The Future of Finance

Technology is transforming the state of business at a faster rate than ever before. According to the Altimeter Group, 88 percent of organizations are undergoing some type of transformation today.1

However, when 78 percent of the average finance department’s time is spent on transaction processing,3 your ability to provide insight is limited.

And while digital technologies have had a huge impact on sales, marketing and HR, the majority of finance departments are stuck using outdated and disparate systems.

It’s time for that to change. What you really need is a hyperconnected, insight-driven, agile cloud solution that can help you add value to your organization. But how do you start migrating these mission-critical finance processes to the cloud?

These organizations know that it’s a case of do or die; disrupt or be disrupted.

0 %

After all, since 2000,

52 percent

of the companies in the Fortune 500 have either gone bankrupt been acquired, ceased to exist or dropped off the list.2

Journeys to More-Efficient Processes

Click on the challenge that corresponds to your current situation and see how you can begin your journey to optimize your back office.

...

I can’t make fast, accurate decisions due to siloed information and disparate data.

Making the right decisions at the right time is a true differentiator in modern business, but without accurate and timely data, real-time decision-making is nearly impossible.

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...

I can’t consistently manage my contracts and get the best discounts from my suppliers.

Managing contracts ad hoc via email stops procurement managers from getting full visibility across all suppliers, leading to negotiation that is less than effective. It’s also easy to miss out on discounts that could offer improved margins. Without the complete picture, it’s impossible to add value to the organization or deliver intuitive self-service procurement.

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...

I need to optimize inventory to maximize our margins across supply chains.

From inventory and transport management to order processing, it’s important to balance cost versus profit across the supply chain. Limited visibility, poor collaboration, and disconnected systems prevent supply-chain managers from getting the best margins while optimizing inventory requirements.

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...

I can’t close the books quickly and efficiently.

For many organizations, the close process is burdened by an inefficient ERP system that cannot keep pace with business. In addition, many struggle with manual, inefficient financial close processes and increased reporting requirements.

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Break Down Data Silos and Make Faster, More Accurate Decisions

Data volumes are growing—and they’re only just getting started. Experts predict that by 2020, there will be a 4,300 percent increase in annual data generation.

As data growth accelerates, ensuring a universal picture of the truth will become increasingly problematic—and increasingly important for finance departments across all industries.

Taking finance to the cloud.

Cloud finance solutions are the key to mitigating the impacts of data growth. An integrated cloud solution brings together all finance data under a single pane of glass, offering visibility and data-driven insights to all relevant stakeholders.

Consolidating finance processes in the cloud provides a single view of operations without the costly and lengthy implementations that inhibit on-premises ERP. And by following this journey to the cloud, finance leaders achieve the benefits of cloud solutions at their own pace—without interrupting existing systems and processes.

By 2020, there will be a 4,300 percent increase in annual data generation.

Your Journey to the Cloud:

Step 1: Planning and Budgeting

The first step is to move away from manual planning and budgeting. Organizations using spreadsheets can quickly find themselves with disconnected data, limited visibility, and an inability to collaborate and share key business insights.

Taking planning and budgeting processes to the cloud can help streamline financial budgeting and forecasting, and offers all finance stakeholders visibility into key data from any location—and on any device.

Today’s ERP and forecasting. The key characteristics of ERP:

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Oracle Planning and Budgeting Cloud Service for CyraCome. Eradicating financial spreadsheet errors.

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Step 2: Core Financials

The next step is to take other core financial processes to the cloud to join planning and budgeting.

By integrating and automating financial management, reporting, planning, budgeting and forecasting, procurement management, project costing, and billing together in the cloud, you can make even smarter business decisions with built-in, real-time financial dashboards, reporting, and analytics.

Thrive in the digital age. Supporting today’s finance leaders.

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Step 3: Procure to Pay

With core finance firmly in the cloud, the next step is to migrate the entire procure-to-pay (P2P) process to the cloud.

By integrating core finance, procurement, and supply processes together in the cloud, finance stakeholders can ensure that only approved suppliers are used, delivering continued internal customer satisfaction. Integrated procure to pay in the cloud can also help supply-chain and finance managers deal with increasing demands on their organization without increasing costs or adding headcount.

