The symptoms that signal an underperforming implementation
There are specific indicators, visible to finance and IT leaders, that an EPM or BI implementation is not performing at the level the investment was intended to deliver. Most of them are treated as operational inconveniences rather than diagnostic signals.
The manual parallel process. When the finance team runs a manual version of something the system is supposed to produce — a consolidation check, a forecast reconciliation, a report adjustment — it means the system’s output is not trusted. This is the clearest indicator that the implementation has a reliability problem.
The long close. If the monthly financial close takes materially longer with the EPM system than the finance team expected, the system is adding process steps rather than removing them. In a well-implemented environment, the close shortens as automation handles what was previously manual. If it has not shortened — or if it has lengthened — the implementation is working against the business.
The report that always needs adjustment. When a BI report or an EPM output consistently requires a finance team member to apply offline corrections before it can be presented, the system’s logic does not match the business’s actual reporting requirements. That gap needs to be diagnosed and corrected — not worked around indefinitely.
The scope that was never completed. Many implementations go live with a reduced scope — functionality that was deferred due to time pressure or budget constraints. When that deferred scope was genuinely important to the business case, the implementation is delivering a partial solution against a full-solution investment.
The user who stopped logging in. When the intended users of an EPM or BI system stop using it and revert to previous tools, it is a signal that the system is not meeting their working requirements. This is particularly significant when the user is a senior finance team member — because their workaround becomes the standard that everyone else follows.
What a structured assessment covers
A proper assessment of an underperforming EPM or BI implementation is not an audit. It is a diagnostic exercise — structured to identify what is working, what is not, why it is not working, and what the remediation path looks like.
The assessment covers four areas.
Configuration review. Does the system’s configuration reflect how the business actually operates — its entity structure, chart of accounts, consolidation rules, planning drivers, reporting hierarchies? Or does it reflect a generic template that was applied at implementation and never corrected?
Data and integration review. Is the data arriving from source systems correctly mapped, at the right granularity, at the right frequency, and with the right transformation logic applied? Are there mapping errors, missing entities, or currency conversion problems in the integration layer?
Process and adoption review. Which users are using the system and which are not? Where are the manual workarounds? What is the actual close cycle time versus the target? What validation steps does the finance team apply before trusting system outputs?
Gap analysis. What was in scope at go-live and what was deferred? Of the deferred items, which are genuinely important to the business case and which are genuinely optional? What would a realistic remediation programme look like — in timeline, cost, and expected outcome?
The output that matters
The output of a proper assessment is not a list of technical findings. It is a clear business case for action — specifying what the system would need to do differently, what that remediation would cost, and what the business outcome would be.
With that clarity, the organization can make an informed decision: remediate the current implementation, extend it to cover the deferred scope, or, in cases where the architecture is fundamentally wrong, make the case for a structured replacement.
The assessment does not make that decision. It provides the information needed to make it well.
Loop Wise Solutions conducts structured assessments of EPM and BI implementations for enterprise organizations across Egypt and the GCC.
Contact: Contact@loop-wise.com | www.loop-wise.com
