Business Insights enable the ability to both understand and also to react to changing business data, either internal or external. Today’s Performance Management solutions involve non-programmable User interfaces (i.e. diagrammatic visualisations with drag and drop), 64-bit in-memory processing, and the use of AI (artificial or augmented) intelligence alongside machine learning (ML) as significant data volumes are available for evaluation of the underlying processes and business intelligence (BI) analytical reports.
Financial Consolidation & Reporting, Planning and Forecasting with on-screen visualisations of data trends, ability to highlight and identify outliers and bad performers, explanations and ‘story-book’ analysis of existing and/or predicted outcomes, all this without any significant IT overhead or input. Usually, these are the desired outcomes.
Most traditional software vendors offer “free” upgrades to latest versions for their Users who have ongoing subscription and support (maintenance) contracts, which are renewed annually. Although, additional features and/or add-on functionalities may be chargeable with separate licences (initial) and annual support costs. Yet, surprisingly several traditional software vendors used to offer their products and solutions with a one-time perpetual licence to use the software, and annual support and maintenance on an ‘optional’ basis.
Today, most software vendors are looking to persuade their customers, towards the annual, or multi-year, subscription model, both for on-premise licencing or cloud-based (hosted) solutions. Solutions software is effectively “rented” and latest updates become automated.
So, we assume that customers no longer need to worry about software legacy or performance?
LSA Solutions contend that for the ‘core’ applications of transaction recording there does need to be compelling and overwhelming benefits to justify the project costs of replacing these existing systems. Such projects can, and often do, take months (if not years!) to plan design and implement across even relatively small, non-complex, organisations and usually involve teams of IT experts alongside potential Users. Digital financial transformation and change management initiatives form a part of the overall considerations.
Certain “drill” and “pivot” capabilities can be available from the latest ERP systems but the true benefits of any purported Business Insights can be fragmented as such projects tend to over-run and be delayed.
LSA Solutions firmly consider that today’s modern Reporting applications, which are agnostic as regards their source data can and do deliver true Business Performance and Data Insights through efficient and inexpensive solutions. Whether, a vendor specific technical platform (proprietary software) or vendor solutions that have foundations in existing technology (i.e. Microsoft, etc.) are chosen, these can usually be implemented in days (or weeks) rather than years and operate across multiple jurisdictions (currencies and regulations), consolidating the many disparate ‘core’ transactional recording applications.
Skilled Systems Accountants and IT Professionals may be able to create and compile solutions using ‘off the shelf’ technologies, e.g. Microsoft SQL server with Microsoft Analysis and Reporting services. However, LSA believe that the majority of organisations prefer to acquire suitable Vendor solutions that are both reputable and priced to meet their budgets. Software solutions that reflect their unique or particular operations and processes.
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