Before I discuss my “Why OneStream?”, I will provide an abbreviated background for myself to assist you the reader in understanding my perspective.
I started with Hyperion Enterprise and Arbor Software’s primary product, Essbase, in 1998 at a time when for many users Excel was a shirt size, fax machines were dominant, and email was in its infancy on a Novell network. Over the next several years in the industry, I managed the FP&A process as well as developed, implemented, and supported the consolidation and management reporting solutions implemented by my former employer. In 2005, I changed careers transitioning to a consulting role learning and implementing the Hyperion / Oracle EPM suite of products: HFM, Planning, and later PBCS, FCCS, etc. as well as developing and implementing data warehouses and business intelligence solutions. Approximately five years ago, I switched the focus of my consulting career from the aforementioned products to OneStream software and the OneStream platform while staying current on the Oracle EPM products.
So Why OneStream? OneStream is a platform, not a product. So, what does that mean? From a business perspective, it means the end to spending time determining which product and technology to use as OneStream was developed to support Consolidations, xP&A, Management Reporting, Account Reconciliations, Strategic Finance, Governed Analytics, etc. providing a consistent technology platform. From an implementation perspective, the limitations and compromises of Hyperion / Oracle are eliminated due to a platform that is extensible, scalable, modern, and secure. From an IT perspective, you are in the driver’s seat, deploying a modern architecture that is operating in either your company’s data center or in the cloud.
You may be skeptical and want to know if this platform solves your business problem. I could respond yes it does, but that would shortchange you the reader. To determine whether, OneStream is appropriate for the organization you represent requires dialogue starting with what currently works in your implementation, what does not work, and where the organization is headed.
What I can provide in this blog are a few examples of common business challenges that OneStream solves. Let’s start with a question that commonly elicits a response that is less than favorable from Corporate Accounting or Finance which occurs at the end of the quarter when either external or internal audit has their routine compliance questions as well as new ones? From my experience, many organizations dread the meetings with auditors, and I would state simply that by implementing OneStream your audit risk is significantly reduced or eliminated. How? OneStream, due to its core data-change and audit tracking, answers the questions of when and who made changes to your data, metadata, reporting, and security with audit tables and standard reports that do not impact the performance of your application.
Do you spend more time explaining the limitations of your planning solution or working around the implementation with your planners? Have you shoehorned data into a cube when the data screams rows and columns? If you answered yes to any of these questions, the OneStream platform can change the planning process from a stovepipe application-oriented technology to an organizational platform. At the end of the day, planning is a people process and the technology should enable easy access, inquiry, and navigation. OneStream solutions reduce user friction with the implementation focused on reducing the burden to the planners while enabling value for these individuals.
Are you an administrator with variance reporting disconnected from the ERP or does drill through to present journal entries or other transactional data not exist? If you answered yes, the OneStream platform can provide a governed process that enables the journal entries or other relevant data for ERP summary balances without leaving OneStream to be presented in the context of the data intersection being investigated.
When your implementation is on-premise, have you needed a backup and restore to another application to create and test a request from Senior Management but waited days for a system outage and backup / restore? If you answered yes, there is an alternative as a backup, and restore from one application to another OneStream application can be as quick as five minutes using the last full database backup. If your implementation is cloud-deployed, then MarketPlace solution, Cloud Administration Tools, enables a self-service process to copy an application to another application with a three-step process.
If you want to learn more about how customers have successfully implemented OneStream, I encourage you to sign up for the OneStream user conference, Splash, which is being hosted by OneStream Software next week and attend How Presidio Transformed Finance Processes While Transitioning ERP Systems for a first-hand perspective on how implementing OneStream can transform an organization.
Thank you for reading the post and if you have any questions, feel free to either post a comment to the blog or email me at terry.ledet@perficient.com
