As organizations transition from legacy planning systems to Oracle EPM Cloud, many quickly discover that success depends on more than just technology; it requires the redesign of existing processes, an intuitive user experience, and the right consulting support to guide the journey.
In this case study, we explore how our expert Oracle consultants have leveraged deep FP&A experience and Oracle knowledge to help clients navigate evolving user needs, streamline their planning environments, and unlock the full potential of the EPM Cloud platform.
Navigating the Consultant Journey to EPM
A successful Oracle EPM implementation requires more than just technical knowledge; it demands strategic insight, real-world financial experience, and a deep understanding of how organizations operate. Below, we share in-depth insight into the Oracle EPM landscape from the viewpoint of a senior-level Oracle consultant who has been involved in the innovation and enhancement of the EPM solution over time.
With over a decade of hands-on expertise in financial planning, budgeting, and consolidation, he combines practical FP&A leadership with deep Oracle EPM product knowledge to deliver tailored, high-impact solutions across industries.
Key Areas of Expertise
With more than 10 years of experience in Financial Planning, Budgeting, and Consolidation in both an FP&A leader and independent consultant capacity, our consultant has helped countless organizations across sectors implement Oracle EPM Cloud and optimize their financial operations. He is well-versed in all areas of the Oracle EPM landscape and NetSuite’s Planning and Budgeting applications, providing support for the development of new solutions and programs, system enhancement, new business rules, member formulas, and integrations with other key Oracle applications and databases.
Our consultant has assisted clients in Retail, Education, Supply Chain Management, and Healthcare organizations with pre- and post-implementation support, including validating, testing, and optimizing their core Oracle EPM landscape.
Impact of FP&A Leadership
This consultant’s experience at the executive level for Financial Planning & Analysis provided a solid foundation for how financial planning, analysis, and management tasks should be completed across key business functions. By outlining the most critical data to report on each month, quarter, or year and establishing a strong framework for how key financial operations should be executed, our consultant is better prepared to execute projects successfully.
With his extensive experience in FP&A operations, this consultant knows the most efficient ways to begin and execute key implementation objectives and reduce maintenance requirements for internal and external teams. His previous experience in all things FP&A prepared him to understand how things work in the system, provide comprehensive insight for new users, and quickly navigate issues for reduced workloads and optimized planning.
Outlining Opportunities for Improvement
Implementing User Feedback
While there is always room for improvement for any technology solution, Oracle prides itself on listening to user feedback and utilizing regular product updates to align with those considerations, requirements, and user needs.
Through regular engagement with customers, user communities, and industry experts, Oracle gathers insights that help shape the direction of future updates. This feedback-driven approach ensures that product upgrades are not only technically advanced but also aligned with real-world business needs, usability improvements, and evolving industry standards.
Customer Connect Portal
Oracle’s Customer Connect Portal enables users to share their experiences, submit enhancement requests, participate in forums, and engage directly with Oracle product teams.
Feedback gathered through Customer Connect is reviewed and often integrated into product roadmaps, ensuring future updates align with actual business needs. This collaborative environment empowers users to shape the evolution of core Oracle products and reinforces Oracle’s commitment to continuous innovation and customer-centric development.
Ensuring a Successful EPM Implementation
Case-sensitive pain points
“Every project is different, so every organization is going to have case-sensitive pain points. You have to get in there, figure out what’s most important, and plan early for any nuances in their system or workflow.” – Senior Oracle EPM consultant
Pain points for Oracle EPM implementations are typically case-sensitive, depending on the level of technology knowledge from the customer’s internal team and the nature of the project. For example, users moving from Microsoft Excel-based processes will likely have a smoother transition to the EPM Cloud than those moving from manual, paper-based operations.
Customizations within the customer’s existing environment or on-premises system also affect the amount and nature of the issues they will encounter throughout the project. For organizations moving from a legacy system with extensive customizations to an out-of-box Oracle EPM system, they will likely face more complex requirements and a complicated transition between systems.
To ensure a smooth transition to EPM, organizations should ensure that requirements are properly defined, user roles are assigned, and users involved in any step of the transition are educated about the reason, method, and plan for implementing a new EPM product.
Basic vs complex forecasting
On one hand, basic forecasting in on-premise systems often relies on rigid templates, manual data consolidation, and limited scalability, which can restrict agility and slow down decision-making. On the other hand, Oracle EPM Cloud empowers users with advanced forecasting capabilities such as driver-based planning, rolling forecasts, predictive analytics, and AI-powered modeling.
