Efficient business management at your fingertips

Markets are constantly evolving and global business competition is becoming fiercer and faster every day. To keep a steady hand on the wheel, more organisations are turning to software to assist them in managing and efficiently executing their management processes.

Today, the high cost of maintaining skilled, internal support staff, as well as the lack of internal best practices, are causing many organisations to seek alternative ways of realising the full potential from their Hyperion performance management applications. This task is all the more difficult in an environment where governance and compliance issues are demanding more time and attention from financial employees than ever before, while business expects more support for key initiatives, even though staff sizes are smaller than ever.

According to Hackett Benchmarking, the cost of finance has decreased by half over the past two decades, which has meant an approximately equal reduction in finance staff because the majority of finance costs are for personnel. This pressure is taking its toll.

Studies show that CFOs believe that reporting requirements have become more complex in the past two years and that complexity will increase within the next two years. A survey by executive placement firm, Russell Reynolds, shows that CFO resignations at fortune 500 companies are increasing at an alarming rate. Overall, the CFO turnover rate has increased by 23%. Executives at Russell Reynolds attribute the higher turnover and resignation rates to increasing pressure to beat quarterly expectations, and the drive to comply with complex compliance regulations.

“While technology is not a remedy, it can help offset staff cuts and increased pressures by automating processes and delivering greater insight into the business,” says Charl Du Toit, a consultant at Intellient. “Intellient recognises these market pressures and has created an application managed services (AMS) offering to assist our clients in meeting these challenges.”

AMS is an Intellient services offering which assists managers in deploying and managing Hyperion resources. It offers businesses experienced staff to deploy and administer software across multiple projects, divisions and even companies (if required), to ensure accurate, accessible and consistent information is provided to decision-makers. This ensures the most efficient use of resources at minimum cost through maximum skill utilisation, across multiple projects.

The immediate results of a deployment of these services are seen in shorter delivery times and the improved integration of business faculties. For maximum effect, however, it is important to integrate the components of a performance management system with each other to create an integrated ecosystem, covering several management aspects, such as score carding, planning, financial consolidation and strategic goal setting.

The deployment of Intellient's AMS services would enhance a company's analytical capabilities, allowing management to utilise resources effectively while making good business decisions, based on sound data.

Correct use of these services will empower transparency, ensure trusted data is available, and provide management with peace of mind when reporting to the market. This will ultimately build brand confidence and positively affect share prices.