ERP Cloud at your fingertips. Delivering a modern ERP Cloud experience.

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Modernize your P2P process. Streamlining all aspects of the P2P cycle.

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Step 4: Complete Transformation

The final stage is taking other lines of business to the cloud.

With integrated finance, HR, supply-chain, sales, and marketing data all in the cloud, you’ll have a wide array of data that can help you drive deep predictive analytics throughout the business, helping build significant competitive advantage.

Lead in the digital economy. Customer success stories for Oracle Cloud applications.

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Pandora Media Selects ERP Cloud to Compete Against Global Giants

Narrative:

Pandora media is a US$900 million internet radio provider, allowing you to listen to the music you love. Pandora pioneered the idea of a personalized radio station, but today is wrestling against the entry of giants such as Amazon and nimble competitors like Spotify.

Triggers:

  • To run its business, Pandora finance executives had to draw together information trapped in 15 to 20 different systems and cloud services. Executives could not get access to real-time and deep reporting on the various accounts they used.

  • Primarily targeted at the US and Australia/New Zealand market, Pandora had plans to go global with its service, and needed a robust ERP system to handle its global ambitions and serve a growing employee and customer base.

  • Pandora now operates on one scalable ERP cloud, reducing integrations and providing greater insight for executives.

Many Journeys, One Destination

Whatever your challenges, we hope you can see a solution in the cloud. The roadmaps above are just a few journeys that finance and supply-chain leaders can take to achieve the benefits of the cloud at a pace that matches the specific needs of their organization.

To learn more about how you could improve decision-making in the cloud, use the Oracle Financials Cloud Assessment Tool, here:

Take the test

Effectively Manage Contracts and Suppliers

When you’re in charge of contracts and suppliers, you’re responsible for continued internal customer satisfaction, and driving profitability through the business. Managing suppliers by email reduces your ability to manage contracts effectively.

Without streamlined, automated and high-visibility procurement processes, organizations miss out on key supplier discounts, reducing their ability to manage costs against profits.

A lack of visibility can also reduce procurement officers’ ability to control purchasing throughout the business. If they can’t influence the business and ensure approved suppliers are used, internal satisfaction and profitability can be put at risk.

Taking procurement to the cloud.

Consolidating in the cloud can provide a single view of procurement without the costly and lengthy implementations that inhibit on-premises solutions. And by following this journey to the cloud, procurement managers can achieve the benefits of cloud solutions at their own pace—without interrupting existing systems and processes.

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Only 55 percent of spend is contract-compliant. Only 63 percent is linked to a purchase order.4

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  1. Ardent Partners, “CPO Rising 2015: The Agility Agenda (Report) Is Now Available,” ardentpartners.com/2015/04/cpo-rising-2015-the-agility-agenda-report-is-now-available.

Your Journey to the Cloud:

Step 1: Contract Management

The first step is to move away from manual, ad hoc contract management. Organizations using email to manage suppliers and procurement can quickly find themselves missing out on discounts that can offer improved margins.

Taking one process like contract management to the cloud can help improve procurement visibility, and help managers find the very best price across all approved suppliers and external contractors.

Step 2: Procure to Pay

From there, the next best step is to migrate remaining procure -to-pay (P2P) processes to the cloud.

By integrating all procurement and supply processes together in the cloud, procurement managers can ensure only approved suppliers are used, to help deliver continued internal customer satisfaction. Integrated P2P processes in the cloud also help supply-chain and finance managers deal with increasing demands on their organization without increasing costs or adding headcount.

Land O’Lakes enhances spend visibility. Oracle Fusion Procurement delivers big annualized benefits.

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Step 3: Financials and Planning

With core procurement processes firmly in the cloud, the next step is to migrate financials and planning.

Organizations using spreadsheets to manage financial processes can quickly find themselves with disconnected data, limited visibility, and an inability to collaborate and share business insights across finance, supply chain and procurement.

Taking financials and planning to the cloud can help streamline processes, drive smarter supply-chain decision-making, and simplify financial compliance in new markets and geographies.

Step 4: Complete Transformation

The final stage is taking other lines of business to the cloud.

With integrated finance, HR, supply-chain, sales, and marketing data all in the cloud, you’ll have a wide array of data that can help you drive deep predictive analytics throughout the business, helping build significant competitive advantage.

