According to a new study UK research company IQBlade, Business Intelligence adoption can result in a 24% increase in sales. The market intelligence provides announced the findings in its latest Tech Impact 2019 Report which focuses on the Sunday Times Fast Track 100 businesses. The overall goal of the report is to reveal the technologies with the biggest impact on the success of British businesses and comparing others that are not using new technology systems.

Businesses seeking to gain the edge over other competitors and continually grow successfully requires a complete understanding of their customers, partners, their competitors and what opportunities are available. The Tech Impact 2019 report investigates how technologies used by Fast Track 100 businesses are influencing their overall performance level.

The report includes:

A summary of the technologies used by companies within the UK
Technologies utilised by the fastest growing businesses in the UK
A detailed analysis of what strategies the fastest growing businesses are using compared to other UK companies.
Insight into key technology, its impact and an overall analysis
General profiles of the fastest growing companies and their associated technologies.

According to the report, average sales of businesses within Fast Track that utilise BI and data visualisation software was £39 million, compared to £24 million to companies that didn’t use the same technology. The study also showed that the average size of companies using data analytics was higher by nearly 100%. In total, just over 60% of fast track companies are currently using BI and data visualisation technology solutions. The overall percentage of fastest growing companies in the UK using these innovative tools is over three times higher than other general businesses in the UK.

Studies have proven that data analytics can create a competitive edge for businesses. Implementing the capabilities of analytics, along with a strong focus on innovative specialist tools are the driving forces behind creating a competitive advantage. Recent developments in technology, the progress of cloud analytics and distributed storage have further strengthened the case for implementing data analytics into a business. These advantages have created a wider adoption of analytics into wider industries.

The study also showed an 8% difference between companies utilising BI and other businesses that don’t over a three-year timescale. Fast Track businesses that do take advantage of this growing trend can experience on average a £15 million increase in sales every year. The report indicates that Progress Software is the most popular Business Intelligence tool used by fast track companies, with the integration of 26%. A further 14% are using Tableau Software, 8% are utilising Qlik and an additional 7% have implemented IBM Cognos.

OneStream Software confirmed this week that Mindstream Analytics had become a Platinum level implementation partner, highlighting their dedication to combining with OneStream and their strategy.

OneStream Software offers an innovative CPM solution that integrates and simplifies financial processes, planning, reporting, analytics and the quality of financial data. The software can be utilised in the cloud or on-premise. The SmartCPM platform is the first of its kind to offer a solution for corporate standards and controls. The system enables businesses to report and plan at several levels within a single application without affecting corporate standards.

Alex Ladd, CEO of Mindstream Analytics explains that their business has made a considerable investment into training and their consultants are developing a process that combines the focus of OneStream’s innovative platform. Ladd highlights that it is great to see their efforts confirmed by being rewarded with the highly recognised reward of becoming a OneStream Platinum partner.

Mindstream Analytics consists of an award-winning team of consultants with years of experience in performance management implementations within planning, financial report forecasting, budgeting and analytics. Combining their technology skills, strong business experience and a carefully created methodology, MindStream has delivered maximum ROI for their clients from OneStream investments.

Craig Colby, the chief revenue officer of OneStream Software recently claimed how excited they were to confirm MindStream Analytics as a Platinum partner. Colby explains that this level is awarded specifically to partners who meet the highest standard and quality levels and have a record of providing the greatest solutions and value for customers. According to Colby, MindStream’s platinum status is a result of their skills, knowledge and experience of using OneStream SmartCPM solution to enhance financial decisions and improve insights for clients.

OneStream Software

OneStream Software offers a performance management solution that combines and simplifies planning, reporting, financial consolidation, analytics and the quality of financial data. With the option of being utilised on site or in the cloud, OneStream XF is one of the only solutions offering corporate standards and controls, enabling businesses to plan and report at multiple levels within a single application. The OneStream XF MarketPlace offers downloads that enable customers to enhance their CPM platform and meet the requirements within finance and operations industries.

