Advice and Information for Finance Professionals

The City of Atlanta successfully adopted both Oracle Cloud HCM and ERP, achieving cloud success—and the Dynamic Duo Rubies Award.

The City of Atlanta successfully adopted both Oracle Cloud HCM and ERP, achieving cloud success—and the Dynamic Duo Rubies Award.

Oracle partner Protiviti explains the advantages of a native risk management cloud application.

Oracle partner Protiviti explains the advantages of a native risk management cloud application.

When finance and operations teams share a common application suite and data infrastructure, scenario planning is faster and more effective.

When finance and operations teams share a common application suite and data infrastructure, scenario planning is faster and more effective.

Enterprise data management can help companies struggling with accurate, timely financial reporting by making it faster and easier to update your systems.

Enterprise data management can help companies struggling with accurate, timely financial reporting by making it faster and easier to update your systems.

If you’re comparing ERP and HCM cloud providers, here are five things you should consider.

If you’re comparing ERP and HCM cloud providers, here are five things you should consider.

Precision Group, Dubai-based manufacturer, explains why they chose Oracle Fusion Cloud Procurement to modernize their procurement.

Precision Group, Dubai-based manufacturer, explains why they chose Oracle Fusion Cloud Procurement to modernize their procurement.

2020 has been marked by COVID-19 social and economic upheaval that has forced global organizations to rethink what work really means—and that could be a very good thing.

2020 has been marked by COVID-19 social and economic upheaval that has forced global organizations to rethink what work really means—and that could be a very good thing.

Experts from Juniper Networks and Trinamix discuss strategies to incorporate real-time data to eliminate supply chain latency.

Experts from Juniper Networks and Trinamix discuss strategies to incorporate real-time data to eliminate supply chain latency.

Learn how to address the challenges of data siloes in a way that speeds and improves decision-making quality.

Learn how to address the challenges of data siloes in a way that speeds and improves decision-making quality.

By Kaushik Sivakumar, SCM, Oracle, Product Management Asset-intensive projects are typically long-term initiatives that can cost millions or even billions of dollars over the asset’s implementation. During these uncertain times, it is even more important to streamline efficiencies for effective project management and to eliminate waste on highly capital-intensive projects. Some examples of asset intensive projects are nationally based cellular buildouts or a utility company’s project to install smart meters throughout a city. According to PMI Pulse of the Profession* survey, 9.9% of every dollar is wasted on poor project management, which equates to $99 million on a $1 billion project.   According to the same study, only 64% of the most mature project management teams deliver a project on time, and only 67% of projects are delivered on budget. When you compare those KPIs to low maturity project teams, only 36% of projects are delivered on time and 43% are on budget. Unnoticed Project Wastefulness There are many reasons for the excessive waste and poor project performance—a lack of visibility into financials for a given project, disconnected software applications, manual processes, workarounds to derive data from siloed information. Some traditional supply chain solutions provide data as sources for some of the project metrics, but they often don’t provide the detailed insight that a project manager needs to course correct quickly to prevent waste or knowing when to adjust supplies. Phases of a project Let’s dig a little deeper into the progression of an asset-intensive project, such as building a cellular network. Here are the typical phases of such a project: •    Quote/bid, initiate the project – This includes engineering functions, as well as negotiations, legal reviews, contracts, and project planning.  Depending on the contract terms, it may include prototypes of cell towers or suppliers providing quotes for other major physical components of the cellular network that are being built out or upgraded. •    Supply Chain Planning and Materials Management – This starts the initial phase of the supply chain processes that include planning, ordering, manufacturing, managing inventory, and transporting goods for the project. It also typically involves subcontracted services for specific aspects of the project, e.g. hiring architecture or site planning company, engineering services, or welders and electricians to help construct cell towers. •    Construction – Actual work of the project is performed at project sites. The project manager carefully manages the process, inventory and contractors to try to avoid delays and mitigate risks so that the construction project is completed on time and within budget. •    Transfer of ownership and service – Here, the completed asset, in this case, a cell tower network is transferred from the project manager/contractor to the owner. Depending on the project, it may be a private company or a public entity. And then, the asset typically rolls into a maintenance phase. At this point warranties, service contracts, SLAs, and replacement parts come in to play when there’s a hardware failure, upgrade or damage to a cell tower network. •    Capitalization, billing and revenue – The finance department will account for the receivables and payables, properly attributing costs and expenses to the correct project, and capitalizing assets. Common Challenges to Overcome What has been described is the intersection between projects and supply chain processes. Without an integrated solution, these processes can be a muddle of disparate management software applications, manual tasks, and cumbersome work-arounds. Add in delays in the timeline because of macroeconomics events, inclement weather, resource scheduling conflicts, permit reviews, approvals from cities or component part delays, and you could quite easily have a confusing trail that requires forensic investigation to see if a project is on budget, let alone identify the nuances of project waste and detect in-flight project scope creep. The Solution:  Six Opportunities to Eliminate Waste in Supply Chain Projects An end to end project-driven supply chain solution that integrates the six functions listed below can help project managers eliminate waste.   1.    Project planning—with dashboard KPIs to streamline scheduling and budgets for individual projects to quickly gain insight and track the progress at any point in the lifecycle. 2.    Procurement—designed for project-specific purchasing to ensure materials are priced, procured, and received into inventory according to the specifications of each individual project. 3.    Supply chain—with automated functionality to orchestrate a complex multi-project supply chain, you can set up business rules for project requests, orders, creating documents, look-ups and attachment categories, and replenishment planning with a dashboard work area to manage the workflows. 4.    Manufacturing—offering functionality to create work orders, review availability and pick materials at the project or task level, attribute work orders as well as manage inventory and costs per individual project. 5.    Maintenance—with a process flow to create work orders, issue parts from a common or project-specific inventory, the solution also enables you to purchase outside services, import materials, and resource costs, with all costs, resources, and details associated with individual projects. 6.    Finance—with controls to ensure that multiple projects, customers, and associated activities can be accounted for separately with visibility into costs, expenses, and payables. Benefits of a Project Driven Supply Chain Fully supporting supply chain processes within the context of a specific project, including procurement, inventory, ordering, manufacturing, shipping, maintenance and costing, as well as finance functions and project accounting makes it makes easier to gain oversight and take corrective action as needed.  When connected to finance, the project manager can gain visibility into how each project relates to the planned budget at any point in time. For more information on a complete suite of cloud-based applications, go to www.oracle.com/applications. For Project-driven supply chain information, go here.   *2018 PMI Pulse of the Profession Survey                    

By Kaushik Sivakumar, SCM, Oracle, Product Management Asset-intensive projects are typically long-term initiatives that can cost millions or even billions of dollars over the asset’s implementation....

The COVID-19 crisis has revealed an urgent need for predictive analytics supported by accurate real-time data across the organization—something only an integrated SaaS business suite can provide.

The COVID-19 crisis has revealed an urgent need for predictive analytics supported by accurate real-time data across the organization—something only an integrated SaaS business suite can provide.

A subscription business model can help you bring in revenue and give customers more options. Here are 6 ways to measure success.

