Finance Technology Strategy, Vendor Selection, and ERP-Enabled Transformation has been saved
Services
Finance Technology Strategy, Vendor Selection, and ERP-Enabled Transformation
Holistic finance modernization starts with vision, not technology
Deloitte works with finance organizations to build an actionable vision and agenda for finance technology strategy and modernization, and help assess their readiness for ERP-enabled transformation. We then help activate a holistic readiness plan, while providing robust and objective vendor evaluation guidance that can help set organizations up to reap more sustainable value from their ERP and other technology investments.
Why finance technology strategy matters and what’s at stake
Many CFOs are quick to think that technology will solve all of their CFO technology problems and, in some cases, they are told that it will. But if the fundamentals aren’t in place and the path to an end is not defined, a well-intentioned finance modernization initiative can fall short of expectations. This can potentially lead to a significantly lower return on investment, add to the frustration of business users, and cause organizational leaders to become skeptical about future finance modernization projects.
None of us knows for certain what the future will hold, but we all have a responsibility to anticipate and prepare for change. In finance, that means working now to get the right people and technology in place to take advantage of the inevitable disruptions ahead. But that’s not likely to happen without a clear vision and strategy for finance in a digital world. Now is the time to step back and make sure your finance transformation roadmap to that future is clear.
Having a technology-enabled finance strategy, including identifying and prioritizing where and when to invest in finance modernization assets, and core transformation with ERP, is critical to creating organizational value and driving business performance.
Finance Tech Strategy services
Pulse check: Have you found yourself asking any of these questions? If not, should you be?
- How can we reduce finance technology spend?
- Can we support the projected growth of the business with our existing finance infrastructure?
- Are our finance processes, systems, and data architecture all nimble enough to absorb or quickly react to M&A activity?
- What is the role finance should be playing to drive data strategy?
- How do we improve finance data quality and make better use of it?
- How do we start on technology and finance modernization?
- Should we go all in with one vendor or choose best-of-breed for our platform selection?
Deloitte's finance technology and ERP strategy team can help you address these questions.
Degrees of finance modernization
Not all finance modernization and CFO challenges look the same, nor should they. There are different strategies that set varying degrees of pace for modernizing finance. Whether you choose to make incremental improvements or take a strategic “big bang” approach, it’s important for organizations to think holistically about what they want to achieve.
Click image to enlarge
Depending on the pace, scale, complexity, drivers, and priorities of the initiatives, developing an integrated finance modernization implementation roadmap with a benefits delivery timeline can be a logical next step.
Here’s how we can help you on your journey toward ERP and finance technology modernization
- Finance technology and ERP strategy, visioning, process assessment, and architecture
Define the finance modernization strategy and execution path for finance technology and ERP to enable you to achieve the organization’s broader finance vision. Analyze current state processes to identify areas of opportunity and gap to standard. Build and finalize strategy and develop a high-level transformation roadmap and baseline metrics for the finance organization.
- Technology vendor comparison and selection
Leverage a market-leading approach for finance and ERP platform selection to lead, advise, and support companies through an unbiased selection process to deliver more impactful and expeditious outcomes for your organization (read our perspective on how to modernize the approach to ERP vendor selection for core financials).
- Finance data strategy
Define the data strategy and finance transformation roadmap to support the evolving needs of finance, with a keen focus on finance data architecture, finance data and information needs, and finance data governance and management.
- Business case development and technology total-cost-of-ownership (TCO) optimization
Assist and advise on software and platform business case development, rationalization, and associated support model cost, vendor pricing, and contract negotiations.
- ERP implementation readiness
Assess organizational readiness for transformation by identifying activities that will improve the value derived from implementation. Whether helping provide visibility into potential blind spots, generate executive alignment on strategy, or determine proper resource allocation, there are a variety of implementation readiness activities that can help drive a successful transformation.
Case study
Here’s how finance technology strategy came to life for one leading insurance company
A leading insurance company’s finance organization was looking to expand its core capabilities and competencies to help propel the organization to become the No. 1 choice for consumers and a destination for existing lines of businesses, as well as to expand its product line.
| The challenge | The solution |
| Growth of the company was impeded by aging technology, including an internal reporting application that was more than 40 years old, operational inefficiencies that led to excess spending (compared to benchmarks), significant manual effort to integrate new products and acquisitions, and a lack of dimensionality in reporting. | We examined the organization’s record-to-report (R2R) and source-to-pay (S2P) processes through a Visioning Lab to explore the art of the possible. Then, we helped evaluate multiple vendors and select “best-fit” platforms to enable the desired vision for the R2R and S2P processes. Alongside those efforts, we worked to define a strategic finance transformation roadmap and business case that established a tech-enabled process for finance modernization. Once the vision was clear and the business case established, we helped to implement two new cloud-based platforms. |
| The impact | |
| • Enabled development of a modern architecture that would require 70 percent lower effort and time commitment to develop financial integrations for new products and partners • Richer segmentation and spend analyses became possible • More than a dozen legacy applications and modules were identified for retirement • Processes were standardized and category management became more strategic |
|
Deloitte can help deliver finance technology strategy differently
What are you hoping to achieve? Wondering how you get there?
We can help. Contact us to learn more.
Raj Chhabra |
Dean Hobbs |
Fahad Salah-Ud-Din |
Get in touch
Recommendations
ERP selection and vendor criteria for core financials
Choosing ERP software to drive sustainable long-term value
Case studies on Finance transformation
Real-world stories for real-world finance issues