When implemented and utilized correctly, financial management software can help organizations better track their assets and streamline business processes to achieve these goals, which will ultimately fuel organizational growth and positively impact the company’s bottom line.
Best Practices
Without a strategic implementation process and thoughtful interface, even the most powerful new financial management software will not be optimized for success. Unlocking the sophisticated functionality and integrated efficiency of the best software and systems requires a thorough understanding of both the software itself and the technical and operational details of the manufacturing environment. Because of this need for coordination, a collaborative approach to design and implementation is a necessity.
We recommend that experienced financial and supply chain management software consultants work closely with clients to effectively deploy solutions. The first step is to consult with manufacturing executives to ensure that all parties are on the same page with respect to broad priorities and solution goals. Subsequently, extending consultation and collaboration to managerial team members, facility and factory-floor leaders can help to clarify important company-specific processes and functionality requirements that will frame the ultimate utility of the new system.
Because the best integrated software solutions are fully customizable, virtually every aspect of design and implementation can be adapted or modified to meet the specific operational requirements of each individual manufacturer. From the user interface to the way data is presented and to the details of how analyses are performed -- the functional and aesthetic aspects of the system can and should be user-specific.
Application security is a priority as well. Manufacturers have a vested interest in ensuring that their integrated financial and supply chain management system is designed in such a way that access, functionality and the procedural architecture of the software provides maximum technical and operational safeguards. To that end, administrators should work to ensure that the integration of the systems enhances, rather than compromises, information security. When these priorities are achieved, and the enterprise system is implemented to meet operational demands, manufacturers are finding that they have a powerful, flexible and integrated tool at their disposal.
Steven Brenner is a senior principal consultant and Shannon Klabnik is the PeopleSoft practice directorat MIPRO, a consultancy specializing in implementations, upgrades and optimizations of Oracle's PeopleSoft applications.