A subscription business model can help you bring in revenue and give customers more options. Here are 6 ways to measure success.

Zero-based budgeting (ZBB) is experiencing a resurgence among all types of businesses that want to reduce costs and strengthen their balance sheets. Oracle Fusion Cloud EPM can help.

Zero-based budgeting (ZBB) is experiencing a resurgence among all types of businesses that want to reduce costs and strengthen their balance sheets. Oracle Fusion Cloud EPM can help.

We look at how pioneering companies are exploring structural change to emerge stronger from the COVID-19 crisis.

We look at how pioneering companies are exploring structural change to emerge stronger from the COVID-19 crisis.

Supply chain leaders around the globe have navigated radical changes in global trade and logistics that affect operations. Oracle’s Rick Jewell shares insights, learnings, and recommendations to help you chart a course for growth.

Supply chain leaders around the globe have navigated radical changes in global trade and logistics that affect operations. Oracle’s Rick Jewell shares insights, learnings, and recommendations to help...

Learn why supply chain collaboration and visibility are critical for streamlining operations.

Learn why supply chain collaboration and visibility are critical for streamlining operations.

Large enterprises are responding to the pandemic-induced cashflow crisis with more granular and agile forecasting and scenario planning.

Large enterprises are responding to the pandemic-induced cashflow crisis with more granular and agile forecasting and scenario planning.

For the fourth consecutive year, Oracle has been recognized as a Leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Cloud Financial Planning and Analysis Solutions.

For the fourth consecutive year, Oracle has been recognized as a Leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Cloud Financial Planning and Analysis Solutions.

Join us on November 17 to hear from experts at Deloitte, Alcar Italia, Bissell, MTN, Titan International, Inc. and Transworld Group as they share how improved insight and collaboration is improving their supply chain performance.

Join us on November 17 to hear from experts at Deloitte, Alcar Italia, Bissell, MTN, Titan International, Inc. and Transworld Group as they share how improved insight and collaboration is improving...

Mouser Electronics is using the scale of the cloud to support its global expansion plans.

Mouser Electronics is using the scale of the cloud to support its global expansion plans.

Learn six ways the AI-powered Oracle Digital Assistant with pre-built app skills and the ability to customize can drive efficiency and productivity, improve customer and employee experience, and support digital transformation.

Learn six ways the AI-powered Oracle Digital Assistant with pre-built app skills and the ability to customize can drive efficiency and productivity, improve customer and employee experience, and...

The new normal for supply chains will entail more automation, resiliency, flexibility, and agility.

The new normal for supply chains will entail more automation, resiliency, flexibility, and agility.

Adopting the latest new features in Oracle Cloud ERP is driving Oracle toward its goal of a one-day period close.

Adopting the latest new features in Oracle Cloud ERP is driving Oracle toward its goal of a one-day period close.

Even before COVID-19, finance teams had already started to design more agile, resilient organizations with higher levels of digitization. The pandemic has accelerated these efforts, as finance leaders realize the limitations of outdated systems and processes.

Even before COVID-19, finance teams had already started to design more agile, resilient organizations with higher levels of digitization. The pandemic has accelerated these efforts, as finance leaders...

Announcing the winners of the 2020 Oracle Change Agents of Finance Awards that celebrate finance leaders who have used technology to fearlessly embrace change, drive innovation, and define their futures.

Announcing the winners of the 2020 Oracle Change Agents of Finance Awards that celebrate finance leaders who have used technology to fearlessly embrace change, drive innovation, and define...

Touchless operations, predictive planning, and digital assistants help customers pivot to growth.

Touchless operations, predictive planning, and digital assistants help customers pivot to growth.

Solistica, a leading 3PL in Latin America, shares how they’ve improved on-time deliveries and saved costs with Oracle Cloud.

Solistica, a leading 3PL in Latin America, shares how they’ve improved on-time deliveries and saved costs with Oracle Cloud.

Join us for Oracle Live to discover why the time is now to recapture growth with cloud applications.

Join us for Oracle Live to discover why the time is now to recapture growth with cloud applications.

Customers increasingly value corporate citizenship, and CFOs are playing a bigger role in stewardship.

Customers increasingly value corporate citizenship, and CFOs are playing a bigger role in stewardship.

Learn how to improve insight and collaboration across the value chain so your organization can orchestrate and continually improve supply chain performance.

Learn how to improve insight and collaboration across the value chain so your organization can orchestrate and continually improve supply chain performance.

COVID-19 has accelerated the move from on-premise to cloud ERP. Here are 6 reasons to take the leap now.

COVID-19 has accelerated the move from on-premise to cloud ERP. Here are 6 reasons to take the leap now.

More people are working remotely than ever before, and indications are that it will continue. This makes cloud-based business apps essential.

More people are working remotely than ever before, and indications are that it will continue. This makes cloud-based business apps essential.

Resilience is about more than having the cash to weather disruption. It’s about building a flexible cloud infrastructure to deal with unrelenting change.

Resilience is about more than having the cash to weather disruption. It’s about building a flexible cloud infrastructure to deal with unrelenting change.

The supply chain for government has changed. In our latest blog, we discuss what it looks like today

The supply chain for government has changed. In our latest blog, we discuss what it looks like today

When everything is uncertain, rolling forecasts can help provide direction and guide decision-making.

When everything is uncertain, rolling forecasts can help provide direction and guide decision-making.

Looking for insight to help guide your next move? Cloud EPM can help you model new scenarios to find answers.

Looking for insight to help guide your next move? Cloud EPM can help you model new scenarios to find answers.

What role should the CFO play in getting the business engine running smoothly and powerfully again?

What role should the CFO play in getting the business engine running smoothly and powerfully again?

CFOs can play a central role in defining the true purpose of the business, and in driving operational changes to support it.

CFOs can play a central role in defining the true purpose of the business, and in driving operational changes to support it.

The COVID-19 crisis has exposed the failings of outdated technology and made the case for digital transformation built upon a flexible cloud-centric approach.

The COVID-19 crisis has exposed the failings of outdated technology and made the case for digital transformation built upon a flexible cloud-centric approach.

Leaders from McDonald's, McKinsey & Company, Accenture, and Oracle share their FP&A insights.

Leaders from McDonald's, McKinsey & Company, Accenture, and Oracle share their FP&A insights.

The COVID-19 crisis has forced companies to plan for a future in which there’s little precedent and no clear timeline. Here’s how scenario planning can help.

The COVID-19 crisis has forced companies to plan for a future in which there’s little precedent and no clear timeline. Here’s how scenario planning can help.

Leaders from KU, Spring Arbor and Skidmore share stories of innovation in challenging times.

Leaders from KU, Spring Arbor and Skidmore share stories of innovation in challenging times.

