Oracle Essbase in the Cloud A Mercer Advisors Success Story
Download as PPTX, PDF1 like385 views
The document details a success story of Mercer Advisors implementing Oracle Essbase on the cloud, addressing their previous on-premises challenges while integrating multiple general ledger systems. It highlights the project's timeline, objectives, and outcomes, showcasing the benefits of cloud migration for improved reporting and scalability. Perficient, the consulting firm behind the transformation, played a crucial role in enhancing Mercer Advisors' financial management capabilities through advanced analytics and streamlined processes.
![26
Next up:
[Event] Modern Supply Chain Experience
January 29-31, 2018
Follow Us Online
• Perficient.com/SocialMedia
• Facebook.com/Perficient
• Twitter.com/PRFT_Oracle
• Blogs.perficient.com/Oracle](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/oracleessbaseinthecloudamerceradvisorssuccessstory-171114224308/85/Oracle-Essbase-in-the-Cloud-A-Mercer-Advisors-Success-Story-26-320.jpg)
Oracle Essbase in the Cloud A Mercer Advisors Success Story
- 1. Oracle Essbase in the Cloud: A Mercer Advisors Success Story
- 2. J. Douglas Maxwell Chief Financial Officer Mercer Advisors Santhosh Nair GM, Enterprise Performance Management santhosh.nair@perficient.com
- 3. 3 Agenda • Introductions • About Perficient • Oracle Essbase on the Cloud Overview • Mercer Advisors Success Story – Current State / On-premises Challenges – Project Scope and Timeline – Outcomes / Success Metrics • Q&A
- 4. 4 About Perficient Perficient is the leading digital transformation consulting firm serving Global 2000 and enterprise customers throughout North America. With unparalleled information technology, management consulting, and creative capabilities, Perficient and its Perficient Digital agency deliver vision, execution, and value with outstanding digital experience, business optimization, and industry solutions.
- 5. 5 Perficient Profile Founded in 1997 Public, NASDAQ: PRFT 2016 revenue $487 million Major market locations: Allentown, Atlanta, Ann Arbor, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Fairfax, Houston, Indianapolis, Lafayette, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New York City, Northern California, Oxford (UK), Southern California, St. Louis, Toronto Global delivery centers in China and India 3,000+ colleagues Dedicated solution practices ~95% repeat business rate Alliance partnerships with major technology vendors Multiple vendor/industry technology and growth awards
- 6. 6 Oracle Practice Overview 3000+Deployments Industry Expertise Multi-Solution Expertise EPM | ERP | BI | CX Platinum 200+Oracle Experts Partner Cloud Select Healthcare | Supply Chain/Mfg. | Energy/Oil & Gas Financial Services | Consumer Markets 15 Specializations
- 7. 7 Perficient’s EPM Practice Fast Facts • Practice Started: 2002 • Projects Completed: 1000+ • Management Team: 14+ years • Oracle Authorized Education Center • Hyperion Education • SupportNet Managed Services • Support Services Solutions Expertise • Cloud readiness assessments • EPM strategy and health check • Financial close & consolidations • Cloud & on-premises solutions • Reporting & analytics • Data relationship management • Account reconciliations • Profitability & cost management • Infrastructure & high availability Oracle Specializations
- 8. 8 Oracle Training and Education Live Virtual Class Training on DemandClassroom Training Learning Streams Self-study Courses Train in person at an Oracle or Perficient facility. These include in-class demonstrations and hands-on labs. Keep learning beyond the classroom with the latest and continuously updated video training though subscriptions. OU and Perficient instructors teach students in a "virtual" classroom. Attend these courses online, in real-time. Train when and where you want, at your own pace. Download the courses online and take them from your computer. Train online via an internet connection. Access streaming lectures, white boarding, and lab activities 24/7. Train in person at an Oracle or Perficient facility or your office with content tailored to your specific needs. Private Events
- 9. 9 Survey 1: Which of the following Oracle cloud offerings is your organization currently considering (choose all that apply) A: Oracle Analytics Cloud (Essbase & Business Intelligence) B: Oracle EPM for Financial Close (Close & Consolidations, Account Reconciliations) C: Oracle EPM Planning & Budgeting D: Not Considering Oracle Cloud E: No Cloud Strategy at this time POLL QUESTION 1
