Recent Financial Management White Papers, Webcasts and Case Studies - ZDNet
Recent Financial Management White Papers, Webcasts and Case Studies - ZDNet

• Northern and Shell Cuts Costs With Streamlined, Simplified Financial Management Processes
  Northern and Shell Group Ltd owns and publishes a wide range of media titles including the Daily Express, Daily Star, OK! And various television channels. The challenges were to streamline financial management, enforce best practice processes, strengthen financial discipline, and facilitate faster, easier compliance with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC); cut management overhead through automation and improve efficiency by introducing self-service to an expanding user base; and reduce the need to build customized applications for nonstandard processes and redevelop them after each new upgrade. The company upgraded to Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise Financial Management 8.8 to benefit from up-to-date industry best-practice, improved performance, and enhanced functionality.
• Amplifon Upgrades ERP Solution as Support for Growth and Acquisitions
  Amplifon is a world leader in distributing and customizing hearing aids. The group has a distribution network composed of 2,800 of its own retail outlets plus 2,000 affiliated shops and almost 3,000 service centers operated by hearing aid specialists. The challenge was to improve the efficiency of back office processes in all shops in Italy and abroad; integrate all enterprise applications, including local front office systems with complex, local, customized systems; and centralize system management and maintenance to lower costs and safeguard the investment. The company upgraded to the newest version of Oracle's JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Financial Management solution, consolidating the groups operations for greater collaboration and efficiency.
• CNIM Group Successfully Migrates Its Subsidiary's Financial Applications to Reduce Costs
  CNIM Group (Constructions Industrielles de la Mediterranee) develops turnkey industrial solutions in three major product and services sectors: the environment, mechanical engineering, and energy. The challenge was to modernize the LAB subsidiary's Oracle E-Business Suite financial applications by upgrading to version 11.i.10; reduce operating and maintenance costs by consolidating business application management between LAB and the parent company; minimize downtime during the migration; and provide ability to control and remotely access information on employee rehire eligibility. The solution reduced costs by consolidating business application operations across the enterprise. The company worked with Oracle Consulting to migrate Oracle Financials to the latest version, allowing CNIM's internal IT team to focus on other activities.
• Marex Financial Ltd Transitions to Operational Independence, Meets Three-Month Deadline
  Marex Financial Ltd is an independent brokerage and foreign exchange company offering comprehensive coverage of key global commodities, financial futures, options, and foreign exchange. The challenge was to achieve systems independence and autonomy following a split from a larger financial services group - while still using the legacy software - within a short, critical time frame; implement the new financials system on time to support a chain of business system go-lives; and separate and migrate all Marex-relevant historical and ongoing data from existing systems as part of the separation process. The company achieved total system independence with a single business instance of Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise Financials Management solution - specifically General Ledger, Asset Management, and Payables - to support internal financial operations.
• At the Forefront of Multi-Channel Banking
  The Woolwich is the first U.K. financial institution to provide interactive mobile banking services via WAP technology and the only bank with true channel integration across branches, telephone, Internet, WAP and interactive digital TV. The institution wanted to exploit new technological advances in order to increase market share and deepen customer relationships. This was solved with a sophisticated package of Unisys Consulting and Wealth Management, or Personal Financial Management, Solutions contributing to The Woolwich's "Open Plan.".
• The Future of Fraud Detection & Prevention in the Public Sector
  As the public sector comes under increased pressure to manage budgets more efficiently and transparently, fraud prevention and detection have become critically important. The discussion in this webcast addresses the broad issues of the public sector response to fraud, with specific examples how the European community is dealing with ever more sophisticated fraudsters.
• An Enterprise Approach to Insurance Risk Management
  This paper reviews the risk management and highlighted its importance in the risk assumption business of insurance, especially in light of all the changes experienced in the insurance industry in the recent past. Next, it identified the drivers of insurance value and some of the risks generated by those drivers.
• Specialist Schools Trust Modernizes Financial Systems and Reduces Costs
  The Specialist Schools Trust is a not-for-profit organization that is partly funded by the U.K. government. The Trust lacked a sophisticated financial management system that could support their rapid expansion, complex accounting requirements, and regulatory reporting obligations. Limited by its existing Sage software, which was designed for small business use, the Trust needed to reduce the cost of running the finance function, which was too high due to a reliance on individual spreadsheets that had to be maintained, collated, and reconciled. The Trust improved the efficiency of the Trust's finance function through financial accounting and reporting applications in Oracle E-Business Suite Special Edition, a suite of integrated, Web-based applications for small and midsized businesses.
• Oracle Case Study: State of Georgia
  The State of Georgia required a GUI type, front-end, client-server system that was Year 2000 compliant. The challenge was to replace in-house developed software with a commercial off-the-shelf solution without extensive business process reengineering. The state deployed PeopleSoft Enterprise Financial Management for 74 agencies and Human Capital Management for 80 agencies, meeting deployment deadlines and without missing a payroll or vendor payment. The state built an infrastructure that met the agencies' needs in a central data center.
• HP Trade-In Program for Government, Health, and Education
  This HP Program Brief introduces a technology trade-in program for federal, state, and local government bodies. The HP Trade-In Program offers government agencies the highest market values for their aging technology products. An alternative to the traditional Excess/Surplus methodology, the program complies with the General Service Administration's (GSA) Federal Property Management regulations and follows best practices in IT asset management. Download the paper to learn more about the HP Trade-In Program and how it can reduce your agency's technology upgrade costs.
• Why Consider Oracle For Business Intelligence?
  Businesses are undergoing a fundamental shift in the way they make decisions. In today's rapidly changing environment, decision making occurs more frequently and at all levels of an organization. It is no longer a semiregular senior management activity. This paper looks at how Oracle software solutions can support diverse decision-making processes, such as manufacturing quality analysis, financial planning, marketing campaign- or supplier relationship management.
• Business Process Management II: Best Practices of Boeing and UPS
  This executive summary is a follow up report to APQC's 2005 "Business Process Management" Best- practice Report. It digs deeper into how organizations are navigating the transition from functional-based to process-based and what benefits are yielded. Learn what works and what doesn't, using best-practices leading organizations leverage to truly create value. These organizations illustrate how they have determined what technology to use, how technology integrates into operational environment, how it accelerates process change, and what near-term benefits will be delivered.
• Business Process Management at Air Products and Chemicals Inc.
  Air Products and Chemicals Inc. (APCI) has different processes in various areas of the world, and its ongoing attempt to converge and simplify these processes involves 19,900 employees in 30 countries. Leaders are now working to ensure those with si