In the first episode Buying and Implementing Technology for Treasury Professionals, we have Tracey Ferguson Knight, Director-Solution Engineering, HighRadius, sharing her 20+ years of experience watching firms go through the selection and implementation process, both ending right and wrong along with Craig Jeffrey, Managing Partner, Strategic Treasurer, and Russell Hoffman, Director, Market & Treasury Risk, KPMG.
So what is right?
1. It is what you expected to get.
2. It is the product doing precisely or close to your expectation.
3. It is the price you expected to pay and the amount of time you predicted to devote.
4. It is gaining continuous value from the system.
Unfortunately, most businesses end up making major concessions or even failing altogether in some areas. As a result, the corporation may invest in a system that provides them with a declining value.
So how should one get started?
1. Understand the strategic value of the Treasury:
The areas and tasks that a Treasury needs to focus on should come from the CFO or the Treasurer. The Treasury’s daily tasks must be in line with the company’s vision while also supporting the needs of the business.
Understanding your CFO’s or Treasurer’s priorities should be your starting point. Then you should look into how you may improve your tasks by eliminating needless manual chores that can be readily addressed through technology adoption. Once you have a good understanding of what needs to be updated, you can proceed by talking to the stakeholders.
2. Identify the stakeholders:
You must first identify the stakeholders before analyzing and prioritizing the functions that can bring more value and help you complete tasks more efficiently. Furthermore, it will be valuable to ask stakeholders what they want you to do that you don’t already do, or if there is another format they prefer to get information in.
3. Determine system requirements:
By prioritizing the information obtained from stakeholders, you can put down the high-level system requirements that you will need to optimize your tasks.
4. Get help from consultants, if needed:
If necessary, seek the assistance of consultants: You can always reach out to a consultant if you aren’t familiar with the existing systems.
How can consultants help?
Craig Jeffrey, Managing Partner, Strategic Treasurer, and Russell Hoffman, Director, Market & Treasury Risk, KPMG, ensure that consultants assist their clients right from the process of technology selection to implementation. They aid in creating the most effective roadmap and the identification of potential pitfalls and opportunities along the route.
5. Draft a general timeline for execution:
This can be accomplished in one of two ways:
1. Begin with an end time and work backward to see whether you can reach the goal.
2. If no upcoming events necessitate the use of technology, you can start from the beginning.
Knowing the people participating during the implementation period will make it easier to create a schedule based on their availability. You can always fine-tune your timetable as you go but always start with a broad outline.
What next?
If you are familiar with Corporate Treasury Technologies, you can move forward with creating a budget, but if you are not, it may be too early. You can start by selecting and shortlisting vendors, and then worry about budgeting later.
