Free Webinar: How to Improve & Measure Your ROI on Social Media

Who: MindStream Analytics & Decisyon Inc.
What: Co-hosting a webinar on "How to Improve & Measure Your ROI on Social Media"
When: Thursday, August 21st, 2014 @ Noon EST
Where: GoToMeeting - online

Space is limited so REGISTER NOW!

Description: It seems like every organization these days is running a social media program via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other channels. But beyond pushing out information, are you really leveraging these channels to interact effectively with fans and followers, know who you're talking to by matching social data with CRM data, and creating programs that improve customer support and retention? Do you understand the ROI that your company is getting from its social media investments? Join this webinar to learn about the latest trends in Social CRM and how Decisyon, named by Gartner as a "Cool Vendor in Social Analytics" helps companies turn social data into social intelligence and an asset that provides true value to decision makers in Marketing, Customer Service, R&D, Sales and other functions.   Find out how companies are achieving benefits such as:

• 30% increase in organic fan growth, reducing advertising costs
• 90% increase in active fan engagement
• 30% reduction in handle time and first response time
• 10% savings in customer service headcount over a year

 Space is limited so REGISTER NOW!

Webinar: Know Thy Customer-Enhancing Customer Experience with Big Data Analytics

Join MindStream as we present our free bi-monthly webinar on "Know Thy Customer - Enhancing Customer Experience with Big Data Analytics."

When: Thursday, June 12th, 2014
Time: Noon - 1:00 pm EST
Where: GoToWebinar - Register Now!

Description: Competitive advantages are changing.  The days of differentiating on product and competing on price alone are winding down.  The new competitive advantage is to differentiate effectively on the customer experience.  Customers today have higher expectations than they did just a few short years ago.  

The discussion will focus on how finance and marketing executives can create value and deliver results from technology.  Transformative shifts in data, cloud and customer engagement have made the CFO, CMO and other line of business executives chief buyers of technology in organizations, according to new statistics from IDC.  Studies confirm that marketing executives in particular see their profession changing by forces in technology, social and mobile.   Whether its B2B or B2C, they're seeing an engaged customer, and it's enabled by social and mobile.

From a technology perspective, this phenomenon of understanding each of us as individuals is pushing CMO's into technology areas they're not familiar with, integrating data from different sources and extracting value from it.  The discussion break down , into analytic buckets, the types of technology areas in which CMO's are investing and the kinds of value being received from these new technology investment areas.

Firms that want to be proactive in reaching out to customers must analyze a great deal more information than ever before.  They must be able to listen to the 'voice of the customer' - in real time when possible - and then be able to take action.  Listening across channels may identify customer interactions - across technology platforms - that can lead to decisions on taking action.  The voice of the customer comes in different forms - and ends up generating volumes of quantitative and qualitative data.

Space is limited so Register Now!

 

Mastering Predictive Analytics

These days, a company cannot simply speculate on the non-financial factors that will impact results.  This phenomena has made the function of the CFO’s team more critical in having the analytic skills necessary to develop complex ‘what-if’ scenarios.  The term Big Data is being thrown a great deal these days as the solution to all business problems.  For the office of the CFO, let’s not confuse the buzz word with the need.  Big Data is one thing, but predictive analytics is another.  

There is a great new book that addresses this conundrum,  “Predictive Business Analytics—Forward Looking Capabilities to Improve Business Performance,” (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,) co-authored by Lawrence S. Maisel and Gary Cokins.  The book is a must read for FP&A professionals.   The authors take a look at the organizational use of various applications used for reporting, analytics, modeling and planning, probing into the effectiveness and usefulness of these tools. The book is more that a ‘for dummies’ overview – it has meaty content on how to develop a genuine predictive business analytics function.  Maisel and Coskings include case studies and a number of real-world examples that really give you a good idea of what it takes to succeed in this brave new world.

Free Webinar: ERPi Drillback for Hyperion

Free Webinar: ERPi Drillback for Hyperion – a client study and considerations for transitioning to FDM / EE

When: Thursday, May 15th, 2014 @ 1 PM EST
Where: GoToWebinar - Register Here!

Seats are limited!

Description: A trending requirement by businesses implementing Hyperion is to automate data movement and to drill back to the transactional level of source system data.  This is commonly done using Oracle’s Enterprise Resource Planning Integrator adapter (ERPi) in conjunction with Hyperion FDM.