Mindstream Analytics

Mindstream Analytics is a managed services consultancy that supports clients with improving their business performance and decision making. With years of experience in analytics and performance management, MindStream provides a range of services from financial planning and reporting to selecting the best software and implementing new services. Their AppCare Managed Services Support has maintained its place as the number one EPM solution for 4 years in the MSPmentor highest ranking of global service providers.

Some users at Cetera were cautious of Oracle Saas platforms for ERP, EPM and HCM but have recognised the benefits of a single entry point, innovative planning and budgeting tools, along with standard Excel-based UIs.

Transforming existing conventional applications to a new and smaller range of integrated tools can be a cautious exercise for many businesses. Whilst many professionals prefer to maintain their traditional software, the benefits and simplicity of SaaS generally result in enhanced efficiency, winning over any sceptics and resulting in improved business performance.

US-based Cetera Financial Group, the main provider of services and technology for financial companies went through the process of implementing Oracle ERP Cloud for financials, accounts and procurement, and Oracle EPM Cloud for planning and budgeting.

Matthew Whitehead, vice president of financial planning and analysis at Cetera explained that the simple lack of custom features of new SaaS applications was a concern. Users questioned whether transferring from a familiar system into a perceived rigid system was a wise choice.

Cetera worked with implementation partners PwC to deliver a procedure to reduce customisation and ensure the business gained the best results from configuring Oracle ERP Cloud Software. The initial evaluation generated a range of questions such as why Cetera thinks they differ from the thousands of other installs that Oracle has performed over the years to create an efficient cloud solution.

In terms of Oracle EPM Cloud, Whitehead explains the issues were more pronounced due to the software forcing users into its financial frameworks and workforce planning. Cetera focused on selecting its main goals and financial modelling requirement to establish the EPM software’s key performance indicators.

The result? Cetera reduced its chart of accounts from the general ledger, enabling users to focus more on other accounts. Whitehead explains the system provided them with speed and flexibility in the capability to forecast, plan, report and measure continuously.

Cetera also transformed their existing planning and forecasting tool, Solver BI360. The new Oracle planning and budgeting cloud service (PBCS) has enhanced the forecasting potential at Cetera and maintained the preferred choice of interface for most users.

Whitehead explains this is the place where Oracle provides its Hyperion business intelligence and corporate performance management system. Whitehead highlights that PBCS also includes Hyperion Financial Reporting Studio, offering a more solid reporting system, allowing for reporting in both HTML and PDF formats. Whitehead explains that Excel is still a prominent focus for financial teams but to serve the requirements of business users Cetera really needed a more standardised, streamlined and simpler system.

Oracle ERP Cloud – Single Entry Point

For Cetera, one of the main challenges was determining how to communicate the impacts on procurement, expenses, planning and budgeting, areas that affect many users. Cetera was also in the process of transferring its expense system from an onsite SAP Concur to Oracle ERP Cloud.

Whitehead along with Jeffrey Buchheister, CFO of Cetera worked with marketing and communications to deliver a clear strategy that could be passed on to it users. In-house training teams and HR would support with training.

Whitehead explains that they delivered a series of communication strategies to ensure the vision was clear and more importantly, how it would impact each department and the benefits it would bring. The underlying message was that Oracle ERP Cloud and EPM Cloud would create an industry shift that promotes further growth and creates further insights into the business.

In hindsight, Whitehead suggested that a helpful process would have been to focus on more complex cases and really determine the solutions to each individual case and really understanding potential challenges that Cetera may face in the future.

Now ERP and EPM is in the cloud, employees have more access to data and insightful information. Individual accounts and logins for a range of systems including BI360 and Concur are no more, replaced with a singular intranet login via Oracle cloud, encouraging overall user experience.

Users can record performance and goals all within one portal that also integrates planning, budgeting and the ERP side of the business. Whitehead believes the entire end-user experience has been transformed and improved dramatically and general feedback has proven the system change has been a huge success for Cetera.

