BUSINESS ANALYTICS Specialist resourcing solutions Financial Close & Consolidation Systems Business Intelligence OLAP Analytics EPM Suites Data Governance MDM Planning, Budgeting & Forecasting Applications Strategic Planning EDW ETL ERP Source Business Systems
SystemsAccountants has focused on sourcing, vetting and placing, specialist hard-to-find Finance Systems, EPM and BI experts since being established nearly 20 years ago. We are the market leader in the provision of interim consultants, applications contractors and permanent recruitment services specific to, Analytics, Financial Ledgers, ERP, and Finance Transformation. 2
SystemsAccountants Analytics Practice Since our launch in 1997, we have maintained a consistent focus on the Financial Consolidation, Reporting, Budgeting, Planning and Decision Support systems market. We have developed a deep appreciation of the software vendors and their products within this specialist applications arena, and have built one of the most comprehensive pre-qualified networks of candidates and contractors with systems specific skills and expertise encompassing; project management, solution architecture, development, implementation, and support. Over the years advances in Financial Reporting and BI tools, as well as developments in organisational thinking and process design, have combined to create a range of business applications and disciplines known as Analytics. These fall broadly in to the following categories: Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) is the process of monitoring performance across the enterprise with the goal of improving business performance. An EPM system integrates and analyses data from many sources, including, but not limited to, e-commerce systems, front-office and back-office applications, data warehouses and external data sources. Advanced EPM systems can support many performance methodologies such as the balanced scorecard. (Extract from Gartner s IT Glossary - 2013 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates.) Business Intelligence (BI) is about improving decision-making. It involves developing processes and systems that collect, transform, cleanse and consolidate data from key sources within & outside the organisation, usually in an accessible store (a data warehouse), for presentation on users desks as reports, analysis or displayed on screens as dashboards or scorecards. Data Governance is a discipline that embodies a convergence of data quality, data management, data policies, business process management, and risk management surrounding the handling of data in an organization. It is a set of processes that ensures that important data assets are formally managed throughout the enterprise. Data governance ensures that data can be trusted and that people can be made accountable for any adverse event that happens because of low data quality. 3
SystemsAccountants Analytics Practice cont. SystemsAccountants is uniquely placed to deliver specialist Analytics recruitment services because, unlike mainstream IT and Finance recruiters we have focused on sourcing, vetting and engaging a network of candidates and contractors with a strong mix of financial / business backgrounds and IT skill sets. Specifically the candidates we place typically have deep finance, procurement, supply chain and operational expertise. As a consequence of gaining implementation experience as a Systems Accountant on Financial Consolidation, Planning, Budgeting & BI/OLAP systems projects, or from working for software vendors and consultancies, they also have expert solution design, configuration, build, test and deployment skills, specific to the Analytics toolsets they have specialised in. These hybrid specialists are able to act as a bridge between the business, where an understanding of the underlying business processes and the implications of data requirements are essential to configure a system best fit for purpose; and the technical or IT build team, to ensure that business requirements are properly translated and mapped in to the system design. 4
Analytics Applications Expertise We provide permanent & contractor recruitment solutions to enable clients to implement, support, develop & optimise the majority of mainstream Analytics applications: Adaptive Planning / Consolidation / Reporting / Discovery / Integration Finance / Sales / Operations Business Intelligence / Corporate Performance Management BI / Controller / TM1 / Planning / Express d/epm / BI SSAS / SSRS / SSIS / Excel / VBA OneStream XF Hyperion HFM / Essbase / Planning / HPCM / DRM / FDQM / HSF OBIEE / OBIA / ODI / FAH QlikView / QlikSense Business Objects / BFC / BPC Tableau Desktop / Tableau Server / Tableau Online Tagetik 5 / CPM / CDM / BI / Financial Governance 5
Interim Project & Support Resource SystemsAccountants has a long track record of providing independent Analytics applications experts to a wide range of global organisations, mid-market companies and public sector bodies; covering all major EPM & BI systems and end-to-end Data Management. Project Resource Initiative Systems Review / Healthcheck Implementation Upgrade Expansion New Regulatory Requirements Centre of Excellence Systems Integration Resource Project Managers Business Analysts Technical Developers Go-live Support Interim Support administration - Contract Systems Administrators - Interim Systems Accountants support - Interim & Part-time Support Consultants - 1st / 2nd / 3rd Line Support applications management - Interim Finance Systems Managers - Contract Enterprise Applications Managers / Directors development - Contract Systems Analysts - Contract Report Developers 6
The all-round contractor In many instances we are called upon to provide contractors who can deliver a range of services in one role: project manage, gather business requirements, conduct business analysis, configure, build, test, develop, deploy & train. Benefits of Interim Resource Cost & Flexibility Utilising a specialist independent resource as opposed to engaging a Consultancy not only saves our clients money, but also provides a fully vetted, proven and referenced resource. Our clients have the flexibility to handpick the optimal consultant based on previous client reference-ability and experience, rather than being assigned an available Consultancy resource. Independence One of the distinct advantages of using an independent contractor is the impartial stance they take at all stages of development through to BAU, effectively acting as an extension to the clients PMO. Our consultants can either work directly with the client, or with a chosen 3rd party vendor at all stages of requirements gathering, design, development, build, test and deployment. Knowledge retention An advantage of using contractor resource is the flexibility they offer in terms of support and BAU. Many of our clients report that when they have historically used consultancies they often find it is a challenge to engage the same consultant for post implementation optimization work once they have left site as they are typically re-assigned to new clients. When using a contractor it is more practical to set up post implementation support agreements with that actual individual and thus benefit from ongoing knowledge transfer, training and documentation support; from the consultant who actually implemented the original solution. Seamless transition to BAU Once an implementation/upgrade is complete, it becomes of paramount importance to ensure that the business is equipped to support the new environment. Our contractors work with stakeholders and users to ensure knowledge and product transfer is complete, in addition to training dedicated internal resource for all future BAU activities and supporting activities to bolster the permanent team if required. 7
