Five reasons why reporting as a service makes (RaaS) sense
I am often asked why you would make use of a reporting service. From experience I have seen how the best intentions in corporate reporting tool implementation and use often lead to frustration and disappointment.
Here are my top 5 reasons why it makes sense to migrate to reporting as a service:
- Internal finance teams rarely have the time to appropriately skill themselves to get the most out of the system. As a result, reports that are developed are difficult to maintain and take time to run. Departing skills without the appropriate skills handover and training mean that internal capability gets eroded and the system blamed for reporting failures due to a lack of knowledge and ability. RaaS providers only do this work and are system accredited. As a result, they can bring their experience to the fore to make sure the reporting environment is well thought out, robust and sustainable.
- A bias to getting the reporting out means that quality control and hygiene is often neglected. It is all too common to see many similarly named reports mushroom over time. The result is people not knowing what the correct reports are and general confusion should the system owner be away or leave your employment. Leaving the validation of data on the critical path also delays reporting. This important step means that the system is blamed when all it needed was a little care and attention. A RaaS provider properly documents the environment so that reports and datasets are properly maintained and controlled.
- The scope of skills required to get the most out of the reporting tools are numerous and span a wide range of organisational functions, sometimes these skills are not all within the entity and require a third party. Again, the team is hamstrung in delivery. Typically one needs to align a finance and operational report owner, someone who has the report building skills, someone to update or source the data and make it available and a UX/UI design professional to make sure that your BI reporting tells a story that drives a common exploration and discovery of data. Aligning these skills internally can be a challenge, especially in a skills scarce space. The correct RaaS provider has access to data, reporting and design skills as needed and can leverage their considerable experience to get things done quicker to a higher level of quality.
- Traditional software service providers are focused on selling software licenses and not the solution to the problem that needs solving. This can make it expensive without the problem being resolved. RaaS providers are focused on the solution, not the software.
Too much time is spent on preparing reports. Combining multiple excel data sources, exported from a system is far too prevalent. With the increasing demand on time you need to make sure that you are getting the best return on effort. Reporting, at its essence, is a commodity. It makes more sense to outsource this to a team of skilled and experienced professionals that are guided by your needs. This means more time is available for staff to review and analyse the data and reports and drive action.
Ask us how we can help you on your RaaS journey.
