OUR APPROACH

Our proven process delivers successful OneStream CPM implementations the first time.

With the Ascend Advantage, your cloud-based financial solution is configured to your unique needs. It is implemented alongside your team for better training and learning opportunities for faster launches and immediate use of the benefits of SmartCPM™.

A thorough onboarding process starts with our first meeting. Ascend develops tailored solutions based on one of the longest track records of success of OneStream partners.

SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION

Step 1: OneStream Presentation & Discovery

A consultation and discovery that outlines what implementation will be the most effective.

Step 2: Architectural Solutions Proposal

The Ascend Advantage offers a clear, concise and transparent proposal of prices, solutions and completion timelines.

Step 3: Implementation

The real work begins with a professional team that works with you to develop and implement a OneStream CPM solution to fit your needs.

Step 4: Training & Testing

Our experts train yours enabling the teams to work in conjunction to test the configurations for an error-free pre-launch trial.

Step 5: Launch

Enabling the OneStream platform company-wide with on-site experts to ensure full operability on day one.

Step 6: Audit & Review

Within 30 days, the implementation team provides a full audit and review to further enhance the solution to meet your needs from active-use cases.

Step 7: Post Go-Live Support

Within the first 180 days of launch, Ascend will be your continual partner in solving any one-off issues that may arise and answer all your questions for use-case scenarios.

Step 8: Quarterly/Monthly Q&A Meeting

For a full year after implementation you get the Ascend Advantage. Meet with us monthly or quarterly to address your complex needs.

FYI: Our advisory services are led by a senior leader at Ascend with the corresponding professional certification (IT and Accounting designations) and backed by years of experience. Their experience and professional qualifications give you security and peace of mind for small or large implementations.

If you answer yes to any of these, you will benefit from a smart CPM solution:

The right OneStream SmartCPM configuration will ensure corporate viability, innovation and the ability to be nimbler in strategic business and financial decisions.

Are you tired of wasting resources on manual data collection, data cleaning and processing?

Are there gaps in your financial data that do not provide accurate information for your leadership to make critical decisions?

Have you run into multiple data integration challenges in your current environment?

Do your forecasted budgets and plans from your departments and reporting units consistently exceed their budgets?

Have you had to manually consolidate and close financial statements across multiple currencies and accounting systems?

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for CPM Solutions

Looking for practical, straightforward answers to the most asked questions on your switch from an on-premise EPM or CPM software solution to a next-generation CPM cloud solution like OneStream?

Find them here:

What is the real cost of a cloud-based CPM solution such as OneStream?

Your business needs and requirements are unique. While the software costs and license costs of OneStream are fixed, the implementation costs differ based on your configuration and so require individual pricing for the most cost-effective solution.

In addition to implementation costs, your ‘total cost of ownership’ (TCO) should factor in the benefits and reduced costs of a cloud-based CPM solution. It is undeniable that cloud-based solutions have overall lower TCO than on-premise solutions (and is now considered industry best practice).

What you should be asking is this: What is the ‘total-cost-of-ownership’ (TCO) to move to a cloud solution?

A cloud-based OneStream implementation also provides efficiencies in hardware, IT services, simplified upgrades and increases in team innovation.

All costs are fully transparent as part of Ascend’s quoting process. Contact us to start a discovery process to determine your unique costs.
How long does an implementation of OneStream