By John O'Rourke October 3, 2018
Extending the Value of CPM with the OneStream MarketPlace
Legacy corporate performance management (CPM) applications are often difficult to manage and upgrade due to the fragmented nature of the applications. And adding additional modules over time just adds complexity and cost. It doesn't have to be this way.
This was the topic of a recent webinar sponsored by OneStream titled: "Extending the Value of CPM with OneStream and the XF MarketPlace." The speakers were OneStream's CRO Craig Colby and Matt Rodgers, Director of Solution Consulting for OneStream in EMEA.
Providing an "App Store" for Business
Craig Colby kicked off the webinar by using the analogy of the mobile phone market to highlight the approach that OneStream has taken with its platform and XF MarketPlace solutions. Many of us had Blackberry mobile devices 10-15 years ago. They were great products, but only had limited functions and could not be easily extended. You couldn't add a flashlight, GPS driving directions, other features – you had to wait for Blackberry to update their product.
Then the Apple iPhone smartphone came along and changed the game. It's a true platform that offers a broad set of capabilities, but that can be extended through the App Store – a marketplace of 1000's of solutions you can download and easily add to the iPhone. Many people embraced the concept and the iPhone is now the dominant smartphone.
The same is happening in corporate performance management (CPM). Oracle/Hyperion, SAP and IBM dominated the market for years. They had great products, and thousands of customers got great value from them. But these weren't extensible platforms – you had to buy additional products and integrate them to address new needs. OneStream is changing the game with its unified SmartCPMTM platform and the XF Marketplace solutions.
A Marketplace of "Real" Solutions
Mr. Colby went on to provide an introduction and overview of OneStream Software and the XF MarketPlace. In a nutshell, OneStream provides a modern, scalable platform that unifies financial consolidation, reporting, planning, analytics and data quality. Offering both cloud and on-premise deployment options, OneStream helps organizations modernize Finance, and simplify CPM solution systems and processes.
Then OneStream enables customers to extend their investment with the XF MarketPlace solutions. It's our version of an "app store", providing over 40 additional domain-specific solutions, templates and content that customers simply download – configure – and deploy. All without adding technical complexity.
And what's different about the OneStream XF MarketPlace is that - unlike other CPM vendors who provide mostly demos, sample apps, and blueprint starter kits - most of the XF MarketPlace solutions are real solutions that deploy into the platform and extend its capabilities. That means they add new tables, extend the meta data, and include additional reports, data entry forms, and calculations that are designed to address a specific business problem.
In addition, just like an app on your smartphone, all the XF MarketPlace Solutions can be updated independently of the platform. For example, as we enhance the capabilities of our Account Reconciliation solution with new features, that update can be taken independently of a OneStream platform upgrade, with a simple download and import process. These updates happen without adding risk or complexity in minutes, not months. It's a game changer how these solutions can keep up to date with continually-changing customer requirements.
The XF MarketPlace includes three categories of solutions:
- Productivity tools such as Guided Reporting, Task Manager, and Postal Service
- Specialty planning solutions such as People Planning, Capex Planning and Cash Planning
- Close and Reporting solutions such as Account Reconciliations, Close Management, Disclosure Management, and Compliance solutions such as Lease Accounting.
Since its inception in 2015, there have been over 5,800 downloads from the XF MarketPlace by over 150 OneStream customers as well as partners.
Proof is in the Pudding
Following Mr. Colby's introduction, Matt Rodgers then took over to provide a demonstration of some of the more popular XF MarketPlace solutions. This included overviews of Task Manager, Account Reconciliations, People Planning and Guided Reporting solutions.
Going a step further, Mr. Rodgers then demonstrated how fast and easy it is to access, download, and deploy an XF MarketPlace solution. This isn't something all users would be doing, it's more of an administrator's role. But within about 6 minutes, he downloaded, installed and started using the new Diagnostics 123 and Help Desk solutions. Pretty amazing!
In case you were wondering, Diagnostics 123 allows administrators to monitor system performance and the status of key tasks being run by users. Help Desk allows them to open and track support tickets.
Mr. Rodgers also demonstrated the Sales Planning solution, which tracks sales opportunities by company and provide bi-directional integration directly with Salesforce.com and other CRM systems.
Learn More
A lot of ground was covered in the webinar, but it got the message across that the OneStream XF MarketPlace is clearly different than the marketplaces/hubs/exchanges offered by other CPM vendors. While there are some starter kits available, most of the solutions can be downloaded into the platform, configured, and deployed in a few minutes. They extend the value of the OneStream platform and allow organizations to accelerate deployment of new CPM solutions and insights to users in Finance and beyond. All without adding technical complexity.
To learn more, watch the replay of the webinar here:
John O'Rourke is Vice President of Product Marketing at OneStream Software. With a background in accounting and finance, John has over 30 years of experience in the software industry, including 20 years of experience in product marketing at Hyperion Solutions, Oracle and Host Analytics. He has worked with many customers and partners on financial reporting and planning initiatives and has spoken and written on many topics in corporate performance management. John has also held positions in strategic marketing and product marketing at Dun & Bradstreet Software, Kenan Systems and Decisyon. Find me on:
