Financial performance management: More relevant than ever

The time has probably never been more appropriate for businesses to take into account the importance of financial performance management as part of their arsenal of decision support tools. Since financial performance and the bottom line remains perhaps the most essential indicators of business health, tools that track and report on company-wide fiscal information are indispensable.

That's according to Christo Bredenkamp, managing director of IBM Cognos partner Synergy Business Intelligence.

“In tougher economic times, financial performance becomes an even more critical discipline which business managers have to monitor very closely. Credit is harder to find, costs are higher and should be avoided in order to avert stressing a company unnecessarily. Consequently, smart business owners must look to improved marshalling of their existing resources for optimal performance,” he says.

Bredenkamp explains that Synergy BI is focusing strongly on introducing IBM Cognos-based financial performance management (FPM) solutions to complement its existing range of business intelligence solutions.

“Those responsible for financial management face the task of assimilating and interpreting large volumes of information, often from many systems. Achieving a clear view of the organisation's financial position can be a real challenge - one which is directly addressed by a FPM solution,” explains Bredenkamp.

The emphasis for such solutions, stresses Bredenkamp, is on ease of use. “The ability to consolidate and view enormous volumes of data has to be accessible to the financial manager. The manner in which each user will approach their FPM solution is also likely to differ from one company to the next. Ease of use is achieved through a development environment that enables users to create sophisticated applications with no need for programming or traditional IT skills,” he explains.

Using FPM, managers are able to not only assess the status of their organisation's finances, but also conduct scenario planning with real-time what-if analysis and perform collaborative planning. It provides role-based security and a clear audit trail to facilitate accountability and accuracy.

Importantly, the resultant analysis presents business information in familiar formats, such as Web-based reports and charts which are created directly from Microsoft Excel, a familiar favourite for many financial managers. “By using the familiar Excel environment, one of the major challenges with any new system deployment is directly addressed - that of user acceptance,” says Bredenkamp.

He says it is possible to get users up and running within minutes, since all the functionality of Excel such as formatting and graphing is available.

“This leveraging of Excel, coupled with the Web-based nature of the Cognos FPM solution, allows for users to output worksheets to the Web, delete worksheets and workbooks, manage folders and security, all from the familiar Excel interface,” he notes.

In short, Bredenkamp says FPM provides a facility which streamlines information gathering, aggregation and analysis of perhaps the most important aspect of business in a downturn. “FPM allows managers to focus more attention on running and growing their business,” he notes.

Available in various configurations, including as a Web-based solution, Cognos-based FPM solutions provide options for businesses looking for the best combination of cost and functionality for their business needs.

Synergy Business Intelligence is hosting a financial performance management event in Cape Town on 11 June 2009.

At this complimentary event, you'll hear from recognised experts about the latest practices and proven techniques that leading organisations use to automate and transform their critical financial processes. You'll also have a chance to network with your peers, and meet face to face with IBM Cognos product experts.

For more information, or to register for the event, contact Priscilla.doig@synergy.co.za.