Throughout my career, I have always appreciated that people are the most critical resource and determinant of whether our initiatives will be successful. New technologies, processes, and strategies will only work if team members are motivated and appreciated. As we navigate these uncertain times, we must challenge ourselves to further develop and enhance our talent management strategies. Inclusive leadership is important whether in person or working remotely.  Being inclusive at a distance can absolutely be challenging, but I am confident we can figure it out. Almost overnight, many businesses moved to remote operations and began using web conferencing. YES! But, let’s not stop there. Online meetings are a great first start, but more effort is needed. For leaders who are accustomed to onsite employees, the dramatic shift to employees who are remote takes a shift in mindset. Many studies have reported that employees are actually more productive at home. I have been a virtual team member at Oracle for almost my entire career here, and I absolutely love that there is no traffic between my bedroom and office. Yes! If there is any good news about the challenges we are facing, it is certainly that my colleagues have reduced their commute by as much as three hours a day. However, one of the many down sides of mandatory shelter-in-place order is the anxiety and worry that jobs could be in jeopardy since “out of sight” could also mean “out of mind.” Fearful employees may even take extreme measures by creating and working on many “busy” projects and also by sending volumes of unnecessary emails. Avoiding and reducing this level of stress is why managers and leaders at all levels must develop or enhance inclusive leadership techniques to promote cohesion, collaboration, expectations, and cooperation as we collectively navigate this new uncharted territory.   What is Inclusive Leadership? It’s a verb … an action … in which leaders intentionally create an environment where the entire team is comfortable and confident in bringing forth their respective ideas and recommendations. This goes above and beyond usual techniques that focus on the outcome more than the process. In outcome-focused leadership, the team is almost singularly focused on getting the task completed without room for discussion about different approaches for completing the task or even evaluating whether the approach will yield the best results. Inclusive leadership means understanding the strengths of each person on the team and what is needed to maximize their contributions—starting with making sure that everyone on the team understands the importance of their role within the context of the larger organization. It also involves creating opportunities for team members to build relationships. This doesn’t change just because everyone is in a different location. In a normal work environment, effective leadership is challenging. But now, as the ground seems to be shifting under our feet from week to week, inclusive leadership can make the critical difference between a team that’s just hanging on and one that’s thriving. Here are my tips for practicing inclusive leadership: 1. Communicate, communicate, communicate Leaders cannot communicate enough when everyone is juggling different priorities at work and at home. Challenging schedules intertwined with work and home responsibilities, like managing children while working from home or caring for family members, may mean that each person receives communications differently and at different times. Thus, leaders must use all appropriate communication mechanisms at their disposal to reach the team—email, text, video conferencing, and chat. In sharing details about new business initiatives, strategies, customer engagements, or partnerships, leaders must carefully consider the overall communication plan to reduce the grapevine and rumor mill. 2. Provide clear, consistent communications In times of uncertainty, team members need frequent and direct communication—almost to the point of over communication in order to stay focused. In communications, please consider that if the team members know what to expect and how any news impacts them directly, they will be less stressed. This may include details about how the company is doing as a whole, how the team is tracking against goals, new business models, pivot strategies, new technology roll-outs, etc. Incomplete details and unanswered questions can escalate challenges and uncertainty. 3. Create frequent, proactive touch points to connect your team In team meetings, it is a good idea to build in time for short round-robin discussions to check in on team members, foster comradery and promote networking. Each meeting could have a different topic and team members can suggest creative discussion topics. Here are a few ideas to get you going: •    Mindfulness Mondays—encourage each person to share something they do to promote self-care, for example, recommending their favorite wellness app, online exercise class, or podcast •    Happy Hour Tuesday—ask everyone to share some good news … it can be work-related or personal •    Recognition Wednesday—each person acknowledges someone on the team who helped them recently •    Thankful Thursday—encourage people to share something they appreciate … again, it can be about work or in their personal lives •    Funday Friday—ask people to share something they are looking forward to that weekend Other ideas: •    Binge Mondays—what did you binge-watch over the weekend? •    Throwback Thursday—remember when … there were no iPhones, there was no email, there was no social media, etc. •    Reimagine Friday—what would you do about xyz initiative if you were in charge? 4. Share boundaries for the day or the week In the current environment, team members are juggling many priorities that may not coincide with the typical work day. If team members aren’t going to be available for specific segments of work day, ask them to share their availability by email or via another collaboration tool so that the entire team knows when to connect and/or when to expect a response. 5. Avoid accidental exclusion Inclusive leadership means no one is left out. This means paying extra attention to emails and posts that could unintentionally forget someone. For instance, if leaders hold a call about a particular topic, excluding someone from a meeting related to their responsibility only serves to alienate them and result in their worry about their roles. Another example is related to LinkedIn posts where the leader creates a post thanking specific people who worked on a project. Please be sure not to forget anyone by accident. Further, if leaders like and share posts on LinkedIn or other social media outlets, be sure to mix it up so you’re following, liking, and sharing posts from people across the organization. Optics are important. Trust me, team members notice if leaders only like the posts of upper management. A few unintentional slights like these can cause the team to feel completely marginalized. 6. Welcome new employees Usually when a new team member joins, they are taken around the office and introduced to all of the other team members. We can’t forget the benefits of a having a network and a few “go to” team members we can ask questions. In a remote environment, we must mirror this process as much as possible. Everyone must make an extra effort to get to know new team members by engaging them, inviting them to a virtual coffee, helping them get to know others in the organization, and also sharing context to get acclimated to the team as soon as possible. 7. Strike a balance between managing and micromanaging Demographic characteristics of the team must also be considered. There is a difference between Gen Y and Baby Boomer team members just as there are differences between new team members and seasoned ones. Each team member requires a different level of interaction, guidance, and autonomy—especially in remote environments where the inclination is to ask for daily reports and over-managing. And while it’s important to remember that everyone may be different, a new team member in a remote environment will require much more engagement than a tenured employee who knows the organization. At the same time, seasoned team members still need help and guidance from time to time. Although these team members typically prefer autonomy, leaders must not ignore them since there is a risk they could feel adrift within the organization. "Pay-it-forward" for employees and customers In closing, every leader has the ability to be an Inclusive leader. With intentional effort, leaders can enable and promote an inclusive environment in a virtual setting that is just as effective as the physical office space. I think the saying that “customers will never love you, until your employees do first” is 100% true. The benefits of new and strengthened alliances, collaboration, and comradery are well worth the effort. Customers and business partners will see and absolutely recognize these efforts. It’s a win-win! For more information about how Oracle Cloud Applications can help you and your team work remotely, go to www.oracle.com/applications. To learn more about Kimberly Ellison-Taylor you can access her Oracle Executive Biography here and also follow her on Linkedin.    

Throughout my career, I have always appreciated that people are the most critical resource and determinant of whether our initiatives will be successful. New technologies, processes, and strategies...

With the growing demand for IT professionals and the job market crisis, we put together a free offering of basic training. Sample training content in a variety of technological fields.

With the growing demand for IT professionals and the job market crisis, we put together a free offering of basic training. Sample training content in a variety of technological fields.

When finance and HR work from the same data and platform, companies up their recruitment and retention game.

When finance and HR work from the same data and platform, companies up their recruitment and retention game.

Timely and optimal student financial aid is one of the most effective ways to increase retention. Here’s how Oracle can help.

Timely and optimal student financial aid is one of the most effective ways to increase retention. Here’s how Oracle can help.

When HR and Finance work from a single source of data, both organizations benefit.

