Reporting that generates real insights at a major Australian bank

This company had too many manual processes with multiple touch points. As a result, the EPM team spent nearly three-quarters of its efforts collating data and creating reports, leaving little time for analysis. Reporting formats were all over the map and hard to trace — and there was no connectivity between the company’s Cognos BI and Oracle General Ledger systems, resulting in too many iterations and versions of the same reports. And with all the ad hoc reporting requests the team was getting, it didn’t have time to provide insights about the business.

We used our Smart Enterprise Processes framework, which combines process design and execution, analytics, and technologies to reimagine business outcomes. This unique solution helped standardize reporting and created a virtual business intelligence setup that integrated the company’s data sources.
Here’s what our proprietary framework did:

• It analyzed 11 executive general management areas to map processes end to end
• It used diagnostics to assess more than 90 management reports for analytical features, visual appeal, and other parameters
• It analyzed over 60 standard operating procedures corresponding to the management reports
• It benchmarked and redesigned the current EPM process against best-in-class standards
• It standardized templates for management reporting
• It identified and incorporated parameters for regular and ad hoc reports based on stakeholders needs
• It integrated Cognos BI reporting platform with Oracle GL to provide seamless drill-down-and-up functionality

We helped the firm realize:

• An 18% improvement in efficiency and shorter time turning data into insights
• A 44% reduction in ad hoc reporting
• Faster, more informed decision-making and increased agility
• 50% less time spent on data collection, giving finance teams more time to focus on identifying actionable insights

Now the newly agile company is making more informed decisions, and its EPM team is a true business partner. The solution worked so well that the firm is replicating this new way of standardizing management reporting processes for additional lines of business.