t just go with flow. Think first if you are in the right river.

21.   When in doubt, pray.

22.   In ascending the corporate ladder, building relationships is much important than building an arsenal of technical specialties.

23.   If you missed the train, wait for the next one. You may come late to your destination but you are still assured that you’ll get there.

24.   The world is full of disloyalty and deception. So be true to yourself.

25.   To love and be loved is the greatest achievement of life.

Apologies for the wrong grammar (if any). Attempting to rewrite every lesson learned from every experience is really hard.

Anyway, thanks for all your greetings!

Looking at the "Cloud"

(Sorry for the delay. Been busy lately. Here’s my article about cloud computing)

The increasing globalization has posed significant changes in the way we do business. As a result, process improvements led to automation, sophistication, and reduction of resources needed for business. One of these is the introduction of Cloud Computing.

The term cloud computing became the new buzzword when companies like Amazon.com, Google, HP, IBM, and Microsoft launched their cloud computing platforms that supports information processing and the delivery of services to their customers. It is defined by the National Institute of Science and Technology “as a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction”. Simply put, it refers to a “server-less” environment either on premise or on-demand by utilizing the web.

Why utilize the cloud?

The main driver towards the buy-in of cloud computing services by CFOs and CEOs is cost savings. In a cloud computing environment, there are no new infrastructure, no personnel training, no license cost, and no periodic maintenance cost (since it is server-less). Usually, cloud computing is subscription-based and pay-per-use service. An additional advantages of committing into a cloud computing service are agility, device and location independence, reliability in case of disaster, scalability, performance, security and maintenance.

Is there really cost savings?

However, CFOs and CEOs must be aware that the perceived savings from these cloud computing environments may not be fully realized because of the “hidden gotchas”. Jeff Muscarella, executive vice president of IT division of NPI, a spend-management consultancy says “six months-in, the CFO might be wondering where all the savings are”. According to him, there are six potential pitfalls that can make cloud cost pile up higher than expected:

1. Not taking full account of financial commitments on existing hardware. IT departments that have much of the responsibility for technology decisions and purchases may underappreciate the financial impact of committing to a cloud provider before existing physical equipment is fully depreciated. If that equipment cannot be repurposed, the ROI of moving computing workloads to the cloud may suffer.

2. Not factoring in your unique requirements when signing up for a cloud service. Most cloud offerings are fairly generic, as they are designed for the masses. For specialized needs, such as a retailer's need to comply with payment-card industry regulations, a company is likely to face additional charges. Be sure you understand such charges before signing a contract, says Muscarella.

3. Signing an agreement that doesn't account for seasonal or variable demands. In the contract, don't tie usage only to your baseline demands or you'll pay for it. If high-demand periods are not stipulated up front, there are likely to be costly up-charges when such periods happen.

4. Assuming you can move your apps to the cloud for free. Many software licenses prohibit the transfer of applications to a multitenant environment, but the provider may let you do it for a price. If you think you may want the flexibility, ask for such permission to be written into licenses at the time you're negotiating them.

5. Assuming an incumbent vendor's new cloud offering is best for you. Many providers have added cloud-based infrastructure to their traditional outsourcing and hosting services, but they're not motivated to give existing customers the lower price point that the cloud typically offers. "They're struggling with how to develop these new offerings without cannibalizing their existing revenue stream," says Muscarella. If you want to switch to a vendor's cloud services, do it at the end of the current contract term, when you can get negotiating leverage by soliciting other vendors.

6. Getting locked in to a cloud solution. Some cloud-services providers, notably Amazon, have a proprietary application program interface as opposed to a standardized interface, meaning you have to customize your data-backup programs for it. That could mean trouble in the future. "Once you have written a bunch of applications to the interface and invested in all the necessary customizations, it will be difficult — and expensive — to switch vendors," says Muscarella.

How secure is the cloud?

Data security and confidentiality have been the two major criticisms of the cloud computing environment.  Since cloud computing service providers essentially control and traffic a company’s data, a company usually cast doubts on the protection and privacy of its precious information. Most of the issues can be grouped into data access, data segregation, privacy, accountability, and account control. As we all know, the internet is a dangerous place where viruses, spam, and malicious sites exists. Not to mention the possibility of unscrupulous persons who might sell company information, including its employees information, to others.