When HR and Finance work from a single source of data, both organizations benefit.

The Lambeth Borough Council had more to do, but with less budget and staff. Learn how it managed the challenge with a modern, integrated ERP and HCM cloud.

The Lambeth Borough Council had more to do, but with less budget and staff. Learn how it managed the challenge with a modern, integrated ERP and HCM cloud.

When lines of business operate from a combined ERP and HCM cloud, the entire organization benefits in important ways.

When lines of business operate from a combined ERP and HCM cloud, the entire organization benefits in important ways.

Data security remains a critical business priority for HR professionals and beyond.

Data security remains a critical business priority for HR professionals and beyond.

Global manufacturer Cohu decided to move to a single cloud platform for ERP and supply chain to unify their business and have the ability to scale quickly.

Global manufacturer Cohu decided to move to a single cloud platform for ERP and supply chain to unify their business and have the ability to scale quickly.

The new normal requires a move from linear planning to continuous forecasting and scenario modeling. Oracle Cloud EPM can help.

The new normal requires a move from linear planning to continuous forecasting and scenario modeling. Oracle Cloud EPM can help.

Learn how a digital assistant helps employees manage their expenses faster and easier.

Learn how a digital assistant helps employees manage their expenses faster and easier.

Adopting a data-first approach to your financial systems helps you control changes and improve reporting like never before.

Adopting a data-first approach to your financial systems helps you control changes and improve reporting like never before.

Baylor University, Boise State, and Rutgers University discuss how they’re embracing the transformation to virtual operating models driven by COVID-19.

Baylor University, Boise State, and Rutgers University discuss how they’re embracing the transformation to virtual operating models driven by COVID-19.

A new article in Forbes calls Oracle Fusion Cloud "the real deal," and says that's bad news for competitors.

A new article in Forbes calls Oracle Fusion Cloud "the real deal," and says that's bad news for competitors.

Oracle’s innovation is leading the way in artificial intelligence and machine learning-powered applications and platforms. Learn more about how Oracle’s embedded AI is giving companies more value from their data by using big data, advanced analytics, and modern machine learning to enhance business and IT operations.

Oracle’s innovation is leading the way in artificial intelligence and machine learning-powered applications and platforms. Learn more about how Oracle’s embedded AI is giving companies more value...

For companies using multiple finance systems, EDM makes it easier to synchronize data and improve accuracy.

For companies using multiple finance systems, EDM makes it easier to synchronize data and improve accuracy.

Higher education is facing an affordability crisis, but a data-driven approach can help you build a financial aid office that’s ready for the future.

Higher education is facing an affordability crisis, but a data-driven approach can help you build a financial aid office that’s ready for the future.

Important updates to Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) can help finance leaders build resilient and adaptable businesses.

Important updates to Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) can help finance leaders build resilient and adaptable...

For the second year, Oracle ERP Cloud is the only Leader.

For the second year, Oracle ERP Cloud is the only Leader.

Chris Wood, VP of business transformation at FedEx Services, says leadership and teamwork have kept the company on track through the current crisis.

Chris Wood, VP of business transformation at FedEx Services, says leadership and teamwork have kept the company on track through the current crisis.

Steve Phillpott, CIO of Western Digital, says the ability to pivot quickly is essential to navigating a crisis.

Steve Phillpott, CIO of Western Digital, says the ability to pivot quickly is essential to navigating a crisis.

Sandra Clarke, CFO of Blue Shield California, says now is the time to take advantage of advances in digital technologies.

Sandra Clarke, CFO of Blue Shield California, says now is the time to take advantage of advances in digital technologies.

FedEx, Western Digital and Blue Shield California talk recovery and growth strategies with Fortune Magazine.

FedEx, Western Digital and Blue Shield California talk recovery and growth strategies with Fortune Magazine.

Lessons from yesterday's leaders can help you become one of tomorrow's winners, especially in times of crisis.

Lessons from yesterday's leaders can help you become one of tomorrow's winners, especially in times of crisis.

Cloud EPM can give your organization the power and visibility it needs to navigate these times of economic uncertainty.

Cloud EPM can give your organization the power and visibility it needs to navigate these times of economic uncertainty.

Humans are hardwired to view uncertainty as a risk. It’s called the fight-or-flight response, and it’s part of our genetic make-up. This survival mechanism is brought on by a combination of stress as a reaction to life-threatening situations. Over the course of humanity, we have evolved in a variety of ways, but the fight-or-flight response remains. It’s part of the human existence. Our stress triggers have changed greatly, but to adapt to this response, we have also evolved to add a planning component to our lives. From planning meals as hunters and gatherers, to planning all aspects of our children’s lives, their education, we sacrifice while searching for ways to make sense of the changing world around us. But, there is no resisting the changing world. Our world is in constant motion, and if we want to survive, we have to adapt. These adaptations take on new nuances in the business world, especially when talking about how customers are consuming and wanting to make purchases. In the era of The Experience Economy, the idea of ownership is no longer viable. We have entered a new era, that is depicted in a recent blog post, “The End of Ownership.” What thrives in this new era is the power of recurring relationships through subscription management. When subscription management is brought up in a discussion, whether personal or business in nature, it always means a change in buying behavior. There is no one more interested in the impact buying in a business setting than the CFO. Subscription Management Means a Shift to Recurring Relationships. As a CFO, much of your job revolves on planning and forecasting. As you know, when buying relationships shift to subscriptions, you can no longer simply look at what closed this month or this quarter. You have to shift your view to fully look at all avenues of the future. This impacts how you allocate and spend money as you better understand what’s to come in the future. Below are three ways that subscription management impacts CFOs. ERP is the gold-standard system.  As CFO, your ERP system forms the basis of your company’s revenue existence. If any upstream inefficiencies or inaccuracies arise, and they aren’t stopped before they go downstream, this impacts the data in the ERP system. Thus, it’s vital that correct revenue recognition is kept in your organization’s ERP, not integrated through complex models outside ERP. These complex models fuel inaccuracies and hard-to-decipher integrations. It’s also important as a CFO that you not only have a clear view of the correct financial numbers and data but that you are also complying with all financial tracking regulations that investors require. Again, revenue recognition needs to be contained within the confines of the ERP. Maximize revenue through new relationship paths. As your business builds new types of relationships—those brought on by recurring revenue— you’ll need to understand which levers to pull to get maximum value from your goods and services, just as you did in a traditional model. By understanding and investing in the long-term life-time value of a customer, you are establishing pricing and contract terms with your sales team that will get the most value not just for you, but for your customers as well. New challenges will always arise. Certain complexities will always appear when adopting new business models, and this is especially true for those managing complex changes around subscriptions. These complexities in subscription management manifest as mid-month cancellations. Those types of cancellations can create chaos in financial systems if not handled correctly. For those just starting out with a subscription business model, they may turn to a simple offline model for tracking and monitoring, believing that this will be the easiest way to manage these challenges. However, chaos will rear its ugly head soon enough.  The best way to alleviate these challenges is to take an automated approach. Automation and supporting workflow can help sort out the cancellations and make sure the customer is billed correctly. In these challenging times of uncertainty, customers are making decisions to reduce anxieties and investments that can be difficult to validate. This influences many to take a subscription-based service that will give them the flexibility to scale up or down with the evolving needs of their business. There is no resisting the constant motion of the changing world. Adaption by forecasting and planning is the only way to truly evolve alongside uncertainty. To learn more about Subscription Management please visit here.      

