Situation
When digital transformation is done well, it can be rewarded with efficiency, innovation and insight. All too often however, the results fall short of expectations, leaving executives asking after a huge investment in tech: “Why aren’t we seeing the payback from all this investment?”
In one such instance, the CFO of a major group approached PwC for help in getting their finance transformation back on track.
Big ambitions
The group had invested in an advanced enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Key objectives included faster reporting and finance processes, enhancing understanding of business performance and optimising investment targeting.
Challenged to make headway
Yet in many instances across the group, the new ERP system was only running at a fraction of its capacity and capabilities. Some subsidiaries had even reverted to the old platform. Underlying issues included a lack of in-depth engagement with the end users, i.e. the finance team, during the ERP implementation.
Solution
The key to helping our clients deliver on their technology objectives is focused dialogue and deep engagement.
Using our BXT (business, experience and technology) framework as the starting point, we engaged with the various finance teams on what they wanted the ERP to do, whether it was delivering and if not, to discover why not.
Working closely with the CFO and the subsidiary teams, we compiled a targeted gap-analysis as the basis for a blueprint for technology optimisation that spanned processes, data and upskilling.
Cutting through to what counts
Each element of the blueprint came with a cost-benefit analysis so the group could prioritise improvements.
The initial steps included clearing bottlenecks in areas such as introducing Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to automate the processing of hand-written invoices.
As we looked to improve performance within the ERP itself, we defined customised system enhancements that would be of most help to their finance teams.
Impact
By putting people at the heart of this human-led, tech-powered solution, the group has been able to build the trust, competence and willingness among their teams to embrace the change needed to make the most of its investment in new technology.
Up to speed
Now at the heart of the transformation, the end users are an active part of the solution with a clear path toward greater access to key information enabling finance teams to deliver more timely and deeper insights in business intelligence.
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