tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495230762647821938.post4146642941876197074..comments2024-03-11T02:26:37.444-05:00Comments on Treasury Cafe: I’ve Been Workin' at the Station, All the Live Long DayDavid Waltzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03415644204743030961noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495230762647821938.post-76321047172177265302012-01-24T05:40:28.221-06:002012-01-24T05:40:28.221-06:00Thank you for participating in the disucssion!
Fr...Thank you for participating in the disucssion!<br /><br />From what I have seen so far, it seems that as far as Sarbanes-Oxley is concerned one organization's major concern can be the next one's non-issue. There does not appear to be as much standardization as one would think, even within the auditing firms. I suppose it goes to show that organizations are as unique as people are.David Waltzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415644204743030961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495230762647821938.post-19857640415553523242012-01-22T09:30:33.699-06:002012-01-22T09:30:33.699-06:00David,
This inability to easily provide the data ...David,<br /><br />This inability to easily provide the data across the enterprise is a selling point for going with an ERP system instead of a SaaS workstation. It will depend on your need for enterprise-wide data and what you want to spend.<br /><br />Surprisingly, we didn't have SOX issues with the vendor storing the data. Our internal audit thoroughly went through the vendor's data retention policies, backups, and controls.LinkedInnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495230762647821938.post-36228323203536930012011-12-28T12:30:22.831-06:002011-12-28T12:30:22.831-06:00Mike,
It is certainly true that SaaS will be the ...Mike,<br /><br />It is certainly true that SaaS will be the way forward for many organizations. In addition, it will certainly make for a more compelling case if a strong Application Programming Interface (API) is available to address the data access issues mentioned by other commentors to this post.<br /><br />A couple of questions along that route would be how much background does a Treasury person need in order to be the "competent developer", or will going that route require the IT group's involvement, forcing Treasury back into the "1000-man-year" problem?<br /><br />Another question about going that route would be whether it will be possible to sync things up so well with the rest of the IT infrastructure so as to make long-lasting competitive advantage possible?<br /><br />My guess is that neither the ERP route nor the Excel route goes away entirely. The former due to a strong single-platform philosophy, and the latter due to its universality.<br /><br />Thank you for visiting Treasury Cafe and adding to the discussion!David Waltzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415644204743030961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495230762647821938.post-44094889068386348452011-12-28T06:27:49.746-06:002011-12-28T06:27:49.746-06:00Thanks for a good, thoughtful article. Having spok...Thanks for a good, thoughtful article. Having spoken to a group of treasurers on just this topic earlier this month at the European Treasurers Council in Brussels, I'm sure the future can't be spreadsheet-based, however easy it is for an experienced Excel jockey to come up with a quick fix for any given requirement. In treasury, as in most other fields, SaaS has to be the way forward. What's needed is a really robust API so that any competent developer can build links between external data sources and the SaaS app. It's happening in other fields all the time - just ask any salesforce.com user - and even with the greater compliance and security issues around the finance function, it'll happpen here too.Mike Hewitthttp://www.gtnews.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495230762647821938.post-34182895886845520182011-12-20T21:53:00.449-06:002011-12-20T21:53:00.449-06:00Jamie,
Thank you for taking the time to respond t...Jamie,<br /><br />Thank you for taking the time to respond to this post! <br /><br />This inability to connect with the data is very interesting. I think most would consider this a negative when making the Installed vs. SaaS evaluation.<br /><br />It seems to me this would bring up Sarbanes-Oxley issues as well, there are a lot of data retention requirements, I wonder how can companies comply if they cannot access the data?David Waltzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415644204743030961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495230762647821938.post-29086797072128590632011-12-20T21:09:30.010-06:002011-12-20T21:09:30.010-06:00I use to be the finance person with IT skills in t...I use to be the finance person with IT skills in the Treasury department. Management went that route to bypass the 1,000 man-year problem. I was able to develop many reports using a report writer that interfaced with the SaaS workstation. To paraphrase Henry, there is a shortcoming in the existing workstation technology that you can't connect directly to the data. I think as more companies want to easily share Treasury data with other systems, there will be a harder push for the vendor to provide that ability. The vendor will surely charge extra for this feature. I think this will be one item eventually addressed in the evolution of the workstation.Jamie Upchurch (Linkedin)noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495230762647821938.post-9348441771174422302011-12-20T03:56:19.780-06:002011-12-20T03:56:19.780-06:00Henry,
Thank you so much for your sharing the ben...Henry,<br /><br />Thank you so much for your sharing the benefit of your insights on this topic, and furthering the conversation!<br /><br />With respect to item #2 - am I understanding the comment correctly that the data is difficult to get out of the SaaS system in a way where it can be further used?<br /><br />In item #3 access to the raw data and routinely backing it up was recommended on a LinkedIn discussion based on this post. <br /><br />Henry, my question to you is have you seen the raw data as being compatible across systems? Say I use SaaS product A for 5 or 10 years and then want to go to B. Are the data schema's similar enought that the data can be moved easily, or is this another "1,000 man-year" IT project?<br /><br />Thanks again for your comments! I hope you keep coming back.David Waltzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415644204743030961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495230762647821938.post-45306995818293099122011-12-19T18:20:52.588-06:002011-12-19T18:20:52.588-06:00Interesting article. I'm interested to read m...Interesting article. I'm interested to read more about the concept of WikiTreasury. As a consultant with over 40 treasury workstation implementations under my belt, I have a few comments:<br /><br />1. Regarding the installed model of treasury workstations, and its interaction with IT. I've experienced the full spectrum, from IT departments who minimize their involvement to other IT departments that want to take over the project after vendor selection! I agree that the most successful implementations have treasury heading up the project, rather than IT.<br /><br />2. Regarding both the on-premise and SaaS models of treasury workstations, I have found that the most prevalent planning ommission in planning, to be data accessibility OUTSIDE of the chosen solution. With an on premise solution, if there is direct access to the stored data and some knowledge of its structure, creative reporting and interfaces can be opened by, as you say, a good measure of technical ability in treasury. With SaaS solutions, we are at a statage in the technology's evolution where data is mostly available through the provided interface, although there are "export to Excel" and web service exceptions. The long-term vision of SaaS should, in my opinion, include "structured data access" on its roadmap. Some vendors will argue over this point, but this will eventually be the key provision that allows SaaS systems to "talk to" other systems, including internally installed or written accounting systems. <br /><br />3. The availability of the raw, structured data that you accumulate in a treasury workstation also suits your caution about risking the loss of years and years of data. With such access, one would only have to ensure the regular export and redundant storage of treasury data to alleviate the risk. In fact, this can even bolster your negotiating position when contract renewal comes along, or if the SaaS solution is acquired and subordinated by a megavendor. If you have all of your data, you can choose a competing system and migrate to it. My clients who have had legacy data to draw upon have experienced significant acceleration in implementations and the ability to provide a steeper learning curve (steeper means learning more, faster because knowledge is on the Y axis) to consultants and staff, and better redundancy.<br /><br />So there are my two cents. Congrats on a very informative article.Henry Wonghttp://www.henrywong.infonoreply@blogger.com