DAYTON, Ohio — Teradata Corporation (NYSE: TDC) announced today the results of a new survey of financial analysts indicating that a growing number of finance and information technology organizations recognize the value of centralizing cross-enterprise financial and operational data and automating its analysis. A key finding is that even the best
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, while delivering important operational and transaction processing value, do not enable the critical analytical flexibility and detailed insight that financial analysts now require.
Seventy-one percent of 360 respondents to the survey said they struggle to collect data from multiple sources and perform analyses needed to answer unanticipated financial performance questions. On a related note, nearly fifty percent reported difficulty trying to integrate ERP data with other critical operational and legacy system information. These challenges limit visibility into business dynamics affecting financial results and delay actions that can improve corporate performance.
Among the survey respondents, the most popular approaches to improving the effectiveness of the finance function include: ERP application upgrades, cross-enterprise process standardization and the implementation of
enterprise data warehouses. Most survey respondents said that the difficulty of getting and integrating data from different, disconnected systems is a major hindrance to obtaining important company information.
"For many CFOs and financial analysts, the health of the business is not only measured in cash flow, receivables and other financial measures — but also in human resources, sales, inventory, manufacturing and supply chain metrics," said Jeff Lovett, director of Finance and Performance Management Solutions marketing for Teradata. "Financial data generated from large ERP or enterprise applications is notoriously difficult to access and integrate with key non-financial information like this, as well as legacy system financial data. This survey indicates that many finance professionals realize the need for additional technologies that will help them get a single, integrated view that provides the actionable intelligence needed to effectively manage business performance. Teradata has a proven track record of helping enterprises meet this challenge while leveraging existing ERP and other information infrastructure investments."
Momentum for
Teradata Finance and Performance Management solutions continues to grow as companies modernize and integrate critical information by replacing limited-use data appliances and data marts as well as slow, aging legacy data systems.
Sponsored by Teradata, the study was completed by Unisphere Media in September with a focus on measuring the scope, capabilities and adoption of technologies employed by today's finance organizations. Survey respondents were members of the Oracle Applications User Group, and a majority were involved in management reporting, monthly and quarterly financial reporting, and ranged from financial analysts to the executive level. Some survey respondent roles were technical. Key findings from the report, including the biggest challenges financial analysts face, can be accessed online at the following link:
http://www.teradata.com/resources/analyst-reports
About Teradata
Teradata Corporation (NYSE: TDC) is the world's largest company solely focused on raising intelligence through data warehousing and enterprise analytics. Teradata is in more than 60 countries and on the web at
www.teradata.com.
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Teradata is a trademark or registered trademark of Teradata Corporation in the United States and other countries.
