A BETTER WAY TO DESIGN AND DEPLOY ADAPTIVE PLANNING

We are an independent network of experienced and certified business technology consultants; each having performed several end-to-end implementations and having worked at Big 4 consultancies.

Workday Adaptive Planning (formerly Adaptive Insights) is a financial planning and reporting tool. It includes automated budgeting and forecasting, financial reporting, and other active planning capabilities, including integrations with third-party products like Salesforce. As one of the leading Enterprise Performance (EPM) tools we have seen where organizations made significant gains in better able to manage their budget, long range plan, cash flow and more. We have also seen many instances where the implementation was not planned well, or the client could not realize their investment.

So, our firm was built to change this all-too-common scenario and offer better business outcomes. We founded on the promise to deliver Adaptive Planning technical and functional services unlike being offered in the marketplace. Only where an experienced network of independent consultants could offer. It’s a belief that you will always get happier engagement partners when they can bring their best self in a balanced work environment and be unleashed to deliver the best services. This is a simple promise based upon empowering experience and trust.

These are the services we offer. Reach out for a complimentary 30-minute discovery and second complimentary 1-hour preliminary delivery plan.

Here are some of the services we provide:

Software System Selection

From the statement of work and system selection process, we can sort out the hype and reality of Adaptive Planning. Sometimes, Adaptive Planning isn’t the best use case for your financial budgeting and planning process. We’ll be candid about that. We can be truly independent because we don’t have anything to gain from reseller commission.

Talent Sourcing

We know the ecosystem very well and where to tap into great experienced talent. Some projects you may need a system integrator given the timing and number of staffing required. There are some good system integrators, where combined with working with an experienced independent consultant, can ensure the back office / implementation requirements are met. On top of that, ensuring the project is being delivered using best practices and, in a manor, to optimize the planning and reporting function. Two of the biggest issues we see is skimping on project design and PMO functions with a low-ball system integrator only to get a project which typically overruns on budget and a solution which is at best just replicating your spreadsheet. Also, don’t be fooled in thinking you need to pay 5X more for a project implementation with a big 4 consultancy. Much of their cost is high partner overhead however many times inexperienced consultants.

Phase 0- Pre- Implementation Planning

After you’ve decided on your software tool and Statement of Work, this is arguably one of the most important phases. Get this part right and your entire project will be much easier and less surprises along the way. This phase entails extensive review of your current and future state function. Review of business processes and objectives for the new FP&A function. Aligning with an experienced consultant advisor, ensures your design considerations are being vetted with best practices. Here we balance project management by someone who possesses a deep knowledge of software. We look at data sets to analyze model type and design, data inflows and outflows, report and integrations, user security/ access rules configuration and metadata/custom dimension architecture.

Implementation Technical Implementation Support & or Advisory

​Here you’ve selected your EPM tool and your implementation partner already.  However, you quickly realize your team already has their day job and you either don’t have the time or right resources to support your end of the implementation. This is where we can come in and work with your Finance and IT team to help perform some of the typical client-side implementation tasks such as: financial general ledger data cleansing, Workday report building, application design and development blueprinting requirements.

To quote a phrase, there are “Known Knowns, Known Unknowns, and Unknown Unknowns”. It’s the Unknown Unknows which really resonates with me. How does the client partner know how to provide the best answer on application design if they don’t know the software well enough yet? You may be speaking with an inexperienced consultant or for purposes of saving effort your implementer is steering you to the way to save budget but not the best offering for your needs. We act as your trusted advisor to support you along the way and make sure you get the best Workday Adaptive Planning for your organization.

Deployment, Training, Documentation, Administrator and On Call Support

Whether your two weeks post your Adaptive Planning deployment, and you don’t feel confident how to maintain or grow the tenant you were delivered. Most likely because your deployment didn’t embed the right resources to understand the application and optimize your process. And the poor user manual and short administrator training from your Adaptive consultant (who’s already moved on to their next project) isn’t cutting it. We’ll get you ready to stand up Adaptive Planning and to sustain it on your own.

​Next Steps

We have supported planning and forecasting assessments and system selections for Adaptive Planning and other EPM tools.  We have implemented complex models, reporting, and custom integrations, from small organizations to complex enterprise customers. We also have experience implementing and building integrations to other popular Enterprise Resource Planning systems, such as Intacct and NetSuite. 

Reach out today for a complimentary discussion. We’d love to hear how we can partner with you!

​