4 Business Transitions Driving Companies to the Hybrid EPM Cloud

Cloud computing has passed from a tech buzzword to a mature business strategy, but not all organizations are ready to fully commit to the cloud. Two-thirds of businesses now use a hybrid cloud model, with users citing benefits such as data governance and cloud backups. In particular, hybrid deployments of Oracle Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) work well for many companies in that they provide a way to orchestrate a seamless integration.

 
In many cases, using a hybrid cloud model makes a lot of sense for companies that are in a state of transition. A hybrid setup provides a safe and reliable path to the cloud while allowing you to maintain sensitive data and legacy systems on-premises. Below, we’ll discuss four business changes that drive interest in hybrid cloud configurations.

1. Mergers & Acquisitions

M&A deals are highly intricate endeavors, with people, processes and technologies all needing to be integrated. Acquired businesses, which are usually smaller and newer than their parent company, rarely have as robust a platform for tasks such as financial planning.

In order to quickly bring the acquired business in alignment with the parent, M&A deals often rely on cloud software that can be implemented with little lead time. Thanks to its scalability and flexibility, the cloud platform can easily handle the influx of new users. Meanwhile, the acquired business can continue to run its on-premises applications during the migration and transition.

Furthermore, having your consolidations function (FCCS) in the cloud could facilitate the acquiring parent’s ability to quickly map, consolidate, and report acquisition data. A more detailed discussion of business consolidations is next.

2. Business Consolidations

Companies with many different entities and companies across the globe with disparate financial systems can take advantage of Oracle EPM cloud applications for consolidating data for reporting and planning. Cloud EPM apps are perfect for business consolidation scenarios. Legacy on-premises applications can be left in place at each unit while data is provided to cloud applications for a comprehensive view of the organization’s performance. The headquarters organization can then provide adjustments via top side entries and forecast many scenarios for executives. Having the HQ applications in the cloud can enable quick response to reporting changes driven by reorganizations, mergers, acquisitions and/or disposals.

A hybrid environment makes a lot of sense for executive level HQ applications at conglomerates. Not only can you simplify and standardize your reporting and forecasting processes in the cloud, each reporting organization can continue to use the IT setup that works best locally for them. The cloud can serve as a place to accumulate higher level inputs from different entities in a central location. HQ can easily provision or remove access to Oracle’s cloud environment, providing flexibility. With this approach, the parent company is not encumbered by an IT environment.

3. Downsizing

The “run lean” mantra and a volatile economic outlook have put greater pressure on enterprises to develop improved products faster with fewer employees. Frequently, that results in a loss of knowledge workers.

Implementing cloud-based applications with built-in financial logic retain staff knowledge so that new or remaining employees can be more productive. Furthermore, cloud applications are scalable to fit your workforce as it grows and contracts.

Moving partially or fully into the cloud helps smaller teams respond to end users faster. Capturing knowledge in cloud applications ensures that companies in transition will be able to support existing financial processes. Being in the cloud will enable you to quickly engage human resources anywhere.

Final Thoughts

Because your company is already in a state of flux, business transitions are a natural time for migrating to the cloud. If your company is going through a transition, be sure to evaluate the effectiveness of your on-premises EPM applications. It may be time to transition to the cloud.

Remember, cloud is not an all or nothing proposition. Hybrid environments make a lot of sense during your transition. Oracle EPM Cloud can not only help orchestrate a seamless integration but can also help reduce costs, manage master date proactively, easily move between cloud and on-premises data sources, and much more.

Whether your organization is going through a major upheaval or is in sore need of a shake-up, moving to a hybrid cloud setup can greatly benefit your bottom line by making you more agile, productive, and cost-efficient. Learn more about the benefits of hybrid environments by downloading my white paper, “It’s Not All or Nothing: Leveraging the Power of Hybrid EPM.”