Reporting and navigation issues
Narrative reporting functionality in Oracle EPM Cloud allows organizations to collaborate across the report creation process to define requirements and create, manage, and publish management and regulatory reports. While EPM’s narrative reporting tools offer greater flexibility to satisfy both regulatory and external reporting requirements, users often have issues understanding how to use reports, share them with other stakeholders, and accurately reflect changes across business units.
To ensure a successful EPM implementation, it’s critical to provide thorough training, establish clear governance around reporting processes, and implement intuitive navigation structures.
Key Customer Issues and Pain Points
- Customer knowledge of technology: Assess the internal team’s knowledge of both the legacy systems and the new Oracle EPM system, and build tailored training programs that align with the client’s current skill level and system usage expectations. Bridge knowledge gaps by assigning internal champions or super users to support broader team adoption.
- Flexibility, adoption, and willingness to change: Highlight wins and benefits of the cloud-based EPM landscape early in the project to build confidence in the new system and gain stakeholder buy-in. Align project goals with business outcomes to ensure that change feels relevant and valuable to all user groups.
- Troubleshooting for key issues: Encourage a culture of continuous improvement by scheduling post-go-live reviews and optimizing configuration based on user feedback. Leverage the Customer Connect portal and user community to stay informed about known issues, patches, and enhancements.
The Role of Effective Change Management
Top down vs bottom up buy-in
In setting a clear vision, allocating the appropriate resources, and reinforcing the strategic value of the project, executive leadership should champion the transformation from the top down. At the same time, engaging users at all levels helps drive better adoption and reduces resistance to change. Achieving bottom-up buy-in ensures that those who feel the greatest impact of the change are empowered to embrace the change and contribute to new processes.
Licensing restraints
To ensure adequate support for key Oracle EPM product areas across business units, organizations must verify that they have enough licenses for all users. By proactively identifying how many users will be involved with the new EPM product or relevant tasks, you can reduce the amount of frustration around licensing restraints, optimize system costs, and execute system workarounds for specific licenses or applications.
Organizational changes
There are often quite a few frustrations with organizational changes, such as different methods of operation for the implementation or switching directors during the project. By forecasting project requirements for internal teams and defining organizational change plans for each area of the project, you can ensure a smoother transition and a better understanding from end users.
Advice for Customers
Proper expectations
“To have a successful project and keep everyone on the same page, you have to make sure that the proper expectations are set from the start. Setting expectations early and keeping all stakeholders in the loop makes it easier to avoid overwhelming your internal teams.” – Senior-level Oracle EPM consultant
The most important consideration before beginning an Oracle EPM implementation or migration project is to set the proper expectations for both internal teams and external partners or consulting teams.
In setting these expectations, project managers can highlight the main pain points, how success will be defined for each product area, how many users will be involved in project tasks, and how much time will be spent on each task. This reduces the time teams spend on planning and budgeting objectives and provides increased transparency for all levels.
Defined roles and responsibilities
To ensure successful Oracle EPM implementation, clients should designate key roles, such as project sponsors, system administrators, and end-user champions, to streamline communication and accountability throughout the project lifecycle. Involving IT and finance teams early in the process ensures alignment between technical execution and business objectives.
By defining specific roles and responsibilities for each member of the internal and external support teams, clients can reduce confusion and project delays and empower team members to take ownership of their defined responsibilities.
Scalability to meet needs
“Before you can grow your application, you have to teach your internal teams to crawl, walk, and run. Start small and scale up to meet evolving needs.” – Senior FP&A Director
Starting small allows your team to build foundational knowledge, gain hands-on experience, and adapt to new workflows without becoming overwhelmed. As your team becomes more comfortable with the EPM system, you can gradually introduce more advanced capabilities and expand the application’s footprint into additional business units.
This scalability not only improves user adoption and system stability but also ensures that your EPM investment aligns with your business priorities and team readiness over time.
How Can Our Team Help?
With years of experience in the Oracle EPM landscape and an industry-agnostic approach, our Oracle consulting team at Surety Systems provides the right expertise and guidance to help your business achieve success.
By partnering with our senior-level Oracle consultants, you gain tailored advisory and consulting services to improve your existing business processes, streamline the implementation of new Oracle applications, and support core workflows over time.
For more information about our Oracle consulting services or to get started on a project with our team, contact us today.
