Host Analytics, a leading provider of connected financial planning and close solutions has confirmed the release of a new solution system in coordination with Blackline, a supplier of automated financial close software, enhancing and automating the end to end financial consolidation and reporting processes for many businesses.

The partnership will enable finance and accounting teams to improve and simplify the period-end close by eradicating manual, time-consuming jobs from the entire process. Over 70 clients are already utilising the features of Host Analytics and BlackLine solutions, automating close and consolidation processes and at the same time enhancing the organisational and overall focus of finance and accounting teams. The innovative solution is generating quicker results, reducing overall compliance costs and providing businesses with more awareness of their close and consolidation activities. Furthermore, finance and accounting teams are provided with more valuable data, giving teams confidence in using data for the close process and the overall quality of financial deliverables.

Ron Baden, the CEO of Host Analytics explains that companies are actively seeking ways to transform Finance and remove any potential inaccuracies in inefficient systems. According to Baden, integrating Host Analytics and Blackline solutions provides the finance industry with an alternative to the conventional time consuming manual and inefficient close processes. Baden states how excited they are to offer this solution for the finance industry and allow finance teams to focus more on strategic opportunities for development.

Host Analytics is a global leader in financial planning and close solutions and was recently named a leader in the 2018 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud Financial Planning and Close Solutions for the second time in a row. BlackLine is a market leader in automation and streamlining financial close processes and other important financial accounting processes for medium and large businesses. BlackLine was also recognised by Gartner as a leader in 2018 for Cloud Financial Close Solutions and an innovative leader in the cloud market for financial control and automation.

Michael Otto, the VP of Global Strategic Alliances explains that traditionally, accounting teams have been forced to choose between disconnected solutions or settle for a lesser alternative solution to control their financial close operations. Otto highlights that by offering a pre-integrated solution between BlackLine and Host Analytics, it will provide accounting teams with the potential to reduce their reliance on common errors found on spreadsheets and utilise automated processes to improve financial close.

The combination of BlackLine and Host Analytics offers a seamless connection between solutions that enhance and automate end-to-end financial consolidation, reporting and close. Customers can simply compare financial data, enabling teams to confirm the validity of consolidated account balances and perform a quicker and more effective financial close. This provides finance with a more effective date and greater confidence in data sets and improved trust in consolidated financial results.

Data analytics has become the key determinant in predicting customer needs and behaviour.

Data analytics is transforming the banking and financial services industry. The rapid rise of big data, faster computers and innovative technology in analytics has resulted in a range of new opportunities for banks and finance teams to understand past results and efficiently measure current trends and patterns for the future. Today’s banks use data analytics to control a range of challenges including fraud detection and credit risk management but more focus is needed on converting data into actual insightful decisions. As customers become less attached through new technology and innovative tools, banks and financial services will need new ways of generating information on customer behaviour. Implementing new analytical techniques, banks can understand and measure customer’s requirements for banking products and services at a particular time with relative accuracy.

In recent years, data analytics has transformed the functions of financial businesses. Predictive analysis,  smart customer management and AI driven solutions have enabled companies to manage potential risks more effectively and improve overall customer experience, improving overall profits. In particular, developing regions have found real value in analytics in generating a more inclusive system for an imbalanced financial market. Deep learning and Natural Language Processing tools are allowing for more detailed interactions and languages. Digitalisation and data analytics is expected to support the rapid transformation of conventional techniques of working in finance.

Big Data and analytical tools can allow financial institutions to improve their credit underwriting processes by accessing new data sources, such as e-commerce transaction data, social data and other sources, allowing a clearer idea of risks for customers with lower credit scores. This allows banks to select credit valued customers from a potential list of people that may never have acquired credit because of insufficient details for banks to measure their risk because of lack of sufficient information for banks to assess their risk.

We also see an opportunity for expansion in breadth of analytics usage from traditional focus areas of risk and marketing into hitherto untapped avenues of – HR (to improve the effectiveness of employee recruitment and retention), Compliance (moving to 100% transaction monitoring instead of traditional sample-based testing approach to detect anomalies), Operations and Finance functions.

