EZ-Link completes forecasting process 6x faster

Prior to introducing Jedox into their daily planning, EZ-Link was relying on the manual processing, and consolidation of various departments’ inputs. The basic challenge was that the data gathering, and consolidation of all departments were based on Excel. There were not only various data sources, but also multiple stakeholders involved, like the CEO, CFO, as well as the heads of departments, which resulted in the whole process being too time consuming and error prone. On top of that, some data sets were too copious to analyze on MS Excel altogether. This resulted in a limited ability to fully utilize all their data in their analyses.

The manual and mundane processes as well as the lack of accuracy and speed were the biggest pain points for the organization throughout the process of consolidation. EZ-Link set out to reduce above the line and improve the whole process. Since they were relying heavily on Excel, they did not have to integrate any other BI software with Jedox and created one single source of truth (SSOT) with all the data from Excel.

In the process of finding the right solution for their needs, EZ-Link performed an open tender, in which various Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) vendors participated. Jedox was chosen as the best solution for EZ-Link because of the strong Microsoft Excel integration and reporting functionality, as well as the great pricing structure. EZ-Link partnered with Attain Analytics Group for the implementation of Jedox, because the partner offers a great understanding of the financial, planning and analysis requirements the business has. Attain Analytics Group offered support in the implementation process and on an on-going basis to get the most out of Jedox for EZ-Link.

The process from generating the management reports via data extraction to data transformation and data load was a tedious process with Microsoft Excel and is now fully automated. The data collection templates from the different departments are now streamlined and standardized into five templates with the appropriate rights assigned to the respective users.

The implementation process of the Jedox solution took EZ-Link about half a year. All users were involved in the process by providing their respective requirements for every department and how they wanted the budget template to be built. They started with the Management and Reporting Analysis in February and the Financial Budgeting and Analysis in March. One month later they created the Financial (Statutory) Reporting, followed by the Cash Flow and Balance Sheet Forecast in June. Finally, EZ-Link created the Planning and Forecasting in August, thereby concluding the implementation process of Jedox.

EZ-Link is using Jedox for their monthly reporting and analysis, the annual budgeting process, and quarterly as well as monthly forecasting. Every user and department can create their own reports for the management meetings. With Jedox, they now have a structured and centralized single source of truth (the OLAP database) that is secure for transparent, efficient planning and reporting across the company. The Jedox Excel plus functionality allows EZ-Link to perform ad-hoc analyses on their data quickly and efficiently.

Now, their users can do more agile forecasting and the overall planning process is not as time consuming as it used to be. While in the past EZ-Link performed only annual and bi-annual forecasts because the manual processes and multiple versions of Excel sheets were so hindering, now they can create a forecast every 1–2 months. From historical data to future projections, Jedox has helped with consolidating all sorts of data. Now, since data is being stored, EZ-Link can analyze the current situation and compare it to their target. This helps them to find out, how far they are from reaching their business goals and what needs to be done to get there. The consolidation of all data also allows for more visibility of financials and non-financials. Instead of performing multiple version controls, the organization now has a laser focus on business use cases.

Future scenarios of using Jedox at EZ-Link includes cloud conversion and AIssisted™ Planning to enhance and gain better accuracy in forecasting results, thereby allowing their planers to. For doing the revenue forecasts, EZ-Link is thinking about introducing Jedox AIssisted™ Planning when the time is right, as the AI engine allows for even more accurate forecasting results and frees up more time for the planners.