The thought of upgrading your business intelligence or financial planning and analysis solution might seem like a daunting task but one that is well worth it if you’ve outgrown your current system. While it may not be easy to find the resources to step back and evaluate what is and isn’t working anymore, it’s always better to spend the time proactively rather than reactively in the long run. Here are the top reasons to consider making the switch.
Create internal/operational efficiencies
According to Gartner’s “Magic Quadrant for Cloud Financial Planning and Analysis Solutions” report, 77% of respondents cite this as the number-one reason for purchasing their BI or FP&A solution. “FP&A solutions are used mostly within the office of finance to add efficiency and control to financial budgeting and planning processes,” according to the report. Efficiencies include the ability to scale and focus development efforts on areas that provide competitive advantage to bring new features to market faster on an ongoing basis.
Improve business process agility
More than half of the survey respondents agreed that a BI or FP&A solution should solve this problem. “These solutions are becoming more capable at supporting that need,” the report states. They continue to evolve from centralized, finance process support solutions to enable more-collaborative FP&A and performance reporting. These may include specialized modules or models for specific domains, including budgeting support, integrated financial and operational planning, predictive forecasting, accelerate modeling, innovative analytics, and financial close.
Enhance decision making
“It has always been the responsibility of finance leaders to advise and guide executives in using financial information to make better decisions in managing corporate performance,” according to the report. Respondents noted predictive analytics as the top way to improve the business by 2021. In terms of the impact of mulitple scenarios, analytic and decision support capabilities have the potential to help organizations identify performance and targets, while advising how changes in business operations may impact future financial performance in order to facilitate a common understanding of the business and support strategic decision making.
Consider built-in upgrades
It might not be that you need a new system altogether but rather just need to update the one you’re currently working with. If you’re happy with your current vendor but the platform just isn’t meeting your needs, it might be time to reach out to your customer support representative to figure out the next steps. Better yet, perhaps your vendor may reach out to you when your system is in need of an upgrade. Upgrades can take place immediately or as long as six months, depending on the complexity.