Permanent Recruitment We maintain an active capability to source applicants for roles in the 30,000 to 250,000 salary bracket, ranging from junior financial systems administration roles through middle management Analytics / EPM systems support, development & management positions; up to exec level transformation director appointments. Typical Analytics role mandates include: epm Programme / Project Manager Finance Systems Director / Manager Solution Architect Systems Accountant Managing Consultant Systems administrator Business Analyst BI Head of BI / BI Manager BI Delivery Lead / Project Manager Solution Architect Data Architect / Data Governance DWH Manager BI Developer Report Developer 8
Project mobilisation Our projects offering is geared to working with clients who wish to supplement their internal capability with project, technology and business process skills to enable them to deliver business owned change programmes, with minimal consultancy intervention. We specialize in placing individuals who have experienced technology enabled business change as both consultants and business staff and thus bring a blend of best practice consulting techniques and lived with the results user experience. Our Service levels incorporate: Team Value Proposition Our contractors are engaged and provided to site as a SystemsAccountants team. Acting as a Project Partner we introduce measures (deployed on and offsite) to ensure the team gels and thus delivers more value to our clients through the pooling of ideas and experiences. Team Retention Contractor retention is assured through the conduct of non-disruptive individual onsite contractor reviews. Our account team will continually assess each contractor s personal situation, seeking to resolve external issues to avoid disruption. Market Intelligence On-going market intelligence is provided to the Client throughout the full lifecycle of the project in respect to market rates, skill set availability (locally and offshore), market events that may affect rates and availability and guidance in regards to rate reviews (up or down) that may be necessitated to ensure contractor retention, or to take advantage of market depressions to gain further cost savings where appropriate. 9
Testimonials I have used Systems Accountants since 2001 as both a client and a contractor and they are my resourcing company of choice. I can be sure of a professional service with comprehensive first stage screening having been completed so that only the most relevant candidates or clients are presented to me. In my experience Group reporting solutions always require resource with a unique blend of accounting and systems skills, which Systems Accountants understand very well. This is why I would not choose to use a more general accounting or computing recruiter. Andrew Sullivan (HFM Solution Architect) I have worked with Systems Accountants since the late nineties - both as a candidate and as a recruiter - their excellent understanding of the Hyperion market and product sets them way ahead of their competition and makes them my first port of call. Unlike others their focus is on matching the right candidate to the right role and building long term relationships rather than short term financial gains. Rikesh Raichura (HFM Consultant) I started working on my first SystemsAccountants project just over a month after I moved to the UK from Australia. Ever since then I haven t needed to send my resume to any other agency. Having 12 years of experience with IBM Cognos Planning and TM1, my area of expertise is very specific and SystemsAccountants have engaged me in two interesting and challenging projects. They have taken the approach of providing a single point of contact, right from the first interview, where they recommended me to their client, to managing their projects. It also makes it much easier that the person from the agency has knowledge of the product that I am consulting on. Most importantly however, SystemsAccountants don t consider their job done right after signing the contract - instead I have had regular updates throughout my project and have been provided with all the assistance I ve needed. Max Iakouchev (TM1 Consultant) 10
I have used SystemsAccountants for a number of years to fill vacancies within my team. Being a consultancy delivering Financial Planning projects it is difficult to get candidates with the right blend of project, financial and technical skills. SA have always put forward candidates with this blend of skills. SystemsAccountants are the first recruitment agency that I call when vacancies arise. The main reason for this is that their staff understand the business we are in, the software products we use and the demands of the consultancy role. We have recruited both permanent and contract through SA and never had a problem. My personal view is that every candidate that SA puts forward has been personally seen by an SA agent and therefore I do not get poor candidates put in front of me wasting my time. Sounds obvious but in my experience definitely not the norm!!!! Darren Moors, Practice Manager, Simpson Associates Recent Clients 11
Disclaimer: All trademarks and design marks listed herein are the property of their respective owners. The use of the trademarks and design marks in this document does not in any way constitute an endorsement or approval by their owners of the products and/or services offered by SystemsAccountants Limited (the Company) and shall not be construed to imply any partnership between the Company and the respective trademark owner. Head Office: SystemsAccountants Limited 28/29 The Point, Rockingham Road Market Harborough Leicestershire, LE16 7QU Tel: +44 (0) 1858 431 888 London: SystemsAccountants Limited 2 Royal Exchange London EC3V 3LN Tel: +44 (0) 207 648 4242 Chicago: SystemsAccountants Inc 200 South Wacker Drive Suite 3100 Chicago, Illinois 60606 Tel: +1 (312) 674-4992 Amsterdam: SystemsAccountants (NL) WTC, Zuidplein 36 1077 XV Amsterdam The Netherlands Tel: +31 (0) 207 095 137 Contact: Web: www.systemsaccountants.com General Enquiries: mail@systemsaccountants.com Finance Enquiries: finance@systemsaccountants.com