According to research at EY, there are three core areas where financial services businesses are seeking investment to develop new capabilities in data, infrastructure and people:

Data: Data lies at the core of analytics-driven innovation. Companies are investing in not just integrated existing data source within one place but also attempting to understand new data sources for creation. There is a strong emphasis on finding new data feeds, such as social media channels to further strengthen the entire insight generation system.

Infrastructure: In order to manage ever-changing data sources, including the range and volume means businesses need to improve their infrastructure. Financial businesses are now more willing to work with open source tools and cloud-based platforms.

People: people skills are essential for utilising the data and creating the infrastructure to give a business that competitive edge. Companies are investing heavily in finding and hiring the right talent for their business. Most companies are using a combination of in-house talent blended with external systems to manage the continued changes in the market.

Understanding customer behaviour on an individual basis and when to make contact is a challenge that can be solved via AI platforms. This requires a visionary team and people collaborating across an entire business. Another particular challenge is real-time involvement. Nearly all financial institutions still rely on batch processing for customer interactions. Transforming this process to real-time will improve the overall outcome as well as enhance the customer experience. Other industry professionals highlight that financial businesses need to shift their focus away from products and to establish a customer-focused strategy.

The personal greeting on websites is becoming a more common tool and often is the first interaction a user has with a business and therefore can be a vital influence in understanding how customers are treated at this particular business. Quite often, it will be a chatbot or a digital assistant providing this service, rather than an actual human.

Digital assistants are text-based platforms that are created to work within a single purpose application. Services are continuing to improve algorithms based on user behaviour and language conversion to enhance digital assistant development and improve the overall user experience. Many industry leaders believe that digital assistants will have a great influence on the way financial professionals operator. Digital assistants can enable finance teams to simplify and automate certain repetitive tasks, enabling finance professionals to spend more time on value-focused activities.

Technology businesses are integrating voice assistant into software support with processes such as recommending suppliers, completing expense reports and providing support on which invoices to pay first. Oracle is implementing innovative digital assistants into a product to assist in capturing and monitoring expenses, claims and generate useful algorithms that recommend the most suitable suppliers to engage with.

Automation to enhance business efficiency

Oracle believes that digital assistants will begin to support improvements to year end, budget management and financial forecasting. Businesses will start to use intelligent assistants to remove duties previously performed by employees, enabling teams to use their skills to develop insights and create more informed business decisions. A fine example of digital assistants in action is at Exelon who implement digital assistant to create a rapid customer service experience. Exelon was looking for quick digital assistant implementation to cover a number of platforms that include web, social media and voice assistants like Alexa. Exelon utilised the rapid digital assistant tools from Oracle Mobile Cloud and created faster response times, reduced costs due to lower call centre expenses and over 10 million users covered via the service.

In the finance industry, digital assistants can offer similar functions to automate and cover repetitive processes that are generally time-consuming for employees, time that could be used to focus on high-level jobs that influence the financial performance of a business. Digital assistants will potentially provide informed answers to specific questions such as ‘annual spend on travel and expenses’. Information like this can allow a financial manager to determine how much budget is available for employee spend.

Industry leaders believe that digital assistants will soon be able to automate complete financial processes, eliminating the need for human involvement. Financial employees will be given more freedom from repetitive jobs and the ability to spend more time on the critical and necessary work. This means more benefits in terms of a business and its financial strategy as well as keeping employees more engaged and challenged at work. Innovative digital assistants are likely to be a vital part of empowering employees and enhancing business performance.

Insightsoftware, the leading financial reporting and enterprise performance manager supplier has confirmed the acquisition of Jet Global Data Technologies, a worldwide provider in reporting, analytics and budgeting tools for Microsoft Dynamics.

The latest acquisition adds to Insightsoftware’s key objective to generate a diverse portfolio of leading reporting platforms, enabling businesses of all sizes efficient access and the means to distribute insightful financial data. Furthermore, the latest acquisition will strengthen the advanced excel-base reporting capabilities used specifically for users of the top ERP reporting platform, Microsoft Dynamics. The new plans will further strengthen the commitment of Insightsoftware to its international partner network.

