© 2007 AT&T Knowledge Ventures. All rights reserved. AT&T and the AT&T logo are trademarks of AT&T Knowledge Ventures.
The Role of the Process Owner in Successful EPM Initiatives
Curtis Neumann CPA AT&T Corporate Finance Systems [email protected] www.curtisneumann.com
Financial Forecasting & Planning Summit
September 15, 2011 | InterContinental | Boston
The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 2 [email protected]
Page Description Page Description
3 Presentation Purpose 17 4. PO Requirement Gathering & Design
4 Process Owners Organizational Structure 18 5. Research Vendor Options
5 Traditional Functional/Process Roles 19 6. Assess Current and Future Needs of
Options
6 Issues with Finance Going it Alone in
Implementations 20 7. Assess Improvement, Productivity & Cost
7 Issues with IT Going it Alone in Implementations
21 8. Prototype Tool
8 EPM Process Owner Defined 22 9. Make Purchase Decision
9 Process Owner Benefits to Finance 23 10. Develop Solution
10 Process Owner Benefits to Finance –
Cont’d 24 11. Process Owner Testing
11 Process Owner EPM Implementation
Case 25 12. Solution into Production
12 Process Owner Operational Model 26 The Process Owner Best Practice Approach
13 Process Owner Operational Model Cont’d 27 Q&A
14 1. Finance Process Strategy 28 Appendix A: The Finance Process Owner
owns EPM
15 2. Sponsorship Message to Key
Stakeholders 29 Curtis’ Blog
16 3. Process Owner Responsibilities
Much has been written over the years about general process management best practices
This presentation is intend to convey my opinions about process ownership best practices as they apply to the Finance arena within the Fortune 500
There are a least a dozen key elements required to construct and maintain efficient and effective financial reporting and planning systems
The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 3 [email protected]
I
CFO
Accounting Corporate Finance
Sales Finance
Operations Finance
Process Owners
IT Developers
• CFO is catalyst if change is to occur
• Head Process Owner sits at the CFO table
• PO owns all enterprise Finance processes
• Requirements go directly from users to PO
“I support the strategic initiatives to innovate our enterprise Finance processes.”
• PO partners with IT to implement system as per end user requirements
The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 4 [email protected]
Finance Users
Analyze and accountable to
data
How data is calculated and
viewed is important
Understand business drivers
and strategy
IT Programmers
Understand software
functionality
Understand data
transformation
Programming expertise (SQL
& OLAP)
The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 5 [email protected]
Too busy to implement
Lack of EPM technology background
Software tool vendor differentiation
Project management background
Integration risk
The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 6 [email protected]
With complete requirements, IT great at execution
IT solutions may be short term focused
Difficult for IT group to discern HOW tools should produce outputs
Very system technical, but unfamiliar with spreadsheet models
IT team member continuity issue
How to prioritize?
The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 7 [email protected]
Finance
End User
IT
Developer
An EPM Process Owner has a combination of finance and IT knowledge and skills
Required to project manage and maintain best practice process
Has authority to create change through innovation The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 8 [email protected]
Combined finance and technology knowledge provide key insights
Key finance principles upheld across enterprise
The “Single Version of the Truth”
Consistent financial and operation data definitions
Reliable data integration
Consistent planning assumptions and methods applied across enterprise
The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 9 [email protected]
Relationships with both end user clients and IT based on trust
Efficiencies gained in EPM implementations, PO’s
Understand how to roll out EPM solutions
Able to effectively perform User Acceptance Testing
Leverage knowledge gained in other projects
Dedicated to project implementations and maintenance
The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 10 [email protected]
A Process Owner’s value to a CFO organization can best be conveyed with a case study example
Let’s say a CFO asks his/her Finance Process Owner lead to come up with a process to replace hundreds of spreadsheets, that encompass a detailed cost allocation and product profitability process, with a best practice more automated solution
The new process should leverage (purchase) current Business Intelligence (BI) technology and implement solution
The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 11 [email protected]
Strategy
Sponsorship Message
Process Owner Responsibilities 1 2 3
The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 12 [email protected]
Vis
ion
Execute BI Software Purchase
Implement Solution
Requirements Gathering &
Design
Research Vendor Options
Assess Current and Future Needs 4 5 6
Assess Improvement, Productivity &
Cost
Prototype Tools
Make Purchase Decision
7 8 9
The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 13 [email protected]
Pu
rch
as E
xecu
tion
Develop Solution
10
Im
ple
men
tatio
n
Process
Owner Testing
into Production
Solution
11 12
CFO understands current process states and collaborates with Finance leaders
What is needed to better manage business
Vision is tied to organizations success
Vision drives change
Identify Process Owner and team
The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 14 [email protected]
It is extremely important for the Process Owner to be empowered to implement EPM change:
CFO communicates prolifically the framework for change
E.G. “We need to construct a product profitability reporting and planning process to help us make decisions about what businesses we retain going forward…”
CFO announces Process Owner and team by name
Everyone is accountable to be successful
Keep message simple and realistic
The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 15 [email protected]
Initiative will change the way their work is done for the better
Since PO takes full accountability, he/she decides when conflict resolution is required
Process Owner should communicate his/her responsibilities across a matrix org. structure
Creates design across the enterprise
Implementation and long term maintenance
Builds team
Establishes performance milestone and measurements
The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 16 [email protected]
Select a good project process methodology (E.G. Six Sigma - efine, easure, nalyze, mprove &
ontrol) and document with a Project Charter
Evaluate Current Process
Collect
User Requirements
Design New
Process
General Process Owner Approach
PO: Finance Knowledge and Skills
PO: IT Skills
Sourcing data mart
Spreadsheets
Reporting
Etc.
