Leighton Holdings Project Summary
The Project
In 2008, Leighton embarked on an initiative to replace its Hyperion Enterprise application, which had served it well for over 5 years. They scoured the market for a replacement technology and, after narrowing the contenders to a short list, selected Oracle’s Hyperion Financial Management (HFM) solution. Leighton selected Taysols to assist them on this journey because of its successful track record in delivering consolidation-oriented projects.
Background
The existing Hyperion Enterprise system had been deployed to each of the group’s business units and had been used to collect, consolidate and report on information for Statutory reporting requirements. The new HFM system was to satisfy all of the existing needs as well as add additional value using its enhanced features and functions such as SOX compliance, advanced workflow / approval processes and the ability to link to underlying ledgers. The resultant application needed to be deployed to over 70 end users in a variety of countries.
The Engagement
Taysols assisted Leighton with the design and project management of the application, utilising Leighton staff wherever possible. After the design had been agreed by the steering committee of which Taysols had representation, the system was built in HFM ensuring strict adhesion to Statutory reporting requirements. All historical information was reproduced and reconciled in the new application to ensure historical compliance. Further, business rules built by Taysols now give Leighton Holdings the ability to report in two different financial years using the same base data, without duplication. As a result, time-offset reporting is now streamlined and quickly verifiable. Given HFM’s enhanced technical and functional abilities, new reports and calculations were created to add value to the internal and external reporting processes. HFM’s web forms were complimented by its new Smart View technology for data collection ensuring that validation rules were passed prior to submission, greatly increasing the ‘first pass’ data quality and thereby reducing reporting effort and timelines.
The Result
The new HFM system went live in April 2009 and was deployed to over 70 users around the world. The system is maintained by Leighton staff thereby ensuring intellectual property remains vested in the organisation.
" The new system is intuitive and easy to navigate; Taysols' helpful and knowledgeable consultants provided on-going training to staff and helped them relate aspects of the new system to areas they were familiar with in the existing systems." Carlos Mendes, Group Chief Accountant, Leighton Holdings