need to replace your budgeting software? · 2018-08-10 · solution – such as oracle’s hyperion...

Need to Replace YourBudgetingSoftware?

Key questions to askwhen replacing anend of life system

Key questions to ask when replacing an end of life budgeting system

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Over the last few years, several budgeting software vendors have stopped supporting older systems. Examples include Oracle’s now defunct Public Sector Budgeting (PSB) system, Infor's Lawson Budgeting and Planning and most recently CGI’s Budget Reporting and Analysis Support System (AMS Advantage BRASS), which is scheduled to be decommissioned by the year 2020.

While vendors who stop supporting one system will often offer a new replacement solution – such as Oracle’s Hyperion or CGI’s Advantage 360 – that is not always the case, nor is it always the best choice for the public sector organization who needs to replace their end of life budgeting software.

On the surface purchasing a new budgeting software solution from the same or similar vendor may appear to provide the “path of least resistance” when transitioning from your existing end of life system. That vendor’s system may be built on a similar platform, interface or reporting structure. However, don’t rush to sign a contract without first considering other options. The “easy” solution might not be the most cost effective, or the best fit for your organization’s specific short and long-term needs.

Before deciding on a new budget preparation and management software solution that could affect your organization’s efficiency, long-term productivity, and public perception, financial professionals and administrators should ask some probing questions to determine if the vendor is really a good fit with your organization.

We've structured a list of these questions into five key areas of consideration:

1. Experience and successExperience and success2. Hosting and securityHosting and security3. Integration and configurabilityIntegration and configurability4. Implementation and costImplementation and cost5. Training and supportTraining and support

© 2018. Questica.comPage 1


Experience and successExperience and success

An investment in budgeting software is long-term commitment between yourorganization and the vendor. The bestvendors should have a thoroughunderstanding and knowledge of the publicsector and the specific and often diverseneeds of the various agency types –government, healthcare and education. Thisknowledge only comes with hands-onexperience working with customers of allsizes and complexity. Vendors should beknowledgeable about public sector businessprocesses, funding models, reportingrequirements, etc.

It’s great if a vendor has a solution thatmeets your needs now, but do theyunderstand enough to anticipate your needstomorrow? Solid companies are constantlyinvesting in the future, adding to the coreproduct in anticipation of changes to theoverall product suite as well as the changingmarketplace.

Make sure you talk about the future with anyvendor you are considering. Are youexpecting major changes at yourorganization such as change to otherinternal systems that may interface with thenew budgeting solution, and can thesoftware scale up with you? Get a completeview of your partnership with potentialvendors, and make sure your vendor ofchoice is financially stable and focused on along-term strategy — because transitioningagain will be no small task.

Questions to ask Questions to ask

• How long has the vendor been in business?Less than five years, or over a decade, ormore?

• Does the vendor focus on the publicsector? Or is their focus is spread across avariety of unrelated industries and softwaresolutions?

• Do they have referenceable customers whoare reflective of your organizational type andsize?

• What type of organization is the vendor?Are they a boutique firm with only a fewstaff? A large software company where thebudget solution is only one small piece of thebusiness? Or do they fit somewhere in-between?

• What’s the financial viability of the vendor?Are they privately held or backed by venturecapital funding and potentially a mergersand acquisitions target?

• Does the vendor have a track record ofinvesting in their product? Are therefrequent new releases with meaningfulproduct enhancements and a demonstratedcommitment to innovation through researchand development?

• Does the vendor have a softwaredevelopment map for how the budgetingsystem will adapt and grow for the future?



Questions to ask (cont'd) Questions to ask (cont'd)

• What is the current technology platformthe budgeting solution build on? Is it datedtechnology? Or is it universal technology?

• Is the vendor certified with technologypartners?

Hosting and securityHosting and security

Every public sector organization has uniquepriorities and concerns, which is why avendor should be able to offer you multipledeployment options for their budgetingsolution. The best hosting and deploymentoptions for your organization will be timeand cost-efficient and not disruptive to theworkflow of the organization during or afterimplementation.