Operating in 14 countries, Jet Global provides a simplistic alternative to conventional reporting systems, which generally involve manual work, are time-consuming and can be over complicated. Jet Global offers a solution and rapid access to data, a flexible reporting system from any Microsoft Dynamics source, including Microsoft Dynamics AX, NAV and GP. Jet Global has over 14,000 customers spanning over 90 countries and includes major global brands such as Amnesty International.

Mike Lipps, CEO of Insightsoftware explains that businesses are currently sitting on a ‘virtual treasure of data’, but points out that the opportunity to utilise and act on this data pool in real time is generally lost in the complications and rigidity of ERP solutions. Lipps believes their business is providing a leading reporting portfolio and transforming this process. With the acquisition of Jet Global, Insightsoftware can offer even more flexibility, additional reporting, analytics and budgeting capabilities to empower customers to make quicker and more informed decisions that really influence their business.

Joe Little, CEO of Jet Global highlights that over the last 16 years, Jet Global has developed into a market leader in reporting, analytics and budgeting processes for users of Microsoft Dynamics. Little points out that their services have been in great demand by enterprises requiring solutions that enable rapid access to vital data and allow for quick and informed decisions and more agility within a company. Little believes the integration with Insightsoftware will create further opportunities for customers and partners worldwide, generating a higher level of market responsiveness and solutions covering reporting, analytics and budgeting.

Global private equity and investors into insightsoftware have highlighted the progress insightsoftware has made on delivering TA’s initial vision of developing the leading reporting software for financial reporting and EPM. Hythem El-Nazer, the MD of TA Associates explains that they continue to see more opportunities for increased organic development by offering leading products and solutions that meet the requirements of their 20,000 customers worldwide.

Apple and leading software business SAP are accelerating their partnership after plans to increase focus on the use of iPhone, iPad and Mac within an enterprise. The recent report by Reuters explains that both companies are partnering to support businesses in the development of applications using machine learning technology at Apple.

The report suggests the partnership will focus on enhancing augmented reality activity within businesses. For example, SAP and Apple will focus on augmented reality for things like machinery repairs. Furthermore, the new applications developed within the partnership will be compatible with iPhones, iPads and the Mac. Tim Cook recently attended the annual SAP Sapphire user conference to highlight the planned partnership expansions with SAP. Cook explained that security and privacy are key elements of this new partnership. Cook emphasises that enterprise mobile devices are vital pieces of technology that must be protected. Cook went on to explain at the event of the continued freedom that technology can create for workers wanting to do their jobs whilst on the move, something that both companies are working on.

Apple and SAP first partnered back in 2016 with the objective of expanding the use of iPhones and Macs within the enterprise industry. The latest announcement highlights a stronger partnership with more focus on machine learning, augmented reality and privacy.

Earlier this month SAP introduced a range of new services that will influence how consumers and enterprises interact with one another. After recently completing its acquisition of Qualtrics, SAP has launched a number of new offerings that integrated experience data (X-data) with operational data (O-data) to measure and enhance the experience for customers, employees and improve the product and brand. Industry experts believe this product launch highlights a new level in enterprise software. The new system launch will enable companies to listen to the beliefs and intentions of customers, employees, suppliers, partners and other interested parties.  SAP CEO Bill McDermott highlights that experience management is a top priority for leading businesses worldwide. McDermott emphasises that SAP is really focused on supporting customers as a key factor in encouraging growth, innovation and confidence.

For customer experience, SAP has launched three Experience Management solutions that can transform HR platforms into enterprise systems. The new solutions collect experience data from employees within the employee lifecycle and empower leaders and managers within HR to gain a true understanding and use these insights that will deliver a leading workforce.

At the Sapphire Now event, SAP and Apple announced that the CORE ML on-device machine learning technology will be available as part of the SAP Cloud Platform SDK for iOS. Within the partnership with Apple, SAP has redeveloped some of its most popular mobile apps for SAP SuccessFactors and SAP Concur solutions to operate on iOS. The applications are completely integrated with iPhone and iPad, enhancing levels of security and performance. SAP also confirmed it will expand its application offerings to the Mac, with the launch of new apps that offer the power and simplicity similar to SAP iOS apps. The new Mac applications will introduce the detail and richness of the SAP iOS experience to the desktop.