Data is essential for success in the finance market. According to studies, 6 in 10 finance industry leaders believe leveraging data analytics for more insightful information and strategic decision making are top priorities for 2019.

The capabilities to utilise data analytical tools and big data to create an advantage over other competitors is a significant challenge for board members and C-suite directors worldwide.

There are core areas within a business where data analytics can really be applied. In regards to planning, analytics can be used to calculated risk profiling, data testing through simulated studies and statistical sampling. Data analytics can enable the creation of audits to generate rapid and efficient monitoring, keeping a check on patterns to predict cases of risk and potential fraud.

US consultancy Protiviti released its latest Finance Trends Survey based on over 400 finance leaders and professionals. The results indicate that security, privacy and data analysis are the main priorities for finance leaders this year. All three highlighted are connected in some shape or form to data, with improved data analytics representing high-level importance to over 60% responding CFOs.

The study clearly showed the data is a central theme within the financial market and essential tool for creating further commercial insights, increasing sales and enhancing management reporting and decision making. It is also viewed by many finance professionals as a tool for improving financial operations internally, with over half of finance managers viewing data analytics as critical for improving business processes.

In order to efficiently use data analytics and really see the benefit, there are certain factors that need to be in place. Many finance leaders have claimed they are struggling to maintain the quality of data. The quality of the available data will ultimately influence the reporting and analysis generated for a business. Data governance is a critical element and many finance leaders are facing the challenging of ensuring their business has strong and effective data governance in place.

Data quality can also be enhanced through master data management, a process that is both time consuming and costly. Once implemented, however, finance leaders can gather a better understanding of all areas of potential profit and risk within a business. Without creating quality data, the end results from analytics are potentially inaccurate and ineffective for a business. Bearing in mind the continued progression of artificial intelligence and machine learning means data quality will become even more critical for business transformation.

Data Security

We are in an era of cybersecurity threats and the implementation of GDPR has added further pressure to businesses to protect and manage their data correctly. Keeping information safe is a critical challenge for finance leader. If financial data is mismanaged it can result in significant damage to a business, both from a financial aspect and in terms of reputation. It is no surprise then that security in finance is a top priority for finance leaders, with over 75% of CFOS listing data security as the most important factor to focus on this year.

The challenge is accentuated for larger businesses with a higher turnover as they face a greater volume and complexity with managing their data. As the years go on, data security will only grow in importance. With added data comes further inspections from both customers and regulators and as more companies turn to the cloud, more security risks will be revealed.

Within the study, respondents also highlighted the continuing changing demands of internal customers, managing regulation changes, cloud transitions and tax requirements as other key priorities for 2019.

One particular topic in finance that is gaining a lot of media exposure is robotics process automation (RPA). The study, however, suggested that few finance leaders are really looking to implement this area, with 1 in 5 CFOs believing RPA to be a high priority and over 2 in 5 actually viewing it as a low priority for 2019.

Tony Abel, MD at Protiviti explains that many businesses are yet to really understand the best ways of leveraging RPA. Abel suggests that added expense pressures, combined with demands to become more efficient will likely drive further use of RPA over time to enhance internal processes. RPA can be implemented easily to perform particular repetitive tasks. In terms of finance, the accounts payable section would be a relevant starting area i.e. invoice processing and payment verification.

Leading developer of storage solution DataDirect Networks, along with SQream, leading developer of GPU accelerated data warehouse have confirmed a solution that enables users to deploy large scale warehouse analytics. Using a combination of both systems, the innovative solution allows end users to effectively enhance the overall performance of business queries without incurring any challenges.

An ‘Accelerating Analytics at Scale for Higher Quality Business Decisions’ webinar is planned between DDN, SQream and analyst company 451 Research to provide more details on the technology.

Businesses worldwide are starting to truly understand the complexities of efficiently measuring their substantial data stores. For many companies, the sheer amount of data now exceeds the capabilities of conventional data warehouses. To improve the use of data, analysts are exploring new architectures that will enable them to access, analyse and extract valuable data in an efficient manner.

