Welcome to the first of 10 weeks in a blog series about helping your team successfully and smoothly implement its Hyperion project. This week’s focus is on the selection of the solution itself.
The solution and product selection process start from within the organization itself. Your organization should focus on key business areas and driving factors, defining clear and extensive requirements before window-shopping for any EPM product. Establishing precise requirements will drive your organization to shop around for available vendors in the market who can assist in selecting the appropriate solution. The following guidelines may be used to initiate this process:
· Business driving factor: Key business drivers are the primary factor in making the right software selection.
· Spending enough time with the vendors: Software vendors are experts in their fields and can provide significant knowledge about what their software can achieve for your business. Spend some quality time understanding what the vendor’s software can do for you.
· Prebuilt vs. custom solution: The software industry has evolved greatly. Most software vendors have developed and matured their software along with industry-leading best practices. Choosing a prebuilt solution is a better choice if it fits your business and cost requirements; otherwise, a custom solution may be a better fit, depending on your firm’s needs.
· Selecting the right product from the right vendor: Once your organization has set its objectives and knows what the end-results should be, the next step is to select the right vendor for you. There are many EPM products available in the market with a wide range of prices and functionalities. Be sure to avoid using price as the only, or biggest, criteria; rather evaluate at a higher level keeping features, functionality, integration, support and other conditions in mind. Oracle EPM, being a tier-1 solution, may be the best choice as it will integrate well with your existing Oracle footprint.
· Cloud solution vs. on premise: Cloud solutions can provide a variety of benefits to your business, including receiving the latest and greatest in product release at a low cost of ownership. It also reduces the need for an in-house information technology team. On the other hand, an on premise solution provides more flexibility in term of customization and integration. This decision must be made with close attention to detail and careful evaluation of your business’ needs and position.
· Selecting an appropriate module: Enterprise Performance Management brings a large amount of product solutions. Once your organization has selected a product, the next step is to select the module. Oracle EPM provides a large variety of solutions apart from core planning, such as Hyperion Financial Management, Capex Planning, Workforce Planning, Public Sector Planning and Budgeting, Project Financial planning and more. You may want to understand each of them before making a decision.
Stay tuned next week for our discussion of selecting the most appropriate implementation partner for your business needs.