This webinar will discuss MindStream Analytics’ solution implemented for a client to automate data load sourced from Oracle EBS into a Hyperion Financial Management application and also to drill from highly aggregated amounts in HFM back to the transactional detail in EBS.  It will discuss requisite configurations and pertinent steps in the setup of ERPi, ODI, and FDM.  The session will also contrast the differences and advantages of using the new FDMEE.

Register Here!

Webinar Download: Unstructured Analytics with Oracle Endeca

Download our full recorded webinar and presentation slides on "Unstructured Analytics with Oracle Endeca" for free now!

Download now!

Presenter: Philip Sable, Planning & Analysis Practice Manager

Length of Presentation: 52 minutes

Presentation Description: 

Business today must have a fast, focused response when something unexpected happens, or risk losing customers.  Oracle Endeca is a complete enterprise data discovery platform that combines information from any type, from any source.  With Endeca, organizations can empower business users to make business decisions when they need to, while maintaining IT stewardship.

During this web knowledge event, you will learn how to:

• Unlock insights embedded in qualitative, unstructured data, both within and external to the enterprise, including social media, external websites and customer service data;
• Easily explore the data relevant to your business; and
• Achieve a complete view of the signals impacting your customers and your business.

 Download now! 

Free Webinar: Managing Your Analytic Application: All Gain, No Pain!

When: Friday, March 28, 2014
Time: Noon - 1 p.m. EST
Where: Click here to register - space is limited!

If you missed the webinar, download it on our website for free by clicking here!
 
Come join Mindstream to learn about our Managed Services methodology, approach, and key success factors to maintain stable and reliable applications and environments. From disk usage to network monitoring, number of dimensions and complicated rules and scripts, we have a refined methodology to insure that our customers' environments are stable and optimized. Scott Ritter will take you through many of the KPIs, logs, and application statistics that are used to make recommendations to our customers.

Highlights of DMA Mobile Marketing Day - NYC

Congrats to our MindStream executive Robert Dayton for delivering a premier presentation on mobile impact on CMO, CIO relationship at the DMA Mobile Marketing Day in New York City!

"Thank you for presenting something of VALUE," says Gina Scala, the VP of Education and Professional Development. "[Dayton's] presentation was helpful and we greatly enjoyed having you as part of our day."

The presentation was so successful, the Mobile Marketer Daily wrote a special on the impact of Dayton's session:

"A MindStream executive at the fifth annual Mobile Marketing Day conference said chief marketing officers and chief information officers are coming together like never before in response to the significant changes brought about by mobile...CMOs are seeing their profession being changed by forces many are not familiar with, including technology, social and mobile. That sense of being unprepared is not improving, which was made evident by an IBM survey last year, per the executive."

To read the full article, click here!

To view conference photos, click here!

Free Project Financial Planning Webinar

Sign up for MindStream's free monthly webinar!

When: Friday, January 31st, 2014
Where: GoToWebinar
Time: Noon - 1 pm EST

Seats are limited - sign up now!

Title: What is Project Financial Planning?

Presenter: Jonathan Johnson, Planning and Analysis Practice Lead

Subject: As of 11.1.2.2 a new module, Project Financial Planning (PFP) was introduced for Oracle’s Hyperion Planning.  This prepackaged purpose-built module combines project, capital, and workforce planning concepts all into a tightly integrated architecture.  The vast functionality of this module enables organizations to plan and forecast for different types of projects, manage project-funding approvals, and analyze financial implications of projects from both a capital and resource perspective.  The audience will gain an introduction to the module, both technically and functionally.  In addition, we will cover some tips and design considerations, as well as an overview of the changes between 11.1.2.2 and 11.1.2.3.

Seats are limited - sign up now!

 

Free Webinar: Best Practices for Footing Your HFM Reports

Join us for our free monthly webinar! 

When: Wednesday, December 18th, 2013 

Time: Noon - 1 pm EST 

Where: GoToWebinar 

Presenter: Jessica Gulliver, senior HFM consultant

 

Seats are limited - Register Now!

Description: During the Financial Close Process many companies need the ability to present Financial Reports scaled to Thousands or Millions. HFM Reports provide the functionality to easily change the scaling for values within the report, however, this can frequently cause reports to not foot or cross-foot appropriately. During this session we will discuss a solution to create consistently scaled reports that appropriately foot and cross-foot.  This dynamic process can help shorten the close cycle and limit manual intervention when preparing the Financial Statement thereby creating a more controlled environment.