IT experts have been arguing on the robustness of the security, accessibility, privacy and control of the cloud services. Others argue that on-premise cloud service is more vulnerable than the on-demand ones. Most of them claim they have built-in controls and has the capability to sustain it amidst the emerging challenges in the computing industry today.

How can we audit the cloud?

As an auditor, I personally experienced some difficulties in looking for procedures to audit the “cloud”. Unlike the typical and traditional ITGC audits, having a cloud service environment poses a disruption of linkage towards auditing the application level automated controls. Even Automated GRC Solutions is futile when it comes to monitoring the cloud as these solutions cannot connect and extract data from the cloud. What we can actually see is the input and output but not on how the processing is being performed. While cloud services argue that they only extract data residing in the ERPs, the auditors find it difficult to validate if the extracted data are really complete, accurate, and secure.

But since cloud computing falls on the category of a service provider, most resort to the procedures on auditing standards related to the audit of Service Organizations. Most providers obtain SAS 70 Type II certification by an independent auditor. But even this has been criticized on the premise of usually non-disclosure of standards used by the auditor and the auditee which may not be the same as the standards being looked upon by the user of the certification.

In summary, after all the arguments we raised, one this is for sure – cloud computing is making a significant change in the business landscape of this century. Companies, executives, stakeholders, auditors, consumers and clients and the general public must be alert on these kinds of development as it will surely affect their day-to-day activities as well as their precious information. 

Traversing the U-Turn

It’s been two years since I left one of the Big 4 as an audit senior.  But it feels like I left something in that CPA factory that I want to get back.

I left two years ago for a number of reasons.  I want a fair manager. I want to have a clear and defined work schedule like 8 to 5 or 9 to 6. I want to experience going to bed as early as 9PM every night.  I want to get rid of “sleepcomputing” which means calculating income tax payable in my dreams. Not to mention “sleep meetings” or when I speak while sleeping murmuring something like “Na-post na ba ung mga CAJE? Na-book na ba ung mga adjustments?”.  I want the idea of having my own cubicle without a messy desk filled with working papers and drafts of financial statements and audit reports. I want to experience a hassle-free, relaxed and smooth-sailing second week of April  -  before April 15. I need money to pay my bills. Simply put, I want the so-called “life”.

So I left public accounting and joined the bandwagon of “emancipated ones” and entered a multinational bank as an analyst for its Financial Planning and Analysis team or FP&A. FP&A is a sexy term so I thought it might suit a sexy guy like me (This is my blog! I have authority to say anything lol). And it did but only on the orientation day. The next days suddenly became a hell for me. I find routine accounting and finance works pretty boring. Everything is automated! And all I have to do is to extract or download data and “copy and paste” them into an Excel template where I extend only the formula in each cell after another series of “copy-paste” to generate the journal entries for posting to another application system.  I don’t even know what those numbers represent, or even the entries I post. I felt like I dropped my brain somewhere along Paseo de Roxas and I don’t mind of looking for it because I was able to survive for weeks without it anyway. The only best thing that I look forward everyday is having a cup of Bistro Deli’s brewed coffee and choco butternut doughnuts for breakfast (why mind of eating transfat if it’s the only thing that keeps me sane?!).

Then, after experiencing a life-changing retreat at Mt. Banahaw with Frank Regis as our facilitator, I rediscovered the purpose of my life. I am not meant to be an analyst or even an accountant. I still like doing audit and assurance and even consulting. Hence, I resigned after six months and joined a pharmaceutical giant as a risk and internal control professional.

Risk and Compliance is another sexy term. I was involved in a pioneering Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) automation project in the country. The compensation and benefits are really really great! Everything went well as I was able to apply my expertise in risk and control. I introduced best practice tools, I crafted a Control Self-Assessment Program and a Risk Awareness Campaign program. I facilitated trainings and workshops for process owners and I was also able to practice the writer in me via articles posted in the Company intranet and publications, and drafting/co-authoring/reviewing policies and procedures for the Company.  If not for my Big 4 experience, I wouldn’t be able to create everything from scratch.

