Corporate Performance Management (CPM) software, sometimes referred to as Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), is a powerful tool that enables businesses to quickly consolidate, plan, and budget through automation, standardization, and robust reporting capabilities. But only if they can strategically capture the full value of the system.
While the market for CPM technology is growing between 5-20% every year, the reality is that Finance, FP&A, and IT leaders are leaving money on the table when trying to recoup their CPM investments.
The ROI Reality Check: Bridging the CPM Value Gap
After buying a CPM tool, companies often fail to realize the full benefits of the system due to poor design or change management. Once live, the CPM platform is plagued by poor data governance, and many of the most value-added features go unused, including automated reporting books, robust driver-based models, and automation of standard calculations. Rather than maximize their CPM investment, companies revert to complex Excel workbooks.
By understanding these causes of failure and shifting the expectations around CPM transformation, leaders can rapidly generate ROI and accelerate speed-to-value.
Rising Above Root Causes of CPM Failure
Project teams and implementation partners must guard against a series of common issues, including:
- Lift and shift approach: Organizations often implement CPM tools to mirror their existing processes in Excel. Users then blame the CPM system rather than redesigning for real transformation.
- Resource limitations: Finance functions may not have the time and resources to revamp their data and processes when they’re already consumed by existing manual processes. The inability to change, update, or reimagine old ways of working prevents organizations from becoming more efficient.
- Cost concerns: Organizations often go with a lower-cost option to achieve a minimally viable product (MVP). The problem, though, is that they never move beyond the MVP and are left with a tool with limited capabilities and low utilization.
- Data quality issues: If organizations struggle with data quality issues, such as incomplete or inconsistent source system data, users may lose trust in the tool’s outputs. And without proper data integration mechanisms, integrating the CPM tool with other systems or data sources creates complexity that discourages users.
- Potentially limited customization: Some CPM tools lack flexibility and force teams into pre-configured options. This can make it difficult for organizations to tailor CPM tools to their specific needs. Other tools like OneStream, however, are built to be fully flexible and configurable
- Lack of clear objectives: Without clear objectives or goals for using the CPM tool, users may struggle to see its value or understand how it can benefit their work.
Accelerating Value Creation With Holistic CPM Implementation Strategies
- Embrace change: As organizations evolve and grow, they must equip stakeholders with tools to optimize their business functions and support business leaders with adapting to a best-in-class process. Interested in learning more? See how CrossCountry redesigned a SaaS firm’s enterprise planning process and technology architecture, generating significant time and labor savings in the firm’s FP&A function.
- Use driver-based planning: Shifting to driver-based planning enables a wide range of scenario analysis. Implement this approach with CPM tool calculations from business leader inputs, with built-in reporting to capture variances and inform planning adjustments.
- Phased approach: Building a CPM solution in multiple phases compartmentalizes the process shift by piloting the tool with a particular business function. It’s common for organizations to implement certain application components like consolidations first to satisfy accounting requirements, while waiting to implement planning so as not to overwhelm the business.
- Predictive modeling: Leverage a wide variety of inputs to generate near-term and long-term forecasts. How could, for example, a restaurant know how many customers to expect in a given day? They can direct the model to look at weather trends, time patterns, and customer behavior to anticipate activity.
- Strong data controls: Establish strong data controls and global data governance strategy across organizational data systems and make this part of the implementation roadmap from the start.
- Customization and configuration: Many CPM tools enable users to adapt the tool to their requirements and workflows. Training sessions typically cover how to customize reports, dashboards, and data entry forms, as well as configure calculations, allocations, and business rules. Real-world example: See how CrossCountry Consulting executed a human-centered transformation management workshop to develop a transformation roadmap and associated business case for a OneStream implementation.
- Automation and manual override capabilities: Understand the tool’s functionality and embrace the automation capabilities available, rather than leaving them unused. Keep in mind that automation is only one piece of the equation, and manual override must be included to equip management with the correct level of control over FP&A processes.
End-to-end OneStream value creation with an expert implementation and advisory partner
Simplify and transform corporate performance management processes like financial consolidation, reporting, planning, and analytics across the portfolio.
- Full-lifecycle implementation advisory services: Implementing a robust CPM software is a full-time job. Rather than pull in fractional resources or overload internal staff with project tasks outside their expertise, partner with an integrated systems implementation advisor that sits between and within your internal teams and implementer. This added resource brings expert implementation, transformation management, finance, accounting, IT, risk, and FP&A support to the project to ensure a holistic approach and maximum ROI during every phase: pre-go-live, execution, post-go-live, and ongoing fine-tuning and maintenance.
The CPM Value Advantage
With deep experience delivering CPM solutions, providing managed services, optimizing existing platforms, and helping top organizations execute on their CPM vision, our team empowers your company to extend the utility of your system and capture maximum CPM value.
Leveraging a proprietary implementation support framework, our integrated teams bring comprehensive solutions to every CPM engagement and assist with vendor analysis, system selection, stakeholder alignment, transformation roadmaps, business as usual (BAU) support, controls design and testing, talent upskilling, system enhancements, continuous process improvements, and more.
Contact CrossCountry Consulting today to get started.