ERP systems failing financial analysts

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While enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are becoming more important for centralising and automating financial and operational data, they do not enable the critical analytical flexibility and detailed insight that financial analysts now require, according to a new survey.

Some 71 per cent of 360 financial analysts surveyed by independent database researcher Unisphere Media said they struggle to collect data from multiple sources and perform analyses needed to answer unanticipated financial performance questions.

And nearly 50 per cent reported difficulties in trying to integrate ERP data with other critical operational and legacy system information. While 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.

Survey sponsor and data warehousing vendor Teradata said these challenges can limit business visibility, affect financial results and delay the decision-making processes that could improve corporate performance.

"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," said Jeff Lovett, Teradata director of Finance and Performance Management Solutions marketing.

The survey also found the most popular approaches to improving the effectiveness of the finance function included ERP application upgrades, cross-enterprise process standardisation and the implementation of enterprise data warehouses.

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