Background

The previous generation of fixed-function technology constrains solutions to vertical slices, each dedicated to a single business function and serving a narrow user group.

  • Each vertical application manages its own data, creating a data silo into which other applications can't see, limiting data visibility across the firm.
  • Internally, there is little or no separation of business-specific elements from other elements that are present for engineering reasons, making it difficult to adapt to specific needs within the firm, and evolving regulatory practice.
  • Vertical applications copy data among themselves, leading to internal reconciliation and uncertainty about the golden copy.
  • Assumptions about business workflow are built into the applications and mandated by the limits of their internal dataflows, inhibiting the workflow changes that are often forced by new regulation.

Previous generation

Previous-generation solutions perpetuate limitations from the 1990s that no longer make sense in a faster-paced world.

  • large, expensive, risky implementation projects
  • systems that aren't nimble enough to accommodate the accelerating pace of change
  • many business areas under-supported with IT because of limited resources
  • the need to integrate many disparate systems to create a full solution
  • siloed solutions dividing visibility by business function
  • data flow between systems forcing business work flow to match it
  • integration costs rising combinatorially as systems are added
  • backward-looking T+1 accounting practices dominate
  • everything hard-wired, limited and difficult to change

Spreadsheets are still in use because they reflect the present-day necessity of flexibility, even if they do create their own risks and stifle workflow.

Next generation

Technology improvements let us re-evaluate present day needs to create a new generation of finance technology.

  • separate core concepts from business-specifics
  • use spreadsheet formulas to describe information, relationships and processing, avoiding the IT bottleneck and enabling rapid, high-quality bespoke solutions
  • execute formulas on a robust business transaction processing engine
  • store data in a next-generation database that supports historical views, audit trails and other advanced features the whole platform can benefit from
  • cross-cut business silos, bringing them onto a shared platform for instant, secure, shared visibility
  • add rich timeseries support for forward-looking projections of whatever numbers matter to you
  • capture, store and report on whatever data makes sense for you
  • model assets physical, cash, exposure and other behaviours to whatever level of detail you need using formulas

Our technology innovations

Lighter-weight, faster, more adaptable core technology, with spreadsheet formula-based business rules and an ecosystem of add-on products.

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