Based on Strategy
New Capabilities
How process should work
Determine process steps
What type of technology (OLAP or SQL or both)
The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 17 [email protected]
General Process Owner Approach (cont’d)
Process Owner: IT Skills
Match BI Functional and Non-Functional Requirements
Consider Legacy Process Integration
Demo Different Software
Customer References
External Research Publications – Gartner / Forrester
Vendor Viability – Sales & years in business
External Research Requirements vs. Software Features
The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 18 [email protected]
Are there opportunities to expand BI beyond needs currently identified?
Corporate initiative expanding to Business Unit Finance groups
Financial Reporting and Planning BI tool expansion to other functional / operational needs
Order-to-Cash Cycles
Procure-to-Pay Cycles
Sales Forecasting by Customer and Product
Predictive Analytics
The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 19 [email protected]
Weigh improvements, productivities and implementation cost
Don’t get locked into the initial cost
Process productivities result in redeployment of resources
New BI process will provide additional capabilities not currently available (important)
Faster decisions
More reliable data
Impact of better decisions should figure into ROI (e.g. Higher EPS)
The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 20 [email protected]
If possible, attempt to test the BI software before purchasing it
Construct a small application
Remote access into vendors’ servers or loading software to in-house server
Easier for company leadership to make a purchase decision, if a working model meets expectations
The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 21 [email protected]
Prior to decision, Process Owner should meeting with end users, IT and leadership to discuss how purchase decision was reached
The PO should be able to directly tie the process improvements back to the CFO strategy
Create a development timeline with key milestone accomplishments
Purchase BI tool
The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 22 [email protected]
Requirements should be complete to avoid churn
Development roadmap with detailed timeline
Constant contact and progress reviews
Process Owner delegated to make decisions on behalf of end user client
Recommend same hardware setup for both Test and Production environments
The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 23 [email protected]
Test at specific roadmap milestones
Resolve issues along the way
Opportunity to provide updates to end user clients on verified progress
Determine “Is this what you were expecting?”
Identify changes
Manage expectations for both IT and end users
Stress testing
The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 24 [email protected]
Changes only in Test environment, then released to Production
Never make changes to Production – Official data
Monitor BI performance
Good plan for disaster recovery
Anticipate platform growth
Survey users to identify future enhancements
Positive feedback to leadership
CFO initiative met
The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 25 [email protected]
When executing EPM initiatives, the “Who” (Process Owner) will determine the quality of the “What, When and the How”
Successful Finance initiatives require leaders that are confident about executing change and possess the necessary traits
Finance process knowledge - Book close to Financial Reporting
Technical software application and database skills
Excellent project management skills
And a bit of thick skin to deal with those that are resistant to change
The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 26 [email protected]
The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 27 [email protected]
What is EPM? Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) consists of a set of management and analytic , supported by
, that enable businesses to define strategic goals and then measure and manage performance against those goals
Core EPM Management Processes
Shared Data
Setting Goals
Financial Planning
Operational Planning
Consolidation
Reporting
Analysis & KPI’s
The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 28
Curtis’ Blog – www.curtisneumann.com
The Roles of Process Owners in Successful EPM Initiatives Page 29 [email protected]