Humans are hardwired to view uncertainty as a risk. It’s called the fight-or-flight response, and it’s part of our genetic make-up. This survival mechanism is brought on by a combination of stress...

Learn how Oracle Analytics can help you better manage your finance and HR operations.

Learn how Oracle Analytics can help you better manage your finance and HR operations.

Now that we are sequestered at home, some of us may be experiencing the challenges of noisy neighbors. Neighbors partying into the wee hours of the morning. Dogs barking when you’re trying to work. These noisy neighbors can affect your well-being at home. Similarly, noisy neighbors can also affect your SaaS application. Now more than ever with people working from home, cloud applications and databases need to be able to handle the sheer of volume of data and transaction volume. More people are entering more online transactions via ecommerce, scheduling at home deliveries, doing remote financial closes; all done via cloud applications. Without a secure data isolation design, you could be at risk of being affected by a "noisy neighbor" syndrome. This can happen with first generation SaaS multi-tenant environments and can limit application scalability and performance.  What is a SaaS “Noisy Neighbor”? If your business application shares a cloud database with a “noisy neighbor” company, you may experience significantly slower processing speeds resulting in slower reporting performance. Slower reporting performance can result in a longer month-end close that could takes days, rather than minutes. Example of a “noisy neighbor” and it can affect daily work Here is an example of cloud noisy neighbor in finance that uses a first-generation SaaS shared multi–tenant model.   The telecommunications provider below has millions of mobile phones that are tracked and depreciated. To calculate the depreciation of millions of mobile phone assets, it generates millions of journal entries. Its asset book is so big, it has to manage it or process it in chunks or batches: 10 batches x 2 hours = 20 hours total processing (compute time). Sharing a database in the cloud with this finance application creates a “noisy neighbor”. Imagine the impact on your processing time if you are sharing a database with this user. It will negatively affect the processing speeds and reporting performance available to you. How can scalable high-performing cloud applications help your business now? As cloud applications scale, they process transactions quickly, regardless of volume or calendar period. Scalable cloud applications maintain optimal performance levels, so periodic increases in data inflows are easily handled without negatively affecting your business or your bottom line. How can you reduce the risk of “noisy neighbors”? Ask your cloud provider for cloud applications that carry a unique and differentiated secure data isolation architecture allowing for scalability and increased performance. With secure data isolation, you have dedicated instances that are not co-mingled with other customer’s data. This eliminates the “noisy neighbor” syndrome. To learn more about the impacts of noisy neighbors and scalability in finance, download this pdf.  

Now that we are sequestered at home, some of us may be experiencing the challenges of noisy neighbors. Neighbors partying into the wee hours of the morning. Dogs barking when you’re trying to work....

Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud Core Financial Management Suites for Midsize, Large and Global Enterprises, 2020

Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud Core Financial Management Suites for Midsize, Large and Global Enterprises, 2020

When finance and HR work together from a shared system, they can make better workforce decisions and recover from crisis more effectively.

When finance and HR work together from a shared system, they can make better workforce decisions and recover from crisis more effectively.

Speed. Scale. Security. A modern cloud infrastructure can make all the difference in SaaS. When you’re driving down the freeway, sometimes you need to step on the gas to accelerate in the moment. When your car responds quickly, it gives you the power you need at just the right time. In business, as with driving, acceleration can be helpful to navigate the changes in front of you. That’s when, under the hood, better engineering and reserve horsepower are essential. The cloud infrastructure supporting a SaaS application is the engine that provides the security, scale, and performance for your business applications. It includes the database, operating systems, servers, routers, and firewalls (and more) required to process billions of application transactions every day. What can cloud infrastructure do to help? Faster response, better scalability Not all cloud infrastructure capabilities supporting your SaaS applications are the same across all cloud providers. Many providers do not run or design their own infrastructure or provide their own high-performance servers. In fact, some cloud providers use other infrastructure providers and shift their responsibility for cloud reliability, availability, and security to that secondary provider. Some are running on an aging cloud infrastructure, built using older commodity hardware. That infrastructure’s architecture may be less responsive and have fewer security capabilities built in. Many SaaS providers have narrow, capped limits for customers’ use at the infrastructure level so they can prevent other users from consuming the bulk of resources—such as processing time—bringing overall performance down for everyone. These limits can adversely impact the speed and scale of your SaaS application, especially if you are processing many transactions, for example, during a month-end close, or you are processing online ecommerce transactions. When you click an application function and get a slow (or no) response, it may be because of the infrastructure, the network design, or both. And because most SaaS infrastructures are early generation multi-tenant, many customers are all sharing the same database. Noisy neighbors can impact performance by chewing up precious database resources, making other users wait for their turn. As a SaaS end user, you don’t actually see this infrastructure—but you can experience it when it has problems. When you click an application function and get a slow (or no) response, it may be because of the infrastructure, the network design, or both. Autonomous security In large enterprises, the IT organization can patch hundreds of systems within the infrastructure regularly. They also need to keep up on the latest types of attacks and their associated patches. These are daunting tasks because malicious bots are attacking systems and networks continuously, finding new ways to breach them. The IT team might also have to help remediate problems after a data breach, which is costly and time consuming. The manual approach to securing database systems and “remediation after the breach” is no longer effective. Today, automation of security with autonomous technology at every layer of the stack is Oracle’s goal and a best practice design.   “The main economic benefit of Oracle’s Gen 2 Cloud Infrastructure is its autonomous capability.” Larry Ellison, Chairman of the Board and Chief Technology Officer, Oracle   As Larry Ellison noted at his 2019 Oracle OpenWorld keynote “The main economic benefit of Oracle’s Gen 2 Cloud Infrastructure is its autonomous capability, which eliminates human labor for administrative tasks and thus reduces human error. That capability is particularly important in helping prevent data theft against increasingly sophisticated, automated hacks.” Seamless updating A cloud infrastructure must be updated by the provider on a regular basis. In an economy where application downtime can seriously impact a business’s bottom line, autonomous capabilities in the infrastructure can be a definite advantage. Automated 24/7 maintenance of cloud infrastructure allows for faster and more efficient patching and updating. It helps reduce downtime from configuration errors and missed patches, so cloud infrastructure has the most recent patches and security is up to date to reflect an ever-changing cybersecurity threat landscape. With these three important elements in mind, consider the importance of checking under the hood of your SaaS application and examining the cloud infrastructure it runs on. These differences can enable your SaaS-based business to be ready for the latest security threats and to grow as needed. For a closer look, read how other SaaS applications providers stack up against Oracle’s Gen 2 Cloud Infrastructure and Oracle Software as a Service (Oracle SaaS) application capabilities. Learn More •    Oracle SaaS + Gen 2 Cloud Infrastructure vs. competition   Lisa M. Schwartz is senior director of SaaS applications for Oracle’s Product Marketing Group. Follow her on Twitter at @Leeza2020.  