Cloud or on-premiseCloud or on-premise

There’s no right or wrong answer forchoosing either a traditional on-premise or acloud-based budgeting software solution. It’sabout what works best for your organization.Historically, many public sectororganizations were concerned aboutpotential security and privacy issues relatedto cloud software. Today’s cloud-basedhosting provides security that may bedifficult or cost prohibitive for someorganizations to achieve on their own.

Cloud-based and/or subscription-basedofferings can also provide upfront savingssince an organization is not paying forhardware or spending time applyinginfrastructure patches and upgrades. As well,cloud-based solutions generally outperformon-premise solutions when it comes tominimizing outages and guaranteed uptimesor recovery times.

However, some public sector agencies don’thave the option of hosting their data in thecloud. Some organizations have specific rulesabout software use and installation.Institutions with specific types of data sets,such as hospitals with patient information orgovernment agencies that control 911dispatch and undercover police operations,often choose to utilize on-premise budgetingsoftware installation and management.

On-premise hosting allows organizations toretain its information completely within theirown secure networks. However, if yourorganization chooses on-premise budgetingsoftware, you will need to provide funding foryour own IT infrastructure, softwarelicensing, and IT chargebacks. Also, your ITteam will need to educate themselves onhow to maintain the budgeting software.Finally, since you are solely responsible forthe data, you’ll need to arrange for securityand redundancies.



SecuritySecurity

Security concerns don’t end at thediscussion of hosting and implementing abudgeting software solution. Since a budgetplatform contains sensitive and evenconfidential information, it should be viewedand changed by only those individuals whohave been granted authority. The rightproduct for your organization should be onethat allows administrators to determineaccess based on the principle of leastprivilege. Executives and department headsshould be able to specify, and modify ifnecessary, the information that your staffcan access and change within the system.

Multi-tenant versus single tenantMulti-tenant versus single tenant

If the vendor offers a cloud deploymentoption, is it in a multi-tenant or single-tenantenvironment? With a multi-tenantenvironment many organizations are sharingthe same version of the budgeting software,and your data may or may not be completelysegregated. A multi-tenant environment alsomeans that all customers must acceptsoftware upgrades at the same time,whereas with a single-tenant environmentyour organization’s data is segregated, andyou can control the timing of all upgrades,much the way they would if you choose on-premise hosting.


• Does the vendor offer their budgetingsolution with different deployment options?For example, do they offer on-premiseand/or cloud hosting?

• Does your organization have the IT staffand capabilities to maintain the software,hardware or spend time applyinginfrastructure patches and upgrades?

• For cloud-hosting, will your data be hostedin your country and under the legalprotections of the laws your legaldepartment is most familiar with?

• Can the software administrators setpermissions and user-based access to thesystem? Also, are those changes trackedwithin the system and does the systemprovide an audit trail?

• Does the vendor offer only automaticsystem upgrades, or can your organizationchoose when to implement software updatesand upgrades?

• Are there any imposed limits or othercontrols for how the vendor’s budgetingsoftware can be used or customized?

Want to learn more about the cloud?Want to learn more about the cloud?Download our white paper on the keyconsiderations for choosing cloud or on-premise budgeting software.


http://www.questica.com/cloud-premise-budgeting-software-white-paper/


Integration andIntegration andconfigurabilityconfigurability

Public sector organizations draw financialinformation from numerous departmentsand systems, and a budgeting platform isn’tuseful and cost-efficient if it doesn’tseamlessly integrate with your pre-existingsoftware to import the necessary data. Theright choice for a new solution works withyour enterprise resource planning (ERP),financial, payroll, human resources andother programs to ensure the right data isalways available.

It is important to understand the differencebetween system configuration andcustomization. Budgeting software almostalways should be configured before use. Thismay include items such as setting up theorganizational structure, costing centers,general ledger accounts, configurablescreens, etc. Most software is designed tohandle various configurations and behavespredictably in any allowed configuration.