Free Webinar:Got Real-time? Streaming Analytics is transforming the way we do business!

 Register here now!

See the Future First! SQLstream and Streaming Analytics gives you real-time analysis and decision making at the speed of thought. Learn how businesses will never sell, build, buy, or operate anything the same way again.

Join the award-winning team of MindStream Analytics and SQLStream for a one hour webcast and learn how Streaming Analytics is changing not what we know, but how fast we know it - and how quickly we're able to respond.

When: Tuesday, November 19th, 2013
Time: 1 pm - 2 pm EST
Where: GoToWebinar

Register here now!

Central States Fall 2013

MindStream will be attending the Central States OAUG Fall Conference on Wednesday, November 13th at the Four Seasons Hotel in St. Louis, MO.

The Central States OAUG (CSOAUG) was founded in year 2000 as the official OAUG Geo group for Missouri and Kansas. The group strives to provide exceptional educational content on all Oracle products, services and solutions; provide exceptional networking opportunities within the regional business and Oracle user community; and host at least two regional events per calendar year to provide education and networking free of charge to Oracle users.

Set up your 15-minute meeting with our EPM strategist right now to enter into our drawing for a $100 MasterCard giveaway! 

Schedule meeting now!

 

A Mobile Strategy for Oracle EPM Webinar

Click here to download the free PDF version and recording of the webinar!

Webinar description – This session will focus on Oracle's current mobile strategy with a review of what exists today from Oracle as well as an update on Oracle's current mobile strategy and roadmap.  In addition, we will explore a few third party software options that are built to work with Oracle's EPM tools on a mobile platform. 

 

Enterprise Transformation Methodology (ETM) Strategic Roadmap

Take a long-term, strategic view of Enterprise Transformation Methodology (ETM), including
enterprise performance management, process improvement, systems integration and data management, but attack the problem with targeted, well-coordinated initiatives focused on delivering value rapidly.

Think Big: Develop a Roadmap that supports your long-term business objectives and ties in existing, related quick hits. This Roadmap is the compass that steers your systems integration and data management initiatives as you incrementally build the vision over time.

Start Small: Define and prioritize initiatives and carve out meaningful Phases to deliver the highest value in the shortest amount of time. This builds ongoing support and momentum in the organization. A Proof-of-Concept can be effectively structured around one of the earlier phases to gain confidence and internal support.

Deliver Quickly in a Phased Approach: Develop and execute the Roadmap with 45-90 day projects, typically grouped into phases of no longer than 12 months. This methodology allows you to  incrementally build toward the vision, while providing interim benefits to the business along the way.

Transformation are relative to where each organization starting point. Transformations follow a basic three stage process. Initial objectives are foundational. They include a standard definition of terms, a  global Chart of Accounts and transparency of data and financial results. These are key building blocks upon which further transformation is made possible. The second stage is referred to as the Process Improvement stage. Here, companies need to focus on simplifying and standardizing policies and processes. They use GAP analysis to identify and adopt process improvement leading practices. They implement alternative delivery models such as Shared Services or BTO. The final stage is value creation in a leadership position. In this stage, companies deploy effective financial reporting with key performance metrics. Systems are in place to effectively measure product costing and pricing / margin management. Companies in this phase can perform predictive “What if” scenario analysis. They manage real time event and activity monitoring on operational performance. They maintain  predictability and insight on risks and controls.

For the full analysis, please click here!

Oracle Annual Conference: OpenWorld 2013

Join MindStream Analytics at one of the biggest conferences of the year: Oracle OpenWorld 2013 at San Francisco, CA from September 22-26th!

Be sure to visit our booth at #3320 in Moscone West.

You're sure to discover new ways to optimize your systems, new solutions that will help you take your business to the next level, and new practices that will make you more successful in your job and in your industry.

Set up a 15-minute meeting with one of our Hyperion experts and be entered automatically into our drawing for an iPad!

For more information on Oracle OpenWorld, visit http://www.oracle.com/openworld/index.html.

Free Webinar: What's New in Planning 11.1.2.3?

If you missed the webinar, you can click to view the webinar presentation slides and the webinar recording.

Title: What's New in Planning 11.1.2.3?
Category: Oracle Hyperion Planning 

When: Friday, August 2, 2013
Time: Noon - 1 pm EST
Where: Online at GoToWebinar 

Objective: To review new features and enhancements in the Planning application delivered in the 11.1.2.3 release.

