Migrating to Cloud-based EPMs – Are You Ready to Follow the Trend?

November 15, 2022

As the need for greater interactivity and data access increases, more companies are adopting cloud computing. Cloud-based EPM solutions reduce operating costs, but migration can be a time-consuming and complicated process, often resulting in productivity losses.

Cloud by the Numbers

Cloud computing is proliferating businesses across all industries. According to a recent survey by the Harvard Business Review, 81% of respondents said cloud is very or extremely important to their company’s growth strategy. Overall, nearly two-thirds of senior executives stated their businesses have accelerated their plans to migrate to the cloud.

Although many companies run their own on-premise servers to maintain IT infrastructure, nearly half of organizations already store data on the public cloud. The Harvard Business Review study finds that 88% of organizations that already have a hybrid model in place, see themselves maintaining the same strategy into the future.

Common EPM Cloud Migration Pitfalls

Adopting cloud based EPM software provides a central location for data access and requires no infrastructure to set up. However, EPM cloud migration comes with its share of challenges, including the risk of reduced productivity and an inconsistent user experience. According to a recent study, nearly half of organizations have struggled with cloud integration to the point where cloud adaptation eventually fails.

The most critical success factor in cloud migration is coordinating the integration of cloud applications. Data systems and processes must be aligned early in the planning process to ensure a smooth transition.

Without due diligence during this phase in the migration process:

• User experience will be inconsistent and frustrating
• Trust in data will drop, reducing quality and confidence in reporting
• Accuracy will be maintained with painful manual data extraction/validation processes
• Reporting efficiency and speed will see dramatic reduction
• Adopting cloud-friendly tools helps to mitigate challenges of moving to the cloud – solutions like data warehouses can store your legacy data while making it easy to access from cloud EPM systems. With historical data at the ready, you can improve your mission-critical analysis.

Your EPM migration experience largely depends on early and thorough planning and synchronization of data. Maintaining information in a central repository that’s able to interact with both cloud applications and on-premises systems, your business will be equipped to smooth out a variety of cloud migration speed bumps.

When Traditional Business Intelligence Tools Aren’t Enough

To maintain productivity during migration, many organizations will lean on existing tools or generic business intelligence (BI) tools included with their new EPM system. The reasoning is that it will be easier to push organizational data through tools from a single provider, but this is far from the truth. Heavy IT intervention is often required to efficiently connect multiple data sources and extend native tools beyond basic reporting needs. This leaves finance teams with limited control over critical reporting processes and no time for extracting data insights.

Seamless Migration with insightsoftware

insightsoftware works hand-in-hand with cloud-based EPM systems to bolster your financial and accounting posture. And when one source system is in the cloud and the other isn’t, we can easily work with these types of hybrid systems. By moving to the cloud and taking insightsoftware with you, not only are you adding the advantages of a single source of truth for your data, you’re also automating vital reporting and analytics. This way you don’t need to miss a beat on financial reporting while converting to the cloud, reducing the load on your already overtaxed IT departments.

For many companies, deploying the right tools can be the difference between the success and failure of their cloud migration. insightsoftware has solutions that can pull triple duty to help you:

• Manage the departure or upgrade from your legacy EPM
• Streamline data from multiple sources to ease migration to your new system
• Immediately start generating ROI from your financial reporting

If you’re looking for a solution that will lead you seamlessly through your cloud transition, CXO has the tools you need.

Clear the Clouds with CXO  

CXO Software is a purpose-built, web-based, EPM reporting solution for finance teams. With direct connectivity to all market-leading EPM solutions, you can deliver higher quality reports and speed up reporting cycles to meet the needs of your C-level executives. With a more intuitive, in-depth, and flexible reporting solution, finance teams can deliver dynamic, rich digital reports on time, collaborate in context with commentary, and gain more time for value-adding activities and analysis.   

CXO ensures a smoother transition to the cloud by connecting to a wide variety of on-premises and cloud EPM systems. The solution has connectors in place for the EPM cloud, and features reporting tools that streamline and automate your reporting process. CXO can connect to EPM sources regardless of how they’re hosted. And whether you adopt a fully cloud or hybrid system, CXO connects seamlessly to both.

With CXO, you can:

• Standardize and automate finance functions to eliminate human error, reduce the time burden, and increase overall business efficiencies for actionable C-level insights and fast decision making.
• Get premium out-of-the-box dashboards and deep insight capabilities so you can drill down and focus on the data that matters while keeping a running tab on your benchmark performance indicators.
• Leverage pre-built, configurable adapters that connect your reporting platform directly to your EPM system and its reporting structure and hierarchies, and dive into the solution in a matter of weeks.

CXO Software connects to a vast array of EPM cloud solutions. When you’re ready to move to the Cloud, CXO Software easily moves across with you. Ready to support your cloud transition with CXO? Schedule a demo to learn more.