DDNs architecture includes the required infrastructure to deliver a turnkey, GPU-focused analytics system. Comprising of the DDN AI200 NVMe-based storage system, the NVIDIA DGX-1 Deep Learning Server and its switching infrastructure, the A³I solution utilises parallelism to create the potential within SQream DB. The combined solution enables businesses to measure data quicker and at a considerably lower cost than conventional data warehouses.

Kurt Kuckein, senior director of marketing at DDN explains that their customers are continuing to find innovative ways to utilise analytics to deliver fresh insights into the business operation. According to Kuckein, the new partnership with SQream is transforming how companies can leverage their data and provide further value.

David Leichner, the CMO at SQream explains that there is a strong synergy within the partnership with DDN. A combination of the highest quality breed hardware, along with the database acceleration technology at SQream will result in improved capabilities of business insights. Leichner goes on to suggest that through the partnership with DDN, they can offer a solution that helps customers enhance their analytics performance and at the same time minimise any potential risk or challenges whilst meeting the requirements of each business.

DataDirect Networks Explained

DDN is a global leader in supplying big data storage to data-focused businesses worldwide. For over 20 years, DDN has been involved in designing, developing and launching optimised systems and software and storage solutions that allow businesses and agencies to create more value and enable more time to gather insights from their data. The DDN storage technology enables businesses to gather, store, process, analyse and distribute their data on a large scale in the most timely, reliable and cost-efficient manner. Clients working with DDN include some of the leading financial services companies, healthcare, manufacturing and energy business worldwide.

Introducing SQream

SQream focuses on its SQream DB, a GPU data warehouse system that enables the highest level of business intelligence from significant data stores. Businesses worldwide use the SQream DB to measure large volumes of data, for enhanced performance and to reduce costs as well as the potential to scale large amounts of data. SQream DB is available to users internally or via the cloud.

The recent acquisition of Attunity is another clear sign of Qlik’s data management goals and will likely attract new users looking to combine big data and analytics within a single platform.

The BI and data visualization business have added the Israeli integration and data management company, enhancing its competitive potential within the data management market and potential to attract users seeking an integrated data platform.

The Attunity acquisition, valued at $560 million comes after a series of other deals, including the purchase of AI chatbot Crunchbot and startup data management business, Podium Data. Industry experts believe these deals are a clear indicator that Qlik intends to strengthen its portfolio to compete with one of its largest competitors – Tableau. Doug Henschen, an analyst at Constellation Research believes the recent deals highlight Qlik’s goals to become a bigger and more diverse technology business. Henschen explains that the recent deals enable Qlik to offer data management on a bigger scale and at the same time, develop analytics along with all this added data. In a recent media statement, Qlik explained how Attunity can deliver data in real time, within a range of cloud and data systems as key factors for planning the acquisition.

How will this affect Qlik users?

The integration with Attunity will likely attract users within financial services, healthcare, manufacturing and retail industries. Features such as change data capture technology that handles low-latency needs and data migration potential will support users with cloud projects.

Henschen does highlight, however, what impact all of these acquisitions are having on the core function of the business. Existing customers need to be assured that Qlik is not losing focus and is continuing to develop and invest in its main analytics tools and also exploring other capabilities such as cloud deployment and AI augmentation. In the last year, Qlik provided an analytics product road map and users will require regular updates on progress and future plans in this area.

It is unknown how Qlik will present the Attunity system. The recent relaunch of the Podium Data technology was created via a singular product, referred to as the Qlik Data Catalyst and may be a sign of what to expect in future product launches.

The acquisition is due to be completed later this year. Qlik has made it clear it aims to explore new markets, including the data lake arena, which holds significant competitors include Microsoft Azure and AWS, along with a range of established data management software companies.