Panduit reduced transport overheads by 20 percent.

Lead in the digital economy. Customer success stories for Oracle Cloud applications.

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Panduit Optimizes Freight Management

Narrative:

Panduit is a world-class provider of infrastructure and automated solutions that serve enterprise data centers, industrial construction, industrial automation, and original equipment manufacturers.

Triggers:

  • Panduit couldn’t maintain quality relations across its complex portfolio of distributors and suppliers.

  • As Panduit’s physical infrastructure management solutions continued growing, it needed a way to optimize freight management and deliver a consistently superior customer experience.

  • Panduit has optimized its shipments and reduced transport overheads by 20 percent.

Many Journeys, One Destination

Whatever your challenges, we hope you can see a solution in the cloud. The roadmaps above are just a few journeys that finance and supply-chain leaders can take to achieve the benefits of the cloud at a pace that matches the specific needs of their organization.

To learn more about how you could improve decision-making in the cloud, use the Oracle Financials Cloud Assessment Tool, here:

Take the test

Optimize Inventory to Maximize Margins Across Supply Chains

Supply-chain professionals must optimize inventory across a complex array of suppliers, partners, retailers, and transport, and simultaneously balance cost and profit across all of these elements. Managing the supply chain across complex global corporate structures can be a challenge, especially when manual systems limit visibility and collaboration.

Complex, on-premises ERP, EPM, and SCM tools, especially when stitched together from multiple vendors, lack the speed and simplicity needed to help supply-chain managers properly connect inventory requirements to the whole picture. Their on-premises systems inhibit communication and prevent effective collaboration.

Taking the supply chain to the cloud.

Consolidating in the cloud can provide a single view of operations without the cost and lengthy implementations that inhibit on-premises supply-chain solutions. And by following this journey to the cloud, supply-chain managers can achieve the benefits of cloud solutions at their own pace—without interrupting existing systems and processes.

0 %

65 percent of procurement departments lack streamlined, automated processes.5

  1. Deloitte, Ardent Partners, “The Deloitte Global CPO Survey 2016 Procurement: At a Digital Tipping Point,” www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/nl /Documents/operations/deloitte-nl-operations-global-cpo-survey-print-pdf.pdf.

Your Journey to the Cloud:

Step 1: Inventory and Transport Management

The first step is to take inventory and transport-management processes to the cloud. Logistics is often a core area where inventory management can be improved. This drives better profit margins, but can only be done when supply-chain managers have full visibility into all their options (and the impact each one has on the business).

Taking your inventory and transport management to the cloud can help supply-chain managers reduce freight spends, deliver transport as a shared service across different lines of business, and better manage new mergers and acquisitions.

Step 2: Distributed Order Processing

The next step is to migrate additional order-fulfillment processes to the cloud.

By integrating and automating order processing and transport management, supply-chain managers can further optimize costs, and streamline picking, sorting, and consolidation processes.

Supply-chain management in the cloud. The benefits of moving your supply-chain management to the cloud.

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Step 3: Complete Financials at Key Subsidiaries

With logistics and order-fulfillment processes in the cloud, the next step is to migrate financial processes from key subsidiaries.

If subsidiaries are using spreadsheets to manage financial processes, they can quickly find themselves with disconnected data, limited visibility, and an inability to collaborate and share business insights across finance and the supply chain.

Taking financial processes to the cloud can help streamline processes, drive smarter supply-chain decision-making, and simplify financial compliance in new markets and geographies.

Step 4: Complete Transformation

The final stage is taking other lines of business to the cloud.

With integrated finance, HR, supply-chain, sales, and marketing data all in the cloud, you’ll have a wide array of data that can help you drive deep predictive analytics throughout the business, helping build significant competitive advantage.

Lumentum Unifies Distributed Manufacturing in the Cloud

Narrative:

Lumentum is a market-leading manufacturer of innovative optical and photonic products for optical-networking and commercial laser customers worldwide. Lumentum’s commercial lasers enable advanced manufacturing techniques and diverse applications including next-generation 3D-sensing capabilities.

Triggers:

  • Lumentum’s manufacturing network covers 30 different countries across the globe, creating a complex system of partners, suppliers, and contractors.