Speed. Scale. Security. A modern cloud infrastructure can make all the difference in SaaS. When you’re driving down the freeway, sometimes you need to step on the gas to accelerate in the moment. When...

With supply chains being disrupted globally, how can you streamline and improve your procurement process?

With supply chains being disrupted globally, how can you streamline and improve your procurement process?

Subscription pricing models let customers enjoy recurring product deliveries or services for a set fee—a “set it and forget it” experience. But it's not so easy for businesses.

Subscription pricing models let customers enjoy recurring product deliveries or services for a set fee—a “set it and forget it” experience. But it's not so easy for businesses.

Acting with purpose gives clarity of vision to any organisation. We look into how the CFO can personify this for their staff, business and customers

Acting with purpose gives clarity of vision to any organisation. We look into how the CFO can personify this for their staff, business and customers

For any business, people are its greatest asset. We discuss how the CFO and CHRO can partner to create resilience today.

For any business, people are its greatest asset. We discuss how the CFO and CHRO can partner to create resilience today.

In uncertain economic times, these 5 EPM tools can help you plan for the unknowable.

In uncertain economic times, these 5 EPM tools can help you plan for the unknowable.

According to Accenture research, 67% of finance leaders believe they should train non-finance executives in financial reporting, planning, budgeting and forecasting.

According to Accenture research, 67% of finance leaders believe they should train non-finance executives in financial reporting, planning, budgeting and forecasting.

Ovum, a leading analyst firm and part of the global technology research organization, Omdia, has recognized Oracle Digital Assistant as a leader in the market in its latest research report, "Ovum Decision Matrix: Selecting an Intelligent Virtual Assistant Solution, 2020–21." The report analyzes the evolution of virtual intelligent assistants, the increasing scope of use cases, and the market landscape, and evaluates 10 niche and large technology vendors to determine Oracle Digital Assistant as one of the leaders in this market. Oracle Digital Assistant is a comprehensive, AI-powered conversational interface for business applications. Oracle Digital Assistant interprets the user’s intent so it can automate processes and deliver contextual responses to their voice or text commands to enrich the user experience, eliminate helpdesk and support overhead, and enable scale for communications and engagement. The Ovum report specifically highlights Oracle Digital Assistant as an easy-to-build solution, thanks to its no code, design-by-example, Conversational Design Interface that is intended to be used by non-developers to build, train, test, deploy, and monitor AI-powered digital assistant on channels of choice. Ovum also noted Oracle Digital Assistant’s advanced linguistic and deep learning-based natural language processing (NLP) models as a key strength that enables the Digital Assistant to better understand domain specific vocabulary, and respond with contextual information and best next step actions accordingly. Oracle Digital Assistant also received kudos in the report for providing an “enterprise-ready” solution. Organizations leveraging Oracle Digital Assistant know that their data is their own, stored securely in Oracle Cloud or via Cloud@Customer for organizations wanting to keep their data within their own boundaries. Furthermore, because it is a comprehensive platform, Oracle Digital Assistant can integrate with existing processes, routing rules, and contact center agents to support enterprises’ unique business needs. In fact, Ovum noted that “A differentiator for ODA [Oracle Digital Assistant] is that a business process engine sits beneath it and is tightly integrated to perform tasks emerging from the conversation. For example, when an end user informs the ODA of a change of address, several relevant processes kick in. Oracle's ODA and business process management R&D teams are also tightly integrated because of the overlap in functions.” Oracle also offers out-of-the-box chatbot skills for Oracle Cloud HCM, Cloud ERP, and Cloud CX, as well as integration with Oracle CX Service to speed up deployment and provide seamless engagement for Oracle Cloud Applications customers – a point that was noted as a strength in the Ovum report. With no apps to download and no training needed to use Oracle Digital Assistant, the use of intelligent assistants has picked up quite significantly in the industry. Over the past years more and more organizations – both public sector and commercial – have come to rely on Oracle Digital Assistant for their needs. Common use cases include enabling easy and 24x7 access to employee HR self-service functions and employee expense and finance functions, offering customer or employee FAQs and information lookup. This enables Oracle Digital Assistant to be the first line of customer/employee helpdesk and drive seamless bot-agent handoff only where needed, and more. These use cases present massive sales and ROI opportunities, freeing up human resources to take on the more complex challenges while at the same time improving the user experience. Oracle’s leadership position in the Ovum report is a testament to the significant R&D investments in AI and NLP-powered Cloud service over these recent years. For more information on how your organization can leverage Oracle Digital Assistant, please visit our website. And to download the full report, click here.

Ovum, a leading analyst firm and part of the global technology research organization, Omdia, has recognized Oracle Digital Assistant as a leader in the market in its latest research report, "Ovum...

Learn about where best practices are headed in this virtual “meet the author” event.

Learn about where best practices are headed in this virtual “meet the author” event.

The success of your supply chain can make or break a business. We discuss how building a resilient supply chain can help in times of change

The success of your supply chain can make or break a business. We discuss how building a resilient supply chain can help in times of change

What are the key ingredients of a resilient company? How can data and human insight be used to keep finance ahead of the curve?

What are the key ingredients of a resilient company? How can data and human insight be used to keep finance ahead of the curve?

Cash is always seen as king, but having a robust cashflow can be a challenge. We look into what a CFO should do to build a resilient cashflow.

Cash is always seen as king, but having a robust cashflow can be a challenge. We look into what a CFO should do to build a resilient cashflow.