Abstract:  This webinar will discuss what new features and enhancements Oracle has brought to its Planning product in the 11.1.2.3.  Additionally, the webinar will include some information on Oracle's road map for planning including the current mobile strategy, a discussion of EPMA and Classic Planning administration, a discussion of the new Planning in the Cloud offering from Oracle and how that impacts customers who have Planning "On Premise".  Some of the new features to be discussed are the following: new ways to update metadata, LCM updates, Dynamic Member additions, ASO integration, and more. This is a webinar you don't want to miss!

Top Trends in Oracle Business Intelligence & Enterprise Performance Management

Hyperion’s 2007 survey (2007 Business Finance Hyperion Mid-Enterprise Survey) of requirements for business intelligence (BI) and enterprise performance management (EPM) solutions revealed the differences in requirements, evaluation criteria, and purchase influencers between midsize companies and large enterprises. With a heavy reliance on spreadsheets to support EPM processes, top investment areas for midsize companies include budgeting and planning as well as management reporting solutions. Executive influence plays a significant role in selecting software, and ease-of-use and pricing are key evaluation criteria.

The notion that midsize companies have the same BI and EPM requirements as large enterprises is partly true. However, the survey makes clear that these requirements evolve as companies grow from  single locations to multiple locations, expand internationally, or change from private to public ownership.

The first few questions in the survey focused on BI and EPM usage and investment plans. In terms of current BI and EPM deployments, the areas most often cited as being currently deployed by midsize companies were budgeting and planning and management reporting. These were followed by financial modeling, query and reporting, dashboards, and performance scorecards. More-advanced functions such as statutory reporting and advanced analysis were less-frequently mentioned. The BI and EPM usage trends for midsize companies were very similar to those for large enterprises surveyed. The results differed more when respondents were asked about future deployment plans.

When asked about the tools currently being used to support BI and EPM processes, spreadsheets were the most of ten used tool, followed by a combination of spreadsheets and general ledger (GL) or enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. The number of companies relying mainly on  packaged applications and tools to support their BI and EPM processes is much lower in the emerging business segment (8%) than in large organizations (24%). A large percentage of respondents (25%) rely on a combination of packaged applications, GL or ERP solutions, and spreadsheet.

For the full survey report, please visit MindStream Analytics.

Oracle Data Relationship Management - What is DRM?

Oracle Data Relationship Management (DRM) helps proactively manage changes in master data across operational, analytical, and enterprise performance management silos. Users may make changes in their departmental perspectives while ensuring conformance to enterprise standards. Whether processing financial or analytical information, Oracle Data Relationship Management delivers timely, accurate, and consistent master data to drive ongoing operational execution, business intelligence, and performance management.

Below are some key benefits of DRM:

• Save time and resources spent reconciling reports and measure across business units
• Perform reliable what-if scenarios and impact analyses
• Maintain data integrity across divisions and systems
• Ensure consistent corporate definitions and metrics
• Reduce/eliminate errors in data flow between operational and analytical systems

 For more information about DRM, please visit MindStream Analytics' website at www.MindStreamAnalytics.com to download our presentation on "Unwinding the Mysteries of DRM."

AICPA Financial Planning & Analysis Conference

Join MindStream Analytics at AICPA Financial Planning and Analysis Conference in Bellagio, Las Vegas July 22-24th!

Creating Certainty for Leaders in an Uncertain World – the theme of this new conference is geared to those who are involved with financial planning, strategy and analysis.

Sharpen Your Skills. Broaden Your Knowledge. This hands-on training conference will expand your expertise in strategy, performance management, financial planning, forecasting and analysis. 

For more information please visit http://bit.ly/14rfSxr!

Day 1 Interview at Kscope 13 New Orleans, LA

Check out marketing director of MindStream Analytics Monica Hasebi interviewing Senior Partner Alex Ladd on his experiences at Kscope in New Orleans, LA!

Pre-Kscope 13 Video from the Social Media Lounge

Watch this video with a message from Kscope 13 social media lounge sponsor MindStream Analytics!

You can click on the link below to set up a free 15-minute meeting with a Hyperion expert at MindStream Analytics for Kscope 13 and be automatically entered to win an iPad!

SCHEDULE A MEETING TODAY!