Bill McDermott, the CEO of SAP explains that Apple is on the rise in an enterprise. McDermott states that their customers really like the security and simplicity of iOS and it provides a superior platform to develop innovative business applications. Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple highlights that enterprise customers are experiencing real business benefits when using iOS. Cook highlights they are excited for SAP to extend their experience more soon iPhone and iPad, and bringing services to the Mac for the first time. Cook highlights that the partnership is an important milestone for Apple and are excited to be working with SAP to empower users with the leading business process data available in iPhone, iPad and Mac.

Teesside University has confirmed a partnership with leading data analytics provider MHR Analytics in order to support its financial and fee planning system. Financial workforce planning software, managed by IBM Planning Analytics, will be integrated to reduce time and money spent on spreadsheet-based tuition fee planning and spend more time on strategic development within each department.

Teesside is one of many educational organisations that is turning its attention towards analytics to support transformation in economy and continued industry developments. The new analytics solution will enable the finance team at Teesside University to actually visualise, test and measure a range of scenarios and revenues. The University can segment data based on student retention rates, course profits and the effect of curriculum changes without relying on conventional spreadsheets.

Kendra Pink, the Deputy Director of Finance at Teesside University explains that it is vital that financial forecasting and fee planning processes are effective and accurate. Pink highlights that by eliminating time spent on manual processes will enable teams to be more strategic and remain focused on providing the best educational experience for all students.

Nick Felton, the Senior Vice President of MHR Analytics states that they are pleased to welcome Teesside University to join the increasing number of UK universities partnering with their platform. Felton highlights that competition for funding streams and student numbers is high and becoming more complicated to measure accurately. Felton highlights that the planning analytics platform will enable universities to improve performance and continue to deliver world-class education to students in the UK and worldwide.

Leading provider of connected financial planning and solutions, Host Analytics confirmed details of the Perform 2019 Enterprise Performance Management event.

The event is to be held on May 20th-22nd in Las Vegas and will involve the collaboration and networking of nearly 1000 finance professionals worldwide.

The event theme of Perform 2019 is focused on how finance is leading the transformation of business and specific sessions will highlight how modern finance teams are utilising new technology to become the strategic hub of their business.

Perform 2019 highlights the collaboration of ideas between finance professionals, industry leaders and Host Analytics partners. Event participants will get to understand how finance can enhance business performance and how other professionals are using Host Analytics solution to improve the strategic value of finance. Specific sessions will focus on new approaches to networking with business partners, workshops on new technologies and advice from professionals implementing and utilizing EPM.

Event speakers at Perform 2019 will include Ron Bade, the CEO of Hosts Analytics, Doc Hendley, founder of Wine to Water, an organisation providing clean water and sanitation worldwide and many others.

Christelle Flahaux, the CMO at Host Analytics explains that Perform 2019 is an essential event for finance professionals. Flahaux emphasises that the event attracts Host Analytic customers and innovative finance professionals looking to learn strategic techniques and share their knowledge. Flahaux highlights that this year’s agenda will focus on areas that enable finance to transform business performance.

Sessions scheduled for Perform 2019 include:

Doug Henschen, Vice President and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, Agility Matters: How Cloud-Based Planning Drives Digital Transformation

Dave Kellogg, Independent Director, Blogger, Consultant and former CEO of Host Analytics, The Board View: How Directors See KPIs, EPM, Metrics and Planning

Seth Lippencott, Director of Research at Nucleus Research, The ROI of EPM: A Case Study in Finance and Budgeting Transformation

Simon Reed, Vice President, Corporate Planning at American Express Global Business Travel, Journey Through the Transformation of Finance

Shane Riddle, Director of FP&A of Planar Systems, Integrating Host Analytics in a Rapidly Changing M&A Environment

The head of finance at Anaplan has recently highlighted what actions should be taken by finance managers when implementing machine learning into their business.