I’ve worked as a trainer for the Oracle sales organizations in EMEA and Asia Pacific regions for four years. I’ve coached more people than I can count, ranging from entry-level sales reps to executives. Back in 1995 when Daniel Goleman, published his book, Emotional Intelligence: Why it Can Matter More than IQ, I became fascinated with the subject of emotional intelligence. Simply put, emotional intelligence (EQ) describes a new way of being smart that is at least equally important to achieving success as IQ or technical expertise. It’s become popularized over the last two decades as researchers have uncovered key findings that emotional intelligence can impact success in business and leadership more than IQ. I have been so intrigued by the field of emotional intelligence that I am a certified EQ coach.             Why is EQ important now? It’s because we all find ourselves in uncharted territory in which our daily routines have been upended. We’ve had to adjust to the public transformation of social distancing where we can’t interact on a personal level, and face-to-face interactions are very limited. Many of us are working from home, when we’re used to going to an office. We’re shifting to video conferencing instead of in-person meetings and trying to accomplish tasks by phone, email, and text when we’re used to walking down the hall to discuss projects. For people in sales and consulting roles who are used to in-person presentations, negotiations, deployment planning and status meetings, we find ourselves trying to read the room, if you will, across a computer monitor. At the same time, many of us are juggling young children who are usually in a day care setting or kids schooling at home who demand and need attention. Emotional intelligence is more important now than ever so that we can successfully navigate these unprecedented times—both professionally and personally.  Empathy is key Without getting too deep in the weeds about EQ, a critical competency is empathy. We’ve all heard the adage, “Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes.”  In other words, walking in someone else’s shoes means you put yourself in the other person’s place to understand their circumstances, experiences, challenges, thoughts, and emotions. Think about that for a moment in the frame of our current collective circumstances of stay-at-home orders, dogs barking on conference calls, and kids walking into video conferences asking for help with school work. Empathy has become so important to create a human connection and shared understanding as we adjust to our new world of social distancing. It involves three key behaviors: •    Active listening - Fully concentrating on what the speaker is saying so you understand, respond appropriately, and remember what they are saying. •    Curiosity - A genuine desire to gain knowledge and information by asking the right questions. •    Emotional connection - Creating a genuine bond by communicating your understanding. Building emotional intelligence and empathy in our new way of life A well-known clinical psychologist, Dr. Martyn Newman, reviewed more than 100 of Goleman’s research papers and developed a structure of 10 emotional competencies based on the commonality he observed across Goleman’s different studies. His thorough review of that body of research established clear links between the 10 specific emotional and social competencies and outstanding leadership and professional success. The good thing is that you can develop and improve all these competencies/skills. One of my favorite concepts from Goleman is the Triple Focus Model, and it’s one I like to teach and follow myself. At a high level, it involves these three clusters: Focusing on Yourself It’s your ability to understand and moderate your own emotions so you can keep cool under pressure, strive toward goals despite setbacks or major changes that may have occurred in the last few weeks, and stay motivated day after day in an uncertain world. If you’re feeling overly stressed or anxious on a particular day, maybe it’s best to reschedule an important call with a customer. Focusing on Others This is your ability to adapt to changes, remain resilient and optimistic, demonstrate empathy for others, communicate clearly, foster teamwork and collaboration, and persuade others. These skills are crucial to creating connections as we social distance and work remotely. Focusing on Systems It’s your understanding of the organization, an industry, or a particular system. As you work remotely, knowing how to navigate an organization can be very helpful to accomplish tasks and build rapport with key colleagues. Tips for optimizing interactions while working remotely As our work world shifts to online technologies, keep these 3 high tech tips with EQ in mind: •    Video conferences - It can be overwhelming and exhausting to be on camera for hours every day. It can also be distracting to look at ourselves on camera, as if we’re looking at a mirror. Sometimes your colleagues may not want to be on video. They would prefer an audio call, and that’s okay.   •    Texts and emails - We all know it’s difficult to read emotions in written communications like texts and emails. The situation is compounded now as people work from home and juggle many different priorities. If you don’t get a response immediately, don’t assume that someone is ignoring you. They may just be busy and not able to respond as quickly as you’d like. A trick I like to use is the send-receipt notification on emails. When I receive a response, I know my email has been received and read. Then, I can give the person the time they need to respond. •    Social media - Be mindful of what you post, how it might impact others, or whether it appears as negative. If you want to share, be sure that it’s uplifting, inspiring, or motivating. Emotional intelligence is not an innate or finite skill. You can improve your skills as you practice them. With every call, email, text, or video conference, you can build your skill set to listen more actively, ask questions with a genuine curiosity for the answer, manage your emotions, become more resilient despite bad news, set-backs, or significant changes, and demonstrate empathy as others juggle their personal situations. We’re in the midst of unprecedented times and focusing on your emotional intelligence is a great skill set to help you manage your circumstances. For more information about how Oracle Cloud Applications can help you work remotely, go to www.oracle.com/applications      

I’ve worked as a trainer for the Oracle sales organizations in EMEA and Asia Pacific regions for four years. I’ve coached more people than I can count, ranging from entry-level sales reps...

In the first of a 5-part webcast series, we explore the steps needed for a return to growth after COVID-19.

In the first of a 5-part webcast series, we explore the steps needed for a return to growth after COVID-19.

Oracle Warehouse Management Cloud delivers innovative capabilities and offers extended warehouse management functionality at a significantly lower total cost of ownership.

Oracle Warehouse Management Cloud delivers innovative capabilities and offers extended warehouse management functionality at a significantly lower total cost of ownership.

Cloud scalability is sometimes overlooked when evaluating cloud ERP solutions. Here are three reasons why it is an important consideration for any business.

Cloud scalability is sometimes overlooked when evaluating cloud ERP solutions. Here are three reasons why it is an important consideration for any business.

Groundbreaking research conducted at the Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine of USC is introducing artificial intelligence into cancer research and treatment.

Groundbreaking research conducted at the Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine of USC is introducing artificial intelligence into cancer research and treatment.

Recently, across the world, many workers have transitioned to working from home. No more face-to-face interactions or shoulder-to-shoulder group meetings. People are working at a distance via phone calls, emails, texts, and video conferencing. As workers across the country have adapted to these recent changes, business leaders are left to speculate whether this shift will become permanent for some, if not, all of their workforce. Training Virtual Workers While real-time productive teleworking is possible given modern collaboration tools, you may also be considering implications around workforce training. How you can train workers in a remote setting—to quickly onboard new employees or contractors, have them adopt new business processes more easily, and help them to learn new software functionality quickly?  The answer may surprise you. You don’t have to train a remote workforce. Lead them with guided learning. People learn by doing. Let’s dive deeper into this thought with an example using our current social distancing work environment. If your company had rolled out new software functionality, business process or policy chance you may have been offered some form of in-person or a video-based training for handy tips and tricks. And possibly IT staff or power users were made available to meet with people in their offices to answer questions and help speed the learning curve.  Guided learning can improve worker efficiency, even during the most challenging times. If you use “guided learning” with easily digestible directions, seamlessly available in the cloud application at each step of the workflow, your workers can learn as they are doing – in the flow of work. They are guided directly through each step and also have direct links to company policy documents, training materials at their fingertips within the application. No face-to-face coaching required. The learning solution looks like part of the application. Workers simply follow the steps, tips and guides to progress through the workflow. In our hyper-connected world where people want instant   answers, guided learning modules can provide the immediacy people want, so they can quickly become proficient on the job. Cost Savings With this example in mind, consider the cost savings. You could avoid the expenses associated with in-person classes that may require people to travel or that consume large increments of time to participate in the class. At the same time, you wouldn’t lose productivity while people are out of pocket for a half-day, a full day, or multiple days.   According to an Oracle Guided Learning Benchmark Analysis, for a company with 5,000 employees, this could be a potential time and cost savings over an estimated 3,500 business days. In addition, the self-service aspect of a guided learning can reduce IT support costs with fewer repeat questions, tasks, and tickets.  According to the Oracle Guided Learning Benchmark Analysis, the same 5,000-person company could potentially save more than $300,000 annually on first-line support costs. Policy Compliance How can you enforce company policies or standardized business process flows for remote workers?   As an example, the work-from-home model has put a spotlight on the essential nature of our communications infrastructure. The country’s cellular and internet capacity has been pushed to the max as most people work from their home office. Many telecommunications companies are working overtime to ensure that critical infrastructure such as internet and cell towers are working properly to handle the surge, so calls don’t drop and video conferences run without glitches. The challenge for the telecommunications companies is the capital-intensive nature of their business. Equipment, tools, and replacement parts for cell towers, cable infrastructure, power sources, antennas, routers, and such are expensive.   In this example, a guided learning approach can extend beyond training to also help enforce company policy and compliance. For example, perhaps a field technician or a contractor for a telecom company needs replacement parts to repair a cell tower. Based on the worker’s role, job grade, or allocated inventory, the guided learning module within the inventory cloud application could provide built-in check points to ensure that the worker has authorization to check out certain equipment for that project. This can help to avoid waste, misplacement of parts, or excessive cable waste on a single job.   According to Project Management Institute’s 2018 Pulse of the Profession study, telecommunications infrastructure companies waste an average of $106 million on a $1 billion project.   Standardization for Global Companies Also, for global based companies, localizing the guided learning modules based on in-country policies and languages ensures the learning and policy is appropriate for all workers regardless of where they are working virtually. As our world rapidly shifts, business leaders have to juggle both immediate and long-term continuity strategies. The current business conditions we are experiencing are forcing companies to look at new ways to adopt policies easily and continuously streamline efficiencies through productivity.  Oracle Guided Learning provides a powerful tool that can support businesses in a state of change.   Business Benefits with Guided Learning By using Oracle Guided Learning as part of the cloud application, users can easily learn while doing, following embedded company policies, enabling cost containment as well. You can speed the learning curve for a changing workforce, onboard workers faster, make it easier to roll-out new policies to a global at home workforce, and more easily adopt new functionality as it becomes available in software applications.   To find out how Oracle’s Guided Learning for cloud applications can help your workforce learn faster and save your company time and money, click here.    