You might be asking why the hell I still want to get out of my current work. Here’s the big picture: My work is superb, benefits are good, gym and boxing classes are free (this is a big opportunity cost for me lol), lots of bonuses and others. But I need to tell you I am three levels below the appropriate position or level in terms of my knowledge and skill set. I am receiving only half of my market value salary.  I am the youngest employee there in my 20’s while they are in their late 40’s and 50’s yet I patiently answers their naïve questions like “why do we need to test the design of a control?” and directs them on what to do (and they call themselves managers and directors).  Now I understand why external consultants didn’t have a hard time winning an engagement with these kind of companies.

You know, the unpleasant reality in large private companies is there is the limited and snail-paced career growth. Learning stops and trainings comes in a leap year-like manner.  You need to patiently wait for years and years until your boss retires, resigns or transfers to another department. But that itself is not an assurance because the trend nowadays is to replace them with outsiders from other companies.  In fact, there are employees who are stuck in their staff positions for 5, 10, 15 or 20 years or more.  Politics oftentimes serves as a great catalyst for climbing the corporate ladder and if you don’t belong to the so called “fraternity” forget about getting inside the inner circle of VP’s and C-level executives.  

If you are a CPA and you learned that the Finance Department (which is composed mostly of CPA’s) is the lowest paid (one reason is because it’s only a support service department), you might feel like you are a victim of your college professor who tortured you in every quiz and departmental exam during college. You didn’t took and passed the notorious CPA exam just to later on learn that those guys who play billiards during office hours at the company gym are the owners of top of the line cars parked outside the building. You dread yourself reconciling the balances, processing their transactions, payroll and month-end reports, while knowing that you can’t even buy a second-hand car in the profit share you received.

When I told these things to my superior he can’t but help to ask “Ang galing mo talaga. Paano mo nalaman agad yang mga yan?” which I answered, “Sir, auditor po ako. I know the control environment component of COSO by heart at malakas ang aking pakiramdam”.  Then he gave-up on brainwashing me in order to retract my resignation.

So I tendered my resignation and it shook our Boss’s cranium. Of course that reaction is expected because he will be handicapped after 30 days. It’s the middle of the year and performance evaluation is due at the end of the current month and it might affect his rating. But I promised to exit gracefully by completing all the scheduled deliverables up to the effective date of my resignation. People who attended my training and workshop didn’t even have a clue that I have already tendered my resignation because of my lively performance at the podium two days later.

Last week, as I was looking for copies of the financial reports I produced last 2009 (I am set for a partner interview in a Big 4 firm), I saw one small blue booklet which I used during my college and review school days. I browsed over its brownish pages and one small note caught my attention and made me bit my lips in an attempt to refrain from falling a tear. It read,

“Jay Olos, CPA, CIA, CFE, CMA, MBA,

Chairman, Olos, Olos & Co., CPAs”

I remember writing it while reviewing an Auditing Theory handout at PRTC Library sometime in 2006. It reminded me of my goal and my ambition. It reminded me of the interview question thrown at me by an HR Manager which I confidently answered “I wanna be a partner”. And it reminded me that it’s the right time to get back on track while the potential salary drop in my current compensation won’t hurt so much.

Some might be asking right now if I am out of my mind to go back to a job that demands meter-breaking stress levels. Well, maybe yes, I’m out of my mind and that’s made me distinct. The distinction I have as a CPA is my only weapon to rise above the rest of the working class just like other professionals do. Doctors have patients, teachers have students, lawyers appear on courts, engineers and architects builds buildings and infrastructures and even licensed personal trainers have gym clients.  So am I as a CPA, I should have my clients too. I wanna be my own boss with unlimited income potential.  I view it not as stereotyping but rather a pure professional calling. Yes, I am one of the 2% who had the calling to stay on one of the world’s toughest yet underpaid jobs.

I’m into a crossroad again, walking slowly as I think about the entirety of my career as of date.  I’ve been through all phases of accounting careers – finance, internal audit and risk management, public, and private. Having experienced both worlds gave me a realization of which career path to take.  

I have decided. I’m gonna make a U-turn.