Customization is always an option and mayinclude rewriting part of the deliveredfunctionality or development of new oradditional functionality. However, thesecustomizations may be invasive and/or costlyto maintain, so it’s important to understandwhat impacts any customization will have onthe performance and usability of a potentialbudgeting solution.


• Does the software offer configuration options that allow you to incorporate your own business rules?

• Does the vendor have experience integrating with a wide variety of financial and other systems, or only a few systems that are tied to their budgeting software?

• How many customer integrations have they done for each financial system? Are they referenceable?

• What about reporting and analytics capabilities? Does the system have usable out-of-the-box reports?

• How easy is it for a user to create a report or dashboard? Or does your organization need to go back to the vendor every time to create a new report or dashboard?



Case Study:The City and County of Denver, CO

With a population approaching 700,000, theCity and County of Denver in Coloradoneeded to implement a new budgetingsolution that was flexible, comprehensiveand provided customizable analytics andreporting.

Denver’s existing budgeting system (AMSAdvantage BRASS) was old and no longer metthe requirements of flexible andcomprehensive budgeting. Forecastingwasn’t available, scenarios were hard tocreate and time-consuming and the systemwas not robust. It also lacked analytics, whichwas key to balancing responsible budgetingwith the needs of a rapidly growing city.

The City and County issued an RFP for a newbudget reporting and analysis solution andafter careful consideration Questica wasawarded the contract. Denver purchasedQuestica Budget’s Operating, Salaries, andCapital modules.

While Questica Budget doesn’t change whatinformation is collected, it does change theway Denver can use it. Questica Budgetaligned with Denver’s existing budgetprocess so the budget development processremained largely the same. However, theprocess of submitting, reviewing, andapproving the budget has been streamlinedand the visibility of the data has been greatlyimproved.

“Questica Budget allows us to house allbudget information from all ourdepartments in one centralized place,” saysKelly Greunke, Director of Finance, Budgetand Management Office, City and County ofDenver. “Having a single budget sourcegives us the ability to have better insightsand reporting which provides managementthe information they need to make betterdecisions for Denver and its citizens.”

Questica Budget originally integrated withPeopleSoft, but then Denver switched to anew financial system Workday. Questica wasable to make the integration change withQuestica Budget and Workday with minimaleffort and disruption.



Case Study:The City and County of Denver, CO

Base budget entry is easy, and budgets canbe rolled over to the next year, saving thetime required to recreate them. WithQuestica Budget Salaries module, the Cityand County’s Budget and Management Officeis able to handle the complexities of positionand personnel budget development. Theability to run “what-if” scenarios on costssuch as salaries, furloughs, and otherbenefits has been very timely. Long-termforecasting is available for variables, regularincrease, revenues and expenses, and otherelements.

As well, with the system’s robust reportingcapabilities, the Budget and ManagementOffice and other department Managers havedesigned and built reports and dashboardsto meet their specific needs. Some of thesereports include: monthly revenue year-over-year, personnel comparison report, financialsummary reports, and a summary report forall change requests.

“While we chose Questica because the budgeting solution is a good product,” states Greunke. “What we’ve really found we really like best about Questica is the team of people that we work with. They are always very helpful and responsive to understand and meet our business needs.”



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The cost of new technology is a major consideration for any organization. Whether it is hardware, software or the associated implementation costs, a public sector agency needs to ensure its money is well spent and that the latest purchase will benefit the organization for many years to come.

The decision of which budgeting software vendor to go with shouldn’t be made strictly on the price of the solution, but rather on the short and long-term goals and objectives of the organization. Evaluating the factors including hosting, security, integrations, customizations, training, support and vendor fit will drive your organization’s budgeting solution success during implementation and beyond.

