Controls
Leverage
Efficiency
Verification
Effective
ROI
It is clear that there is still an outcry and a desperate need to reduce cost, streamline processes, implement robust controls and most importantly leverage existing technology to facilitate the demands of the finance organization.
If we conduct a survey to identify where most organization continue to invest their dollars, my guess would be in IT. The question is, “has it become out of control that it has hampered the financial analyst team and now they have to rely on additional resources to provide the information that they need for forecasting, budgeting, audits, special requests, etc.?”
Have you analyzed how much time your resources are utilizing in gathering data?
What medium do analysts use to gather information from Oracle, EPM, ERP and other relational databases once the data has finally become available to the analyst?
The frequent answer is: EXCEL :-O
Why are financial organizations utilizing a significant amount of their time in gathering data in this advanced era of information technology and not enough time to analyze the data thoroughly? So now, the data finally becomes available; unfortunately, month-end reporting, forecasting or budgeting season creeps in and the “analyst” puts the analysis on hold until after the madness is over - but wait, they can’t complete the analysis because it is now either quarter or year-end reporting. Unfortunately, their time is not utilized efficiently and definitely not effectively.
Who is Accountable for the integrity of the data? Is there an opportunity to improve controls within both the IT and Finance organizations? There is too much room for error and what or how much would that error cost you?
I have been in the Financial Reporting and Financial System role for over a decade and I can relate to both IT and Finance organizations frustrations. I am alerting you that this is not a sales pitch and I am not one to easily convince, those who know me will Strongly agree.
Tim Tow from Applied Olap Inc., was kind to present Dodeca to me. A one hour presentation turned into a two hour webcast meeting. Dodeca is designed to connect to any relational database via JDBC and Essbase database via a front-end spreadsheet that "looks and acts" just like EXCEL. Tim’s team designed a front-end spreadsheet software with drill down capabilities to multiple relational sources including Essbase and other third-party applications. If you want to take it to another level, you can take it as far as drilling down to view approved invoices. This was the highlight of the presentation in my mind. Needless to say, the data retrieval was seamless.
If we conduct a survey to identify where most organization continue to invest their dollars, my guess would be in IT. The question is, “has it become out of control that it has hampered the financial analyst team and now they have to rely on additional resources to provide the information that they need for forecasting, budgeting, audits, special requests, etc.?”
Have you analyzed how much time your resources are utilizing in gathering data?
What medium do analysts use to gather information from Oracle, EPM, ERP and other relational databases once the data has finally become available to the analyst?
The frequent answer is: EXCEL :-O
Why are financial organizations utilizing a significant amount of their time in gathering data in this advanced era of information technology and not enough time to analyze the data thoroughly? So now, the data finally becomes available; unfortunately, month-end reporting, forecasting or budgeting season creeps in and the “analyst” puts the analysis on hold until after the madness is over - but wait, they can’t complete the analysis because it is now either quarter or year-end reporting. Unfortunately, their time is not utilized efficiently and definitely not effectively.
Who is Accountable for the integrity of the data? Is there an opportunity to improve controls within both the IT and Finance organizations? There is too much room for error and what or how much would that error cost you?
I have been in the Financial Reporting and Financial System role for over a decade and I can relate to both IT and Finance organizations frustrations. I am alerting you that this is not a sales pitch and I am not one to easily convince, those who know me will Strongly agree.
Tim Tow from Applied Olap Inc., was kind to present Dodeca to me. A one hour presentation turned into a two hour webcast meeting. Dodeca is designed to connect to any relational database via JDBC and Essbase database via a front-end spreadsheet that "looks and acts" just like EXCEL. Tim’s team designed a front-end spreadsheet software with drill down capabilities to multiple relational sources including Essbase and other third-party applications. If you want to take it to another level, you can take it as far as drilling down to view approved invoices. This was the highlight of the presentation in my mind. Needless to say, the data retrieval was seamless.
As I ask questions and continue to discuss real challenges faced today by finance organizations, I am highly convinced that Dodeca will solve most of the challenges your finance organization is facing today in terms of gathering and analyzing data from multiple sources. Below are a few examples that I encountered or have witnessed within the finance organization:
Time Consuming Processes | Dodeca Benefits |
Gathering data for Audits | Drill back to source system instantly via spreadsheet |
Provide Hard Copies of invoices | Drill back to source system instantly via spreadsheet |
Validate analytic, planning and reporting data to source system | Drill back to source system instantly via spreadsheet |
Commentary Notes | Commentary notes are stored within relational/Essbase cubes and can be retrieved instantly via excel from relational or Essbase |
In summary, Dodeca is cost effective, it leverages existing technology and in my opinion addresses the concerns and frustrations that most finance organizations face today. I am an advocate for streamlining processes, implementing controls, leveraging existing systems and reducing cost – then again who isn’t? ROI’s should not solely consider the business bottom line; most importantly, it should account for your most valuable investment and that is people. Your analysts will appreciate the investment and they will be able to utilize their time effectively.
See Cantor Fitzgerald case study Dodeca
CLEVER MR. TOW
Nice blog..! Love to hear more about Dodeca.
ReplyDeleteRon Batra
ronbatra.blogspot.com
Visit Tim's website http://www.appliedolap.com/
ReplyDelete