- 11. 1111 Infrastructure-as-a-Service Platform-as-a-Service Software-as-a-Service Data as a Service Compute, Storage, Networking, Elastic Hadoop, NoSQL, Spark, Kafka, Database Data Management, Data Integration, Identity Management, Business Analytics Sales, Service, Marketing, Human Capital, Recruitment, Finance, ERP, EPM, Supply Chain, Projects. 5 Billion customer profiles, 1500 data providers, 45K dimensions, 40K pre-built audiences 11 Oracle Cloud: From Data to Infrastructure
- 12. 12 Integration with Oracle BI Cloud, Data Visualization Cloud • Native integration with Essbase Cloud • Connect to EPM Cloud • Relational sources • Cloud and on-premise connectivity • Prescriptive dashboards for consumers • Self-service analysis for LOB users • Explore, visualize, share insights
- 13. 13 Essbase – History of Innovation “Excel on Steroids” • 1st Multidimensional DB • Empower business users • Multi user read/write • 1st to offer an Excel add in to a dimensional data model • 1st to offer drill and pivot capabilities in Excel Enterprise Grade • Shared services • Strong security • ASO engine • Clustering & HA • Smartview In-Memory • Pure in-memory user experience • Adaptive Analytics engine Cloud • Java-based architecture • Excel to Cube in seconds • “Excel on Steroids”
- 14. 14 The Cloud Lets You Focus on Your Business Faster Innovation • Faster pace to product innovation • Modern, global platform • Shorter upgrade cycle Lower Cost • Reduced infrastructure cost • Reduced IT maintenance cost • Reduced customization and upgrade cost Faster Deployments • Pre-installed and pre-configured • User experience-focused design • Elastic & expandable Lower Risk • Reduced administrative burden • Guaranteed system availability • Scalable platform for future expansion
- 15. 15 • Essbase users looking for a cloud solution – Reduce costs and simplify maintenance – Hybrid Deployments between on-premises applications and cloud cubes – Faster access to latest Essbase innovation • Integration with other cloud services – Essbase as a data source for Analytics Cloud (BICS/DVCS) – Consolidated data from multiple EPM cloud and on- premises instances – Analyze data from other SaaS applications • Analytics platform for every Excel user – Analytics happens everywhere – Most still use Excel, using data downloaded from other applications – Essbase empowers Excel by adding unified analysis model, interactivity and collaboration Who Will Use Essbase Cloud?
- 16. 16 The Essbase you know and love! • Access to Essbase capabilities – BSO/ASO/hybrid databases – Flexible dimensionality – Dynamic formulas – Calc scripts – Data uploads • Smartview connectivity • Powerful admin functions Cloud Features and Innovation! • Browser-based UI – Multiple entry points • Cloud-only features – Sandboxing, scenario management – Design-by-example templates – Excel import/export • Integration with Oracle Analytics Essbase Cloud Features
- 17. 17 Survey 2: What are your top concerns about moving to Essbase to the Cloud (choose all that apply)? A: Data security B: Performance / scalability C: Lack of parity D: Can’t capitalize SaaS expense E: Time and effort F: Other G: Not applicable POLL QUESTION 2
- 19. 19 +30 years Serving HNW investors as a fee-only financial advisor Family Office for Real Families Financial Planning Investment Mgmt. Estate Planning Corporate Trustee Tax Planning & Prep Client Service Units (CSUs), led by advisor with CFP own the delivery of client experience CSUs backed by centralized, expert teams Investment management Estate planning (in-house law firm) Tax practice (in-house CPA firm) +$11B Client Assets ~8,000 Clients 24 Offices +200 Employees 83 CFPs 7 CFAs 10 CPAs 5 JDs 11 MBAs 1 Operating Model Mercer Advisors Overview – Who We Are
- 20. 20 • Mercer Advisors acquires Kanlay Trust in March 2016 • Kanaly began using Mercer’s COA in August 2016 • Kanaly transitioned to Mercer’s General Ledger System in May 2017 • Two GL: Mercer Advisors: Great Plains and Kanaly: Solomon • Duplicate reporting out of both systems • Two sets of Financial Statements • Mapping down at Parent Level • Mercer continues to experience rapid growth – both organically and through M&A • 3 acquisitions in 2016 ~$2.2B AUM • 6 acquisitions in 2017 ~$0.9B AUM Compelling Events
