Introduction to Enhanced Corporate Finance Solutions
The evolution of corporate finance has introduced concepts like 'connected financial close,' 'connected planning,' and 'connected reporting.' These terms reflect the integration of essential financial processes such as financial close and consolidation, account reconciliation, financial reporting, and extended planning and analysis (XP&A). The appeal of these connected systems is clear: they promise to unify teams by linking them directly with data and financial plans, thereby driving speed and agility.
Exploring Connected Finance Solutions
For over two decades, connected planning solutions have been instrumental in driving finance transformation. However, these systems are not always well-suited for large, complex organizations aiming to lead swiftly in today’s dynamic environment. It's crucial for finance teams to advance beyond traditional connected planning. Today's discussion focuses on preparing finance teams for this necessary shift.
The Limitations of Current Connected Planning Approaches
While modern connected planning systems offer a viable alternative to outdated, manual processes for smaller or less complex entities, they often fall short in large, global organizations with intricate needs that span the entire Office of Finance and extend into various business lines. Scaling these connected solutions to meet the demands of such diverse and sophisticated environments poses significant challenges. Integrating every departmental and corporate application adds layers of risk, cost, and complexity that can overwhelm finance teams.
Moreover, these systems typically require fragmented software, which complicates the support of crucial financial processes like financial data quality and diverse planning tasks (e.g., S&OP, sales planning). This fragmentation can increase risks, costs, and complexities across the Office of Finance.
Data Management and Lack of Financial Intelligence
The need for disparate software and technical processes in supporting comprehensive corporate performance management (CPM) tasks leads to increased technical complexity and administrative burdens. Finance teams must manage and reconcile data, oversee metadata, monitor latency, and ensure security across disjointed products or models. These challenges detract from their ability to drive performance and aid in crucial decision-making.
Additionally, many connected finance solutions lack embedded financial intelligence, meaning that fundamental financial logic—such as account types, timelines, hierarchies, dimensionality, and currency translation—must be developed from scratch.
Reevaluating Solutions: The Need for a Unified Platform
Some organizations start their journey with multiple-point solutions, hoping to achieve connectivity, only to reconsider their approach after a few years due to the lack of standardization. This can be particularly problematic in rapidly growing companies, where a unified organizational view becomes crucial.
Rather than seeking further integrations, which may exacerbate the issue, organizations should consider a truly unified platform for all performance management processes. OneStream offers such a platform, designed to transcend the limitations of traditional tools by integrating financial consolidation, planning, reporting, and analysis into a single, extensible solution.
OneStream’s Unified Solution
OneStream's platform not only adheres to corporate standards but also allows business units the flexibility to operate with more detailed reporting and planning. This unified approach avoids the pitfalls of integration and ensures that all processes—actuals, budgets, forecasts, plans, reconciliations, and profitability analysis—coexist harmoniously within a single application. This integration enhances overall functionality and reduces the risk associated with using multiple disparate systems.
By adopting a unified platform like OneStream, organizations can eliminate the need for risky integrations and simplify their financial operations, paving the way for more strategic and effective finance management.
Partner SpotLight
OneStream aligns to your business needs and changes more quickly and easily than any other product by offering one platform and one model for all financial CPM solutions. OneStream employs Guided Workflows, validations and flexible mapping to deliver data quality confidence for all collections and analysis while reducing risk throughout the entire auditable financial process.
Our Company
MindStream Analytics' senior staff was there at the birth of Business Intelligence. We have been part of building Business Intelligence nationally from its humble niche product status to the ubiquitous analytic tool that it is today. MindStream consultants are well versed in reporting and information management and are ready to help you leverage the power of multiple tier-1vendors. From Oracle Hyperion to IBM Cognos, we can help you select and integrate the right tools for you to better understand your information. MindStream Analytics has experience across a wide variety of industries: Business Services, Consumer Products, Energy, Financial Services, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Transportation , and Telecommunication. We have the depth and breadth of experience to help you deliver actionable information to users.
Whether you need an enterprise wide Oracle BI Enterprise Edition (OBIEE) rollout, an Oracle BI Apps rollout, or an IBM Cognos ReportNet rollout, MindStream Analytics is here to help you succeed.
Case Studies
Accumen
Thanks to the intervention of MindStream Analytics, Accumen's Finance department can now model their business with a new, more organized structure that isn't conventionally available in NetSuite.