Technology has improved dramatically in recent years, with machine learning viewed as a strong market within technological change. Machine Learning has entered nearly every market worldwide and for some is a vital tool used to transform business activities by enabling significant changes in managing large volumes of data.

Although there may be more focus on the growth of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning is growing rapidly, with a number of industry examples of businesses incorporating Machine Learning into their business activity.

From social media to voice assistants, many of our systems we use are continuously implementing machine learning to understand our behaviour and personalise our online experience. Machine Learning can go even deeper, however, with revenue management systems using ML to create an algorithm to generate pricing and inventory suggestions.

More businesses are incorporating the benefit of ML, with other companies prioritising plans to incorporate ML into their business activity, particularly within the finance market.

Many finance experts believe ML can enhance financial planning and analysis, wealth management, and how finance managers can control advanced analytics within their company.

What are the opportunities in Machine Learning?

Machine Learning is highly flexible and can potentially be integrated into a range of technologies. Looking specifically at the finance market, data is by far the most critical part of the industry. ML can supply finance teams with more capability to reveal and measure business potential and associated data that allows financial managers to make more informed and insightful decisions.

A good example of ML in finance is with the wealth management technology platform Forward line. The platform is utilising both AI and ML systems to support wealth managers in organising and measuring their data, providing real-time information to make informed choices for their customers.

What to consider with Machine Learning?

Implementing new systems does involve significant investment planning. With this in mind, it is essentially a business ensures they gain the full benefits of ML.

What is the quality of your data? – Data is essential for financial businesses, but as numbers increase, data can get diluted and a little chaotic. Prior to implementing any ML system, businesses need to prioritise the process of cleaning their data and ensuring it is reliable and accurate.

Do you have data governance?

During the ‘data cleansing’ process, there will undoubtedly be inaccurate forms of data and a number of errors. Finance teams must ensure this data is repaired prior to implementing any new technology.

Ensure you understand external and unstructured data

Ensure your team understand your data and what insights it could offer for your business. ML technologies can then support this process and take it to the next level.

Prepare for connected planning in your business

As data grows and diverges across a number of business areas, it is critical to ensure teams can communicate and collaborate on the information provided. This generally involves implementing dynamic planning systems and collaborative business processes, connecting teams with each other in real time. With this in place, ML technology can create insights and communicate between multiple areas of a business.

Ensure you allow time for effective business planning

Developing a business plan is definitely something that shouldn’t be rushed. It is critical that companies establish a realistic time-frame to achieve their end goals.

There is undoubtedly an emerging trend of innovative technology and the rise of more sophisticated machines. Despite the concerns, there is unlikely any threat of machines replacing the human workforce. In reality, most systems will always require some form of input from humans. As finance organisations expand their interests in machine learning, a key factor is ensuring they understand where human input is necessary. Finance leaders need to deliver plans in how machine-learning and human activity will interact in the future.

Domo, a leading provider of cloud-based operating systems in business confirms it has received the 2019 Top Rate Business Intelligence award by TrustRadius.

Megan Headley, the VP of Research at TrustRadius explains that Domo was awarded the Top Rated Business Intelligence Software award based specifically on customer feedback. Headley believes that customers really value the robust data visualisation options and the diverse range of connectors available on the platform. The number of reviews received by Domo placed them well ahead within the Business Intelligence Tools category, with its potential to connect businesses by integrating people, data and systems, resulting in real-time decisions provided by data.
Domos’ goal is to deliver an effective operating system for businesses, connecting people, data and systems. Domo aims to empower these networks, through improving collaboration, leading to more informed decisions from any device. Domo currently works with some of the leading global businesses covering a wide range of industries including finance, manufacturing, media and retail.

Customers explain that the platform empowers end users, removes the pressure and stress for IT professionals delivering reports and creating a data warehouse without developing an extensive in-house team.

Other customers explain that Domo is very useful in creating a data-driven system for a business and for those that lack the technical experience to move further into the cloud environment.

Business Intelligence or Data Analytics is essentially aimed at delivering information to enables employees to make informed decisions. Customers believe Domo provides simplicity in consuming this information and really appreciate the value of the data provided. Domo delivers insights to make informed decisions, removing any assumptions that are made in business decisions.