Other competitors are not falling behind, however, with Tableau recently launching its own data management service called Tableau Prep Builder and Tableau Prep Conductor data preparation tools, along with the Tableau Data Management Add-on bundle. Tableau is taking the approach of working ‘top-down’, using internally developed research and development to build new products. Qlik, on the other hand, is acquiring assets to expand its data management portfolio from the ‘bottom-up’.

The software market has continued to evolve over recent years, offering a range of systems to support businesses worldwide.

Of the many brands competing, the focus seems to be placed on Anaplan and Adaptive Insights. Both companies provide a unique service, with Adaptive Insights existing for nearly 15 years whilst Anaplan has only just recently emerged. Codex Recruitment explores the benefits and values of each system for businesses.

Measuring Cost

Adaptive Insights software is available to around 100 countries worldwide, providing a simplistic and accessible option for low to mid-level businesses seeking a user-friendly tool. In contrast, Anaplan is more of a high-end product that is limited to a select number of clients due to its high initial market cost.

Compatibility with Excel

There will always be a requirement to control your business processes and data via Microsoft Excel. Adaptive Insights is the system that enables customers to drag and drop information into custom templates far easier than other tools. The dashboard enables employees to utilise a tool known as integrated process tracker which provides useful details to ensure individuals are guided through the entire integration process. Anaplan, on the other hand, is not as flexible to sync with Excel data.

Compatibility with small companies

There is a range of benefits to both Anaplan and Adaptive Insights but in terms of suitability for smaller companies, Adaptive Insights is proven to be more popular. It offers a more friendly option that is flexible and suitable for the requirements of smaller businesses.

Business Intelligence Tools

There are many software packages available today that can provide business intelligence solutions, enabling managers and analysts to continue focusing on their day-to-day duties whilst the system delivers on specific targets. Industry experts believe Adaptive Insights provides a more superior level of real time data analysis and individual dashboards that display results specific to each individual user.

Ultimately, both Anaplan and Adaptive Insights provide a range of valuable benefits to its customers looking for the most suited software package for their business. An analysis suggests, however, that Adaptive Insights may meet more requirements of a standard business.

A new study by Oracle claims that long standing cultural habits and a ‘short-term’ mindset are the main barriers preventing further collaboration between finance and HR teams.

The study exploring HR and Analytics includes an analysis of over 1,500 finance, HR and other business professionals worldwide. The report suggests that in order to really harness the value of data and to ensure companies can continue to evolve in a rapidly changing talent market, HR professionals need to take a different approach with analytics technology and enhance collaboration with their finance teams.

HR and Finance teams deliver different, yet crucial skill sets for a business. Traditionally, the two teams do not work closely, but industry leaders at Oracle believe this needs to change in order for companies to maintain a competitive lead within today’s progressive market and talent industry. Donald Anderson, the Director of Organisation & Talent Development at Oracle believes the main step to remove traditional barriers between HR and Finance teams is to create a collaborative mindset, using the right skills and expertise to collect and measure data which can be used to make critical business decisions. This alone would lead to considerable benefits for a business and its level of performance.

With the continued launch of innovative technology, rising recruitment costs and a surge in demand for new skills, today’s global talent industry is more competitive than ever and businesses need to ensure they remain competitive within this market, HR teams need to consider their overall approach towards analytics, skills and integration with finance to create a competitive lead.

According to results from the Oracle study:-

-Over 90% of Finance and HR professionals intend to prioritise data-driven collaboration this year.

-In order to harness data value, HR and Finance teams will need to develop new skills. The survey results showed that just under 50% of members are unable to use analytics properly to measure outcomes and over 80% are not equipped to understand predictive data for determining future plans.

Within the study, Oracle explains that Finance and HR professionals are exploring emerging technologies which can support business performance, in particular, Artificial Intelligence. Results show that around a quarter of respondents currently use AI to identify specific ‘at-risk’ talent and develop their talent pipeline. Few businesses are using AI to forecast overall performance or to search for the best talent. According to the report, over 70% of the respondents intend to use AI to forecast high performing candidates and select the ideal match candidates with CV/resume analysis. Other AI measures highlighted by respondents include shaping their talent pipeline, identifying at-risk employees and supporting interactions between chatbots and employees.