Try to include a very specific, detailed set of requirements when comparing vendors. Vendors will quote based on those requirements, as aggressively as possible, to provide the best value and most competitive quotation they can. Undoubtedly, there may be some additional requirements that the implementation team will realize only once the process has begun – some unique functionality needed, or a custom report that they wanted but forgot to include in the initial requirements. Make sure vendors have a project management process that helps to determine these additional items early on.

• What does the vendor’s projectmanagement process look like? Whatstakeholders are involved (i.e., Sales, ProjectManagement, Developers, Support)?

• Does the vendor include user testing andtraining as part of the implementation plan?

• Can any customizations can be done withinthe implementation timeframe?

• How long will the transition fromimplementation to “go live” take?

• Does the vendor quotation include adetailed scope of work? Does the contractinclude pricing for additional work requestedoutside of the scope of work?

• Do the vendor’s implementation resourceshave the requisite industry experience tooffer insights into business processimprovements throughout theimplementation process?


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Training and supportTraining and support

A new budget solution isn’t merely a tool thatyour agency purchases. It’s an opportunity tocreate a partnership with a provider thatbenefits your organization for years, which iswhy you should choose a solution thatcomes with comprehensive training andsupport offerings.

TrainingTraining

Technological investments will fail ifemployees don’t know how to use them. Ifyour new budget program isn’t intuitive, welllaid out or delivered with proper training,any money or time saved prior toimplementation is quickly lost. Employeesneed to be able to use their new budgetsolutions from day one. It may take a fewtraining sessions to bring them entirely up tospeed, but the system must be well-documented and intuitive.

SupportSupport

You should always look at a multi-levelsupport services package that will allow for aproactive approach to issue resolution andassistance for your budgeting system.Consider vendors that have the full spectrumof infrastructure, which would includeprofessional services, technical support,project management, consulting and internalproduct development.

Also, look for vendors that deliver allimplementation services with their ownresources, as they will have a deeperunderstanding of how their system shouldbe configured to best address your specificneeds. The best vendors will offer resourcesnot only for implementation and trouble-shooting, but also for ongoing customersuccess through proactive engagements toassist your organization with optimizing thevalue of your software purchase.


• Where and how will training and supporttake place?

• Does the vendor have a strategic focus ontraining and support for clients includingcomprehensive tools, documentation andtraining packages?

• Does the vendor offer integrated helpfunctionality within the budget system?

• Are there other training resources availablesuch as user manuals, training videos oruser-base articles? How are these articlesaccessed? And are they available for all usersof the system?

• Does the vendor offer other training andnetworking opportunities such as webinarsand user group meetings?



Questions to ask (cont'd) Questions to ask (cont'd) • What about maintenance? You will want toknow how software budget will be addressedand fixed. Most software is requesntlyupdated so be sure to understand who isresponsible for these updates? How are theycommunicated? Will you experience adisruption?

• How does customer support work? Doesthe vendor take an active role in helping youget the most out of the software?

The QuesticaThe QuesticaadvantageadvantageUltimately, we want you tomake the choice that’s right foryour public sector organization.At Questica, we believe thatchoice begins with open andhonest dialogue about therequirements for yourorganization, and what’s bestfor your needs.

Experience and successExperience and successFor over 20 years, Questica has been amarket leader for the development ofbudgeting, performance and transparencysoftware solutions for the public sector. Withcustomers in 45 states and 10 provinces andterritories, we have extensive experience andexpertise in implementing solutions for localgovernments, colleges, universities, K-12schools, hospitals, healthcare facilities,charities, foundations and associations.



As a privately-held and growing mid-sizedcompany with offices in Huntington Beach,California, and Burlington, Ontario, webelieve firmly in continuous and responsibleinvestment in our people and solutions.Questica’s ability to develop products tomeet the diverse needs of our customerscenters around the expertise of ouremployees, as well as the feedback andneeds analysis of our over 600 public sectorand non-profit customers.