TrustRadius is one of the most reputed online B2B software review platforms. Every month, over 400,000 customers use nearly 170,000 confirmed TrustRadius reviews to complete their product purchase. The TrustRadius Top-Rated Awards were launched in 2016 and have become a recognised award for B2B technology products. The awards are based completely on user feedback.

The study claims nearly half of businesses are failing to utilise HR analytics

Business intelligence and financial performance management provider, MHR Analytics believe companies are failing to really capitalise on the HR insights from artificial intelligence.

In a recent YouGov survey delivered by MHR Analytics nearly half of the businesses involved showed they were failing to use vital insights from analytics and data within their HR operations. The survey of 500 HR leaders showed that 44% have little focus on HR analytics, including technology and processes that utilise specific data to tackle business challenges and make informed financial and business decisions.

On a more positive note, finance and accounting services are proven to be leading the way in terms of using this type of technology to enhance overall business performance. Around a quarter of respondents within the finance industry are using analytics to acquire predictive insights, with over 40% performing financial or strategic planning within the HR side of the business.

Other studies indicate a similar trend, with a recent Deloitte report indicating that finance teams are generally leading investment in analytics technology (approximately 80%). The MHR study showed that finance and accounting sectors are delivering the most innovative HR analytics, with over 30% intending to use predictive analytics in the next 12 months, compared to an industry average of 15%.

The study indicated that businesses implementing big data are proving successful, with over 40% suggesting they use big data for general operational reporting, 30% using it for financial workforce planning, 23% using it to enhance reporting processes and an additional 14% using it to determine employee retention and the development of the workforce.

The study asked what was preventing businesses from delivering analytics and 35% indicated that it was due to not having the right knowledge or skills. Nearly a third of respondents stated that the biggest challenge was the general lack of quality data available within the business.

Managing people – biggest expense but a most valuable asset to a business

Most people agree that employees are the biggest expense for their business. In times of sluggish economic growth, managing employees becomes a key priority for most businesses. HR analytics is a valuable tool in making key financial decisions for businesses.

Expenses such as pensions and recruitment fees need to be considered to improve financial efficiency and support development for the future. Businesses also need to ensure they recognise the value of employees within their business plan.

To improve the ROI of employees, companies need to really understand their people and ensure their business supports their real potential. Failing to do this can be costly for a business in the long term. Studies suggest it can cost on average £30,000 to replace a member of staff, with other reports stating it can cost businesses 400% of their annual salary to replace an existing role. Further studies show workplace absences are resulting in costs of £18 billion per year to the UK economy, with a predicted increase to £21 billion in 2020.

It is a challenge for companies to ensure they are paying complete attention to managing people in terms of costs and assets. Implementing the right systems in a business to ensure there is a balance between both is challenging. Studies by PwC suggest that over 60% of UK CEOs intend to increase their number of staff and a similar proportion are also intending to reduce costs associated with their employees.

Determining the requirements for this balance based on manual systems is complicated. To really understand employee behaviour and the financial shape of your business requires constant observations and in reality, cannot be achieved via manual systems. Analytics enables companies to take total control of their ‘people data’ and really understand what is going on in their business. Innovative technology enables companies to gain full visibility of the challenges businesses face and providing the tools to predict future scenarios.

We have entered the big data industrial revolution and as the world becomes more reliant on data, analytics is becoming more important within HR and a tool that businesses need to adapt to remain competitive. Gaining insights into the overall performance of employees creates a faster and more efficient decision-making process, creating further financial savings for a business.

What are the key benefits of analytics in HR?

Studies have proven that companies that implement analytics to study their employees have experienced a significant improvement in average annual profits, improvement in sales, higher operating incomes and higher sales per employee.

Leading computer and electronics business Hewlett-Packard had a problem of high management turnover which ultimately resulted in the loss of revenue. HR analytics insights allowed HP to assess and identify key factors influencing employee attrition, enabling HP to create strategies to retain employees, resulting in a saving of approximately $300 million.