- 21. 21 Multiple General Ledger Systems • Historical data sits in multiple systems • Source systems need to be mapped to single COA Manual & Duplicate Reporting • Reporting out of multiple systems • Duplicate sets of financial reports Ad-hoc Analysis • No ability to drill into data for further analysis • Additional or detailed data must be pulled from source system Reliance on Microsoft Excel • Reports & Budget were previously in Excel • Prone to errors Need a Scalable Solution • Rapid growth requires a reporting system that could adapt to the growth and changing reporting requirements • Cost center managers need to manage their respective P&Ls Challenges
- 22. 22 May 2017 Initial scoping End of June: Proposal presentation August /September: Commenced project with Perficient. Analysis of COAs and design of Dimensions and Integrations. October: Reconciliation of Kanaly and Mercer COAs and mapping of historical data. November : Complete validations, UAT and go live. Essbase Cloud Timeline
- 23. 23 Cube Design Reporting Administration • Single COA for both Mercer and Kanaly • Capture Actuals, Budget and Forecast • Data integrations for multiple sources systems • Excel-based reporting using Smart View • VPN connectivity with corporate network • Excel Cube Designer used to create and update • Essbase Command Line Interface to manage processes • Easy migration of objects from dev to prod instance Essbase Scope Areas
- 24. 24 Single Source Oracle Analytics Cloud Project Success • Integrated GLs • Single COA • Actuals, Budget and Forecast • Excel based reporting and analysis • Cloud Essbase environment • Excel-based Cube creation via Excel and administration via web • PaaS provides scalability • Self-service reporting and analysis • No hardware or dependence on IT • Ability to quickly deploy application updates through Excel • Client involvement Project Outcomes
- 25. Questions Type your question into the chat box
- 26. 26 Next up: [Event] Modern Supply Chain Experience January 29-31, 2018 Follow Us Online • Perficient.com/SocialMedia • Facebook.com/Perficient • Twitter.com/PRFT_Oracle • Blogs.perficient.com/Oracle
- 27. Thank You
Editor's Notes
- #12: 11
- #14: Essbase, like Oracle, Apple and Intel – is a strong and mature brand. When you are around for that long, you cannot survive without continued innovation and this is exactly what we have been doing with Essbase from the day of its inception. The product that we have today, while still carries the same core values is technology light years away from the one we exposed for the first time some 20 years ago. When it first came Essbase was the first multidimensional database and the first to introduce capabilities like drill and pivot in Excel that we take for granted today. Innovation continued by taking what originally a departmental solution and transforming it to be enterprise grade with high-speed dynamic aggregation, clustering and disaster recovery. In recent years Essbase stayed in the lead by introducing In-Memory analytics capabilities and HW specific optimizations for Exalytics. And now we are unveiling the next level of innovation by taking these capabilities to the cloud.
- #15: 12:07 Why is the cloud so vital? A number of reasons. Faster Innovation: Remember the old days selling applications on premise; we’d have a 6 month journey of setting up PeopleSoft and another 6 months setting up analytics with a minimum time-to-value of a year. But now with the cloud, the application and the analytics can be up and running in days. With our overall cloud applications strategy and in particular OTBI Enterprise, we’re talking about a much faster time-to-value which allows our customers to focus on how are we going to use these state-of-the-art analytics to improve their business now instead of focusing on selecting an implementor and developing and managing a year long process before we can even consider improvements to our business. And as a cloud service, Oracle absorbs the infrastructure management and maintenance responsibilities and makes the investments in the state-of-the-art data centers ensuring high performance and availability for our customers while lowering their overall cost of operation. Oracle also absorbs the risks and it is our responsibility to guarantee system availability as well as plan for a scalable future.
- #17: We offer access to Essbase core capabilities where Users can create their own custom models using flexible dimensionality, dynamic formulas and calculation scripts - while accessing these models from Smartview. Essbase databases can be brought from on-prem or created directly on the cloud where they can be modified and managed. Essbase Cloud Service also offers some unique capabilities that are not yet available on-prem and we will review next.