Hosting and securityHosting and security

Questica Budget is 100 percent web-basedand supports the most commonly usedbrowsers. With Questica, there is also nofootprint on individual workstations and noneed for IT to install or distribute softwarewhen new releases or updates are madeavailable. Unlike some vendors, we recognizethat you own your budget data, and we allowyou full access to your budget data at alltimes and in any way.

Whether you choose on-premise or cloudhosting, our service is customer centric,secure, reliable and affordable. Our softwareis installed as single-tenant, so you’re alwaysable to get changes and updates on yourown schedule. And we back up data atregular intervals, so you can be confidentthat there will be minimal disruption in anyemergency. Most importantly, we offerexpert consulting and advice to help youdetermine what solution is best to meet yourorganization’s goals and objectives.

Integration Integration and configurabilityand configurabilityThe Questica Budget suite delivers all thenecessary budgeting tools while also offeringmultiple options for a high level ofconfigurability. Our modules includingOperating, Capital, Salary/Position Planning,Performance and Financial Statements,enhance Questica’s software, enabling theplatform to benefit any organization nomatter the size. Other budgeting solutionsmay offer many of the same capabilities, butonly through extensive customization thatincreases both your organization’s financialand time investment as well as the overallcomplexity of the solution.

Questica’s focus is on improving the budgetmanagement process for public sectororganizations, not making these agenciesadapt to a new solution. Our products offertailored workflows, change requests andinterdepartmental allocations, user-definedfields and configurable entry screens. Theyalso provide report scheduling andautomated distribution, dashboards, andadvanced search capabilities for detailedanalysis and better decision-making.



Questica Budget can handle diverse budgetrequirements including multi-yearbudgeting, salaries and staff planning,allocations, performance indicators, andmuch more. Questica’s robust analytics,dashboards and reporting capabilities meanthat public sector organizations have accessto trends, insights and alerts to make bettermanagement decisions. Plus, ourtransparency and sharing tools alloworganizations to better engage with theirinternal and external stakeholder groups forbetter understanding and outcomes.

We’ve integrated Questica Budget with over25 financial systems and have extensiveexperience with SAP, Oracle, PeopleSoft,Dynamics GP, JD Edwards, Cayenta, Lawson,Munis, New World, SunGard THE, Workday,and others. We also integrate with humanresource and student informationmanagement systems.

Implementation and costImplementation and costQuestica understands the pressure publicsector organizations face to maximize thevalue and return on their investments, whichis why we offer a comprehensive end-to-endbudgeting platform at a competitive price.

We have decades of experience with projectmanagement and control methodologies tomanage the project and implementationprocess efficiently and effectively. We alsooffer both license purchase and SaaS costingmodels giving you the flexibility to choosethe option that fits within your budget andyour total cost of ownership valuation.

Training and supportTraining and supportQuestica provides full installationdocumentation with every release, as well asimplementation assistance, technicalsupport and online help. Plus, we havecomplete training for administrators andgeneral users through Questica Help, ouronline learning and knowledge base tool.

Our Customer Success team serves as youradvocate within Questica. Working fromonset, through implementation and ongoingusage, they are focused on maximizing yourvalue from adopting Questica Budget.Through regular business reviews andtouchpoints, Customer Success willunderstand and address your changingorganizational needs, objectives, goals andchallenges.



Questica also offers additional user groupeducation and networking opportunities.These include regular customer webinarsand in-person user group half and full-dayevents to identify and address topics ofinterest, sharing experiences, trends andbest practices.

If you’d like to learn more aboutIf you’d like to learn more aboutQuestica, visit our Questica, visit our websitewebsite ..Check our Check our success storiessuccess stories to tolearn more about our productslearn more about our productsand decide which one is rightand decide which one is rightfor you. Interested in setting upfor you. Interested in setting uppersonalized demonstration ofpersonalized demonstration ofhow Questica Budget can helphow Questica Budget can helpyour organization? your organization? Contact usContact ustodaytoday!!


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need to replace your budgeting software? · 2018-08-10 · solution – such as oracle’s hyperion...

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