Loras College 2014 Business Analytics Symposium | Steve Whinnery and Scott Stevenson: Best...

Best Practices in Planning

Steve Whinnery and Scott Stevenson

eCapital Advisors

eCapital Advisors

Founded in 2001 – Headquartered in Minneapolis

Performance Management & Business Analytics consulting firm

Over 250 customers

eCapital Advisors employees:

• Dedicated to Enterprise Performance Management and Business Analytics, enabling clients to make better business decisions

• Proven customer satisfaction and experience across a variety of industries

• Strategic assessments, implementations, training, customer enablement and managed services

Who we are

Steve Whinnery • Partner – Responsible for Oracle

Practice Strategy and project delivery of all Oracle Projects

• 15 years consulting

• Oracle, Hyperion and Cognos performance Management and Business Analytic solutions

• Fortune 500 and mid-market implementations across a variety of industries

Scott Stevenson• Vice President – Business

Development and Strategy - Oracle

Practice

• 20+ years of software and services

sales management experience

• 10+ years of Hyperion Experience

• Management responsibility for the

sale and implementation of over 75

Hyperion Projects throughout the

United States

Sample Client List

Agenda

•What is Planning

•Industry Leading Practices for Planning

•Executing Leading Practices

•Analytics and Planning

•Q&APlanning Best

Practices

Planning

“If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else.” ― Yogi Berra

“I'm not making any plans. I'm just going to let the universe surprise me.” ― John Cusack

“Plans are of little importance, but planning is essential.” ― Winston Churchill

What is Planning

Operational Planning• Demand, Production, Capacity Planning• Detailed plans by product, customer, plant,

etc.• Completed by Sales, Production, Supply

Chain, etc.

Strategic Planning• Long range planning (3 to 5 year outlook)• High-level financial planning• Strategic projects, M&A, target setting• Completed at Corporate

Budgeting• Budget for the next fiscal year• Detailed or granular financial plan• Completed by business users or managers

Forecasting• Semi-Annual, Quarterly or Monthly• Forecast remaining fiscal year or 12 to 18

month rolling• Completed by business users or managers

Key Components of Planning

• Revenue or Volume

• Cost of Sales

• Workforce or Compensation

• SG&A

• Capital Expenditures

• Balance Sheet

Industry Leading Planning Practices

Leading Planning Practices

• Integrated Planning processes• Evolve to a rolling forecast• Driver Based Planning• Efficient Process• Develop an adaptable model• Timely and effective reporting

Integrated Planning Processes

Strategic Plan

Annual Budget / Plan

Include Operational Details

Evaluate Workforce & Capital

Monthly / Rolling Forecast

Update Strategic Plan

Run models based on key strategies

Set targets

Seed targets to annual operating plan

Start annual process

Include operational detail and model variability of financial plan

Evaluate resource and capital requirements

Update forecast with latest budget and actuals

Update strategic plan with latest forecast

Rolling ForecastMaximum

Productivity of Available Resources

More Cost & Time Efficient Planning and Budgeting(decentralized inputs & global plan consolidation)

Better Company Forecast Accuracy(monthly/quarterly forecasts, driver-based modeling)

BetterStrategy

Execution(rolling forecast & relative

performance targets)

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Driver Based Planning

• Focus on the highly variable drivers

• High impact drivers

• Leverage seasonality and external factors

• Systematically update planning model

Efficient Process

• Define appropriate level of detail

• Leverage technology to enable efficiency

• Evaluate process simplification

• Engage the appropriate users

Adaptable Model

• Flexibility to change with the business

• Scenario modeling

• Ad-hoc forecast

Timely and Effective Reporting

• Immediate analysis (real-time)

• Budget/forecast vs. actuals

• Integration with MS Office

• Reporting flexibility

How to ExecuteLeading Planning Practices

How to get started

• Understand this is a journey, not a destination

• Executive sponsorship

• Identify and prioritize strategic initiatives

• Define the value of the project

• Build the team– Internal

– External

Implementation Leading Practices

• Assess the current state gaps

• Multiple Phases Deliver a “Quick Win”

• Evaluate process change

• Identify enabling technology

• Allocate more time for Requirements and Design

• Communicate, Communicate, Communicate and then communicate more!!

“Break up the project – don’t go for big bang. Treat it as a program with project phases.” ― Peter Dankwerth, Ecolab, VP Finance

Analytics and Planning

Business Analytics and Planning

• Creates feedback loop for Planning processes:

– Measure and evaluate planning accuracy

– Provides analysis to gauge progress toward strategic goals

– Graphically represent actual results against plan

• Delivers actionable business information

• Provides a vehicle for organizational information dissemination

“People come to work in the morning wanting to make the right decisions; but, they don’t have the information to do so.” ― Jamie Wiggins, Children’s Hospitals and Clinics, Sr. Director Clinical Services

Analytics and Planning

• Measure financial result of strategic initiatives

• Enable users to make better and more timely decisions

• Improve accountability and accuracy

• Allows for more time analyzing data vs. gathering data

• Better align business resourcesSource: AQPC

Q & A