  • Grappling with a distributed, global supply chain was placing a huge administrative burden on Lumentum management, and limiting operational efficiency.

  • Lumentum is now unifying its entire manufacturing supply chain on a single SCM cloud, simplifying management and collaboration across the enterprise.

Many Journeys, One Destination

Whatever your challenges, we hope you can see a solution in the cloud. The roadmaps above are just a few journeys that finance and supply-chain leaders can take to achieve the benefits of the cloud at a pace that matches the specific needs of their organization.

To learn more about how you could improve decision-making in the cloud, use the Oracle Financials Cloud Assessment Tool, here:

Take the test

Close the Books and Report Faster

When it comes to closing the books, it is equally important to optimize upstream processes and streamline account reconciliation, consolidation, and close processes.

Many organizations’ close process is burdened by an inefficient ERP system that cannot keep pace with their business. In addition, they struggle with inefficient financial close processes, and increased reporting requirements.

Close the books faster in the cloud.

Harmonize core financial and close processes in the cloud to help your finance personnel close the books faster, and save valuable resources that can be used to add even more value to the business. By following this journey to the cloud, finance leaders can achieve the benefits of cloud solutions at their own pace—without interrupting existing systems and processes.

Your Journey to the Cloud:

Step 1: Core Financials

The first step is to move core finance processes to a cloud ERP solution.

By using a general ledger that is harmonized with your payables, receivables and cash management subledgers, you can complete more work before the close process starts, and have fewer issues to resolve during the period close.

With real-time status updates, integrated subledgers, and embedded collaboration, you will sustain a fast and accurate close.

Your complete guide to modern ERP. The tool every innovative business leader needs.

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Step 2: Account Reconciliations

The next step is to automate account reconciliations, often the single biggest reason for financial close delays, to a cloud solution.

Organizations that do can this achieve a predicable process timescale that does not delay the financial close, improves finance staff efficiencies, and reduces the number of accounts to reconcile without compromising accuracy or increasing risk.

Streamline account reconciliations. Lifting the pressure off the shoulders of your finance department.

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Step 3: Consolidation, Close and Financial (Narrative) Reporting

The natural progression is then to streamline consolidations, reduce the time and cost of the close, and report with confidence. Financial reporting is not just about the numbers; they need explanation. The current integration of narrative into performance-reporting processes is manual, ad hoc, and highly prone to error.

Achieve your goals with built-in best-practice consolidation, providing a level of governance, visibility, and transparency into the financial close and reporting cycle that enables management to be confident in the numbers they report to stakeholders.

Reinvent narrative reporting. Ripping up and replacing traditional reporting processes.

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Keep pace with financial requirements. Consolidating, closing, and reporting with confidence.

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Step 4: Complete Transformation

The final stage is taking other lines of business to the cloud to complete operational efficiency and agility.

With integrated finance, financial risk management, revenue management, HR, supply-chain, sales, and marketing data all in the cloud, you’ll have a wide array of data that can help you use deep predictive analytics throughout the business, helping build significant competitive advantage.

30-
40 %

KBBO Group reduced IT staff workload by 30 to 40 percent with a cloud ERP solution.

KBBO Group Increases Operation Efficiencies Across Its Various Companies

Narrative:

Khaleefa Butti Bin Omair (KBBO) Group is a leading investment group with a diverse portfolio that wanted to increase the efficiency of managing operations across its various companies. To do this, it aimed to replace standalone systems with a single, unified ERP solution.

Triggers:

  • A complex series of businesses, KBBO wanted to improve visibility across all group operations to ensure it was making data-driven decisions.

  • KBBO wanted to eliminate manual finance, payroll, and procurement processes that were limiting efficiency.

  • Group operations are now much more efficient, with IT staff workloads being reduced by 30 to 40 percent.

Many Journeys, One Destination

Whatever your challenges, we hope you can see a solution in the cloud. The roadmaps above are just a few journeys that finance and supply-chain leaders can take to achieve the benefits of the cloud at a pace that matches the specific needs of their organization.

To learn more about how you could improve decision-making in the cloud, use the Oracle Financials Cloud Assessment Tool, here:

Take the test
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Improve decision-making in the cloud. Use the Oracle Financials Cloud Assessment Tool

Take the test