Emerging technologies, analytics and AI are creating a range of opportunities for HR teams to analyse important insights and make informed decisions that can create that competitive advantage. With more HR professionals planning to invest and focus on AI over the next year, it will likely mean businesses will be competing on a new scale to search for the best talent.

Adaptive Insights had plans to go public, but this entire process was transformed for one particular reason according to CEO Aneel Bhusri of Workday and Tom Bogan, CEO of Adaptive Insights.

Adaptive Insights had solid plans to go public, working its way around the nation promoting its public offering plans. This, however, was not to be, as leading cloud business Workday acquired the business for a sum of $1.5 billion resulting in Adaptive Insights becoming a subsidiary of Workday. Tom Bogan, CEO of Adaptive Insights and CEO, co-founder and close friend of workday Aneel Bhusri, both explained to media that the takeover really came down to one thing which was compatibility.

Bogan explains that one vital element was the close alignment of cultures between the two businesses. In a recent interview with both CEO’s, they explained their similar approach to customers and employees meant there was a lot of trust between both businesses, enabling a deal to be secured in a relatively short time frame.

Adaptive Insights is focused on planning in cloud based systems, collaboration and analytics. The acquisition provides an additional $5 billion to Workday’s potential opportunities, including in excess of 4,000 customers and a wide portfolio of other offerings.

Bhusri explains that they had a vision for enterprise applications that follow a process of commencing with planning, moving to execution and finishing with analysis. This is essentially how businesses operate, creating a plan, executing against this plan and measuring the results. Bhusri explains that they had tried to create their own planning system but had realised they were behind other businesses like Adaptive and wanted to be involved in that market.

This resulting demand led the quick secured deal and enabled Workday to finalise its biggest ever acquisition and become the first business that can deliver planning, execution and analysis within one platform.

UK business Bedford Consulting has been selected as the EMEA Regional Partner of the Year by Anaplan, leading provider of software solutions for multiple companies including corporate performance management and operations.

With its headquarters in the US, Anaplan has in excess of 1,000 global customers. As is the case with other vendors, Anaplan has a system that includes a range of partners that support its customers with overall design, build and implementation of their new products.

The annual awards specifically focus on celebrating and highlighting the leading performing partners across the Anaplan network. The main award for the EMEA region went to Bedford Consultancy, a business that specifically works in project implementation and overall business change on the Anaplan platform. Bedford consultancy has its headquarters in London, with additional office locations in Belfast and Dusseldorf.

Neil Doyle, co-founder and chief executive at Bedford Consulting explains that their business was one of the first Anaplan partners within the UK and since then have been involved in a range of implementations with some of the biggest businesses worldwide, completing over 200 projects to date.

Bedford Consulting works mainly with Anaplan in ‘Financial Planning, Analysis, Sales and Operation, Workforce Planning and Financial Consolidation’. Doyle explains that they support clients throughout the entire project process and are greatly involved in the pre-sales stage as well as within project delivery. Doyle believes their long-standing partnership with Anaplan is now really paying off, with the latest award being their second major achievement in the last year. To begin with, Bedford provided support for both Cognos and Anaplan implementations but two years ago decided to work exclusively with Anaplan, transforming into the biggest focused partner within the UK.

Other Awards

The APAC Regional Partner of the Year Award went to QUNIE, a business consultancy supporting the NTT Data Group. Twelve Consulting were named the Americas Regional Partner of the Year and Deloitte was awarded the Global Partner of the Year award.

Ron Dimon, the MD and lead alliance partner for Anaplan at Deloitte US stated that their client uses Anaplan to support improving profitable revenue growth, enhancing operational activity and creating new insights into improving their overall business.

Other leading consultancies that are currently partnered with Anaplan worldwide include Accenture, Bain & Company, EY, PwC and Wipro.