Acme Brick
Acme Brick turned to MindStream Analytics for help implementing OneStream to replace their outdated TM1 solution.
Alterra
Alterra sought the expertise of MindStream to address the challenges they faced in their Capital Planning process.
ATCO Group
Energy conglomerate ATCO operates worldwide in utilities, power generation, and related services.
Avalon
Working with MindStream Analytics, Avalon Healthcare Solutions adopts NetSuite Planning and Budgeting to accelerate budgeting and forecasting processes.
Bayer Health Care
Bayer Healthcare implemented Hyperion Planning and Workforce Planning in 10 weeks to dramatically streamline their Income Statement budget and Workforce Planning process..
BluEarth
MindStream Analytics' partnership with BluEarth Renewables epitomizes the power of technology and collaboration.
Celgene
An Oracle Hyperion Planning Upgrade provides multi-national organization Hyperion Application optimization and stabilization.
Cleaver Brooks
OneStream XF was chosen as the platform that would transform Cleaver-Brooks' Finance processes.
CoorsTek
The collaboration between CoorsTek and MindStream resulted in significant improvements in CoorsTek's financial consolidation and reporting processes.
Elite Body Sculpture
MindStream Analytics' collaboration with Elite Body Sculpture encapsulates the transformative potential of targeted tech solutions in streamlining administrative processes.
Enlyte
Enlyte, a merger of Mitchell, Genex, and Coventry, faced challenges with disparate financial solutions and the need for combined reporting.
Flanders
MindStream Analytics collaborated with Flanders to implement OneStream Consolidation and Reporting solution.
Foley Products
Foley Products was facing a significant challenge with its Excel-based actual management reporting system.
Harte Hanks
The collaboration between MindStream Analytics and Harte Hanks culminated in a highly customized, user-friendly NetSuite implementation.
Interface
Interface used a complex, manual, excel-based FP&A process for monthly review, and the summary data was loaded in OneStream.
Kymera International
Thanks to Mindstream Analytics' assistance, Kymera was able to load all of their data into OneStream and validate it successfully.
MacLean Fogg
MacLean-Fogg partnered with MindStream, a leading implementor specializing in modernizing and optimizing enterprise systems.
MEPPI
MindStream's expertise and experience were sought to conduct a vendor selection initiative focusing on MEPPI's F2023 planning process.
OUAI
MindStream Analytics and OUAI's collaboration showcases the transformative power of strategic technological intervention.
Plaskolite
By migrating to OneStream, Plaskolite has achieved a material reduction in consolidation time and overall Financial Close cycle, eliminated the hours spent compiling and verifying data in Excel, streamlined its Planning, Budgeting and Forecasting model and delivered flexible and timely reporting that enables more strategic analysis of their financial data.
Redwire
Understanding the nuances of Redwire's challenges, MindStream Analytics devised a holistic approach to overcome them. The implementation of NetSuite was just the beginning.
Simon
Simon's existing corporate Hyperion Financial Management (HFM) production application was consolidating at a rate of seven hours, a performance issue causing great headache to corporate Accounting.
Source Code
The successful transition to OneStream revolutionized Source Code's financial reporting.
Subway
Subway collaborated with MindStream Analytics for the NetSuite Analytics Warehouse implementation.
UPenn
MindStream Consulting and AppCare team members are proud be working side by side with UPenn university in accomplishing this implementation and along with continuing our AppCare services after go-live.
USG
USG was an Oracle Hyperion customer realizing that it needed more specialized support for its various Oracle Hyperion applications.
Vantiv
Dividing a hyperion planning application, expanding the hyperion footprint to forecast on the business? Customer categories.
Versant Health
Versant Health engaged MindStream to help resolve the challenges they were experiencing with their consolidation, close, and financial reporting processes.
Virginia Spaceport Authority
The MindStream team implemented the Standard + Workforce NetSuite Planning & Budgeting.
WeWork
MindStream Analytics determined that the best solution was to implement Oracle Essbase Cloud as part of the Oracle Analytics Cloud (OAC) platform-as-a-service
WindStream
Innovative use of essbase to streamline and connect hyperion financial management for enhanced financial analysis.
XY Planning
MindStream Analytics, well-versed in addressing such challenges, presented a comprehensive Netsuite solution for XY Planning.