Here in the states, we have a TV program called “Dora the Explorer”. She is a precocious young girl who explores
all over and has to overcome obstacles with the help of the audience. She makes use of her equipment that she calls upon when she needs assistance. Invariably, the first tool she calls on is the “map”. She summons the map with a highly repetitive song aptly titled: “The Map Song”. Eventually, after serenading you with the auditory equivalent of a whining power drill, the map unfurls and reveals the information to guide Dora to her destination.
We all know that the quality of the output from your EPM system will be a competitive advantage for your organization. For that reason, much is expected from all EPM solutions. At the same time, EPM is an inherently difficult process and technology to get just right. When any opportunity presents itself with EPM, its important to consult the map. While this seems obvious, in our surveys, as many as 75% of customers do NOT HAVE A ROADMAP. Hence, every decision about their EPM journey is likely to lead to a suboptimal destination. The first thing you need when going on any journey, and especially an EPM journey, is a good map.
For Dora aficionados (read: masochists), here’s a bonus track: the equally infectous backpack song.
My apologies for the diversion. Let’s move on.
Some things that are true at age 5, can also be proved to be even truer later in our lives. Again, these axioms have a special application to challenges found in EPM. One situation I see often is isolation of EPM fluent personnel. I break that down this way: every company with any
Yeah, you’ve officially achieved guru status. But where does a guru go to make sure they are as guru-y as possible? Well here is the important correlation to a 5-year-old experience: you are much more capable when you have friends with you. When faced with so many firsts, 5-year-olds learn a lot from their peers, often gaining the courage to try something new only after witnessing others successfully complete the feat. The EPM isolation tendency works to directly prevent this beneficial effect. Pockets of users in an organization only “know what they know”, and often this means they subscribe to some relatively narrow perspectives and sometimes even half truths about EPM processes and solutions. Where can one go to break out from the shadows of their organization to be among fellow EPM travelers who know just what challenges you are facing?
Column5 offers our EPM Leadership Summit. If you identify with the above sentiments even partially, you will want to explore our EPM Summit program to interact with like minded peers. Every year, we have many individuals come away with confidence and inspiration. And while we can't offer all the benefits a 5-year-old would expect: like traditional singing of 'kumbaya', and nap time, we do have cookies and ice cream!
3. The Importance of a Partner
This is the role I see fulfilled by partners. If you are soaring to new heights and have a partner you know you can rely on to cover your back…congratulations. If you are unsure if your partner is a good fit…maybe you’re experiencing confusing situations that your partner can’t explain, or they are not as effective as you’d like, I encourage you to explore your options. I suggest taking a look at our firm: Column5. Our firm is unique in that we have the breadth of specialties to implement and support EPM at the highest levels. Much larger firms do not have all the specialties, nor at the depth we do.
OutlookSoft History: The Start of BPC and Column5
The next thing I see work with 5-year-olds is even at that age, they thrive on having the right job with a clearly defined role. Recently my daughter told me, beaming with pride, that she was appointed the “kindness reporter” for her class. Her job is to observe the class’s behavior and relay any acts of kindness to the teacher for them to recognize when students are being kind to each other. She says flatly, most days there is nothing to report. Even when I press to uncover some act of kindness, she informs me that “most kids don’t always do kind things, Dad”. Well, we needn’t emulate every aspect of 5-year-old life!
The Changing Role of Finance: Results Reporting to Business Partner
The positives of this effect underscore an important component of EPM success: clearly defined roles and appointing people to fulfill those tasks. Who owns the responsibility for your users’ EPM skills? Who is monitoring performance? Who owns the responsibility for support for your organization? Who is tasked with monitoring available patches and service packs to ensure your system is kept up to date? Who owns data reconciliation and accuracy? In many cases, we see gaps in these important roles. As each role is unfilled, there is a risk. If someone isn’t accountable for the outputs, then there is a good chance the task won’t be completed at all, and if it is done partially, the missing pieces will prove costly. Define the jobs, assign them, and hold your team accountable...and be sure to recognize kindness along the way.
Finally, this is an easy thing for 5-year-olds to do: you have to have the courage try new things! When you’re 5, most things are ‘new’. EPM is a powerful solution that can add tremendous value to your company. Staying on the well-worn paths for your long established EPM processes may seem safe, but this mindset really constrains the potential ROI of your solution. For inspiration - I encourage you to explore our Webcast Library, the EPM Leadership Summit, and customer case studies. We're still working on our highly repetitive theme songs, but I hope you find some useful information nonetheless. Best of luck in your EPM journey!
David Den Boer, Founder & CEO