The Problem with “Out-of-the-Box” Solutions for FP&A

Summary

In this edition, we will be covering the following items:

1. The risks of “out-of-the-box” FP&A solutions

2. How to think about Power BI and Acterys as a “middle-ground” solution

The Risks of “Out-of-the-Box” FP&A Solutions

Finance teams have a wide selection of “out-of-the-box” planning applications to augment their processes. Many of these vendors offer high-quality solutions, but there are drawbacks to be aware of:

1. Many Solutions are Robust but Inflexible and Rigid: Many market-leading applications have existed (in some form or another) for decades and provide robust solutions. But they are often marked by antiquated user interfaces, high maintenance costs, and expensive configurations.

2. Other Solutions are More Configurable, but Still Require Specialists: Some solutions can configure almost any logic, but this often requires highly specialized knowledge and skills – taking the power of control out of the hands of the business.

3. Lack of Seamless Integration for Reporting and Analytics: Business teams already spend a large amount of time switching between different applications and systems. Integrating FP&A and planning applications with BI tooling (or using their native analytics capabilities) can be frustrating and time-consuming.

4. Cost and Complexity Creates Vendor “Lock-In”: Because of the scale of investment often required for many implementations, organizations are reluctant to make the initial investments and even more reluctant to revisit them even if the outcome is sub-optimal.

How Power BI and Acterys Can Be the Perfect Middle Ground

Power BI (leveraging Acterys) stands out as a solution that offers the flexibility and extensibility in the familiar package of the Microsoft tooling so many FP&A teams have known for decades.

1. Infinitely Configurable While Leveraging Common Skills: Configuring planning and reporting applications using Power BI and Acterys is done using skills that are common, in-house, and readily available. Your team has the flexibility to leverage vendors to do the heavy lifting, comfortable in the fact that your organization understands what is “under the hood.”

2. Plugging into the Microsoft Ecosystem: If your organization is using (or wants to use) Microsoft Power Platform tools, this solution will fit perfectly into your team’s technology “stack”. By having your reporting an planning centralized in Power BI and integrated with Power Automate, Power Apps, SharePoint, Dynamics 365, and other tools, you can build tools that seamlessly orchestrate your business processes.

3. One Tool to Rule Them All: Leveraging Power BI for reporting, analytics, planning, and enterprise performance management – all in one place – gives your team the power to eliminate multiple 3rd party tools and manage the business from one central “hub”. This will require time and effort to achieve, but the simplicity it offers is massively valuable.

4. Leveraging In-House Tooling Enables Incremental Investment: Using a tool like Power BI allows you to take control of a large portion of your finance transformation roadmap with a relatively modest investment. The time and effort required to build Power BI competencies is relatively low and is multipurpose (can be used for many outcomes, not just one tool).

Power BI and Acterys Put Your Team in the Driver’s Seat

No solution will be perfect for every organization. But, for organizations that are looking for a configurable, largely self-service platform, on which to begin building a suite of tools, the combination of Power BI, Acterys, and (if you choose) the rest of the Microsoft Power Platform can be a very clear winner.

1. Many teams find themselves feeling trapped between complex and highly expensive solutions over which they have little control and limited understanding

2. Most organizations already have a strong built-in understanding of Microsoft tooling and will be able to build the competencies needed for Power BI with relatively modest investment of time and effort

3. This foundation can be used to (incrementally) build a (flexible, extensible) suite of in-house tools.

In the Next Newsletter

We will learn more about the Microsoft Power Platform and discuss the choices between platforms and “best-of-breed” solutions.