Selecting Systems 5: Process Alignment

The fifth part in our series of Selecting Finance Systems for growing organisations. An introduction to the series can be found via this link: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/selecting-finance-systems-support-your-companys-growth-john-fuggles-0x5oe/

When selecting systems for growth one might be forgiven for thinking it concerns technology, and perhaps to a lesser extent, people. However, a system is more than technology and should encompass processes too.

Selecting systems for growth should focus on the needs of the business and ensure that processes are brought into line with future needs building on new systems and technology. As a starting point for any change, often system selection will need to consider current processes and the limits thereof.

Process alignment and improvement needs to be tempered with what can sometimes be a drive for too much operational efficiency. Pushing too hard to achieve operational efficiency may deliver less value or miss opportunities to add greater value. Ultimately finance transformation is about achieving more not just being more efficient.

Begin at the end

While aligning with current processes should be the starting point, there should be consideration for which changes can or should be made to those processes to account for future needs. It is important that a forward view of processes and the inter-relationship between processes and systems is considered carefully.

Gap analysis

Aligning processes is not just about changing the current ones to integrate new technology. Often process gaps have been managed in the past by workarounds or alternative technologies, understanding where gaps exist and looking to make changes to improve them can deliver additional benefits.

People, process, technology

Systems selection needs to consider processes and the potential gains that can be made, as well as the limitations. This applies to the people within the organisation – anybody delivering a system and finance transformation needs to think about the end goal for the skills they wish the wider team to have because of the implementation of a new system, as well as the limitations on the business in meeting this goal.

Scalability

It’s important when selecting a system that any technology implemented, as well as the processes related to that implementation, can be scaled. These can often be business dependent, but some questions you might ask when considering new technologies could be:

• The technology’s support function is only available in one time zone, but your people and/or clients operate globally. Is this a feasible way of working?
• Rollout requires multiple regional deployments. Is it possible for the chosen technology partner to do this, or is a third party required?
• The chosen technology’s use (or the process it sits within) requires everyone to be on site to use it, but the company’s working model doesn’t complement this (e.g., working in a hybrid or work from home model). How might processes have to change to facilitate this?

These questions are just examples of some considerations you might make, but there are many more to be made when thinking about scalability that can impact system selection.

Conclusion

Process alignment is often seen as either:

A) How do we make our future system fit our current processes?

or

B) How do we make our future processes fit our new system?

System selection should deliver gains in operational performance and the ability to achieve more - not just through system and technology, but through efficiency gain as part of the improvement of processes. Focusing on the end objective and understanding what can be achieved should be a key input to any system selection process.

VantagePoint has a dedicated advisory practice that works alongside our system selection and implementation teams. Often advisory is brought in early in the process to help the customer understand the impact of change and the requirements of any solution. As the project progresses our advisory specialists work with the project team to ensure we optimise any process to deliver gains beyond just the system itself.

Selecting Systems for Growth 5/14

overview - https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/selecting-finance-systems-support-your-companys-growth-john-fuggles-0x5oe/

part 1 - https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/selecting-systems-1-stakeholder-buy-in-john-fuggles-63w1e/

part 2 - https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/selecting-systems-2-considering-people-john-fuggles-ign6e/

part 3 - https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/selecting-systems-3-training-enablement-john-fuggles-w6rbc/

part 4 - https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/selecting-systems-4-impact-business-usual-john-fuggles-b5yoe/