Recently, across the world, many workers have transitioned to working from home. No more face-to-face interactions or shoulder-to-shoulder group meetings. People are working at a distance via phone...

CFOs are going through times of change. We investigate four key themes every finance leaders should think about right now

CFOs are going through times of change. We investigate four key themes every finance leaders should think about right now

When finance and HR are combined in a single cloud, CIOs can be a strategic partner to both lines of business.

When finance and HR are combined in a single cloud, CIOs can be a strategic partner to both lines of business.

Research from Oracle and Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) shows that organizations adopting emerging technologies are reaching new heights in efficiency.

Research from Oracle and Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) shows that organizations adopting emerging technologies are reaching new heights in efficiency.

Media and entertainment companies risk billions in original programming. They can protect that investment with better insight and decision-making.

Media and entertainment companies risk billions in original programming. They can protect that investment with better insight and decision-making.

Learn how to quickly adopt best practices for COVID-19 recovery efforts.

Learn how to quickly adopt best practices for COVID-19 recovery efforts.

Oracle is making progress toward its goal of an automated financial close, and it's doing it working remotely.

Oracle is making progress toward its goal of an automated financial close, and it's doing it working remotely.

By Suhas Uliyar, Vice President, AI and Digital Assistant AI-based chatbots or digital assistants stand to change the way we interact with business applications, not just consumer ones. The main benefit is the ability to get immediate responses to queries via natural local language, without having to download apps or get training. While we have the freedom to engage in user-friendly experiences in our personal lives – such as Alexa and Siri – there have been few options for people in their professional lives. But that’s changing. As Steve Miranda, Oracle’s executive vice president of application development, remarked, “In HR, every common question or transaction has lent itself nicely to digital assistants. Within the next year, we will be calling HTML our ‘old UI.’ Every transaction you have will be through a digital assistant UI.” Work-at-home requirements associated with the spread of COVID-19 have made it all the more important to give employees easy access to ever-changing information – on company policies, insurance coverage, and public health guidance, in addition to the usual cadence of questions on vacation balances, status of expenses, and IT workarounds.  Here are a few key ways in which chatbots and digital assistants can help. An assistant for every employee Finding answers to simple questions can be a frustrating experience if there is no easy way to do so. Take, for example, basic questions like “how many vacation days do I have left?” or “what do I do if I have a change in marital status?” In some cases, employees need to log into their VPN to find the policy document or a web page, or the application – which they then need to further navigate to find answers to these straightforward questions. With a digital assistant, employees can simply speak the question out loud in a natural way or simply input the text, instead of having to navigate multiple screens or interfaces, and they will receive an immediate response. Not only that, the digital assistant can further help them by recommending or taking action as a follow-up to their original interaction and be a true assistant for the employees. For example, rather than just informing the employee on what to do to change their marital status, the digital assistant can actually trigger the change process by gathering the necessary information and then updating the relevant systems with that information.  Answering general policy questions With rapidly evolving governmental directives such as sheltering-in-place and social distancing, most organizations are quickly adapting their HR policies and guidelines. At the same time, employees need help and answers from their organizations more than ever. Questions may range widely from policies on employment, travel guidelines, and health and safety instructions, as well as guidelines on dealing with and working during the pandemic. In some cases, the information is very dynamic and changes by the minute. Digital assistants give employees a consistent channel, which is available 24x7, to ask their questions so they can get an immediate response – while freeing up the HR and IT/support teams to manage the more complex challenges they are facing today. In fact, you can also use digital assistants to send proactive alerts and notifications like changes in policies, so that employees don’t need to keep checking or search for the latest information time and again.  Supporting employee health and safety Practicing social distancing has also had an impact on recruitment, onboarding, and training processes for organizations. In effect, these processes provide resources and support that most organizations may seriously need in these uncertain times. Using a digital assistant, businesses can drive candidates’ pre-screening and interview scheduling online, across any messaging channel. You can drive virtual onboarding by enabling easy remote online access to relevant trainings, policies, and materials all via a digital assistant. Data can also be safely recorded to keep track of employee health status based on the organization’s health policy and guidelines. A digital assistant can also save the employee from the time-consuming task of completing forms or reporting on any health-related issues at work.  Employee self-service Whether working remotely or on-site as needed, employees may need access to both information and processes beyond just the HR systems. From submitting expenses to filing IT support tickets to making changes to travel plans, we touch a number of systems or applications as employees. Some processes even span across multiple systems, like role- or location-based expense reimbursement policies, where the system requires role information from the HR system before interacting with the finance/ERP system for reimbursement. A digital assistant is one common interaction point for employees, contractors, or partners across multiple applications and can provide a quick, consistent, and concise response.  Leading an organization through this unprecedented time has put an increased demand on the HR function. As a result, organizations would be wise to leverage AI-powered technologies such as digital assistants to scale their functions, create online connection and engagement, and provide dynamic updates on policies and safety guidance without bogging down human communication channels – which need to be available for essential tasks. A digital assistant can support an organization by providing benefits such as: Lowering operational costs via online self-service & automation Expanding HR availability 24x7 across different channels Enabling easy access to information and processes delivered via text or natural language Delivering consistent information and maintaining employee engagement Enabling proactive HR outreach Digital assistants can support the functions employees may need now while creating efficiencies for the long term. For more information or to discuss how a digital assistant can support your needs, email us here. Stay well, and be safe.  

By Suhas Uliyar, Vice President, AI and Digital Assistant AI-based chatbots or digital assistants stand to change the way we interact with business applications, not just consumer ones. The...

Collaborative reporting is more important than ever, especially now in an era of remote working.

Collaborative reporting is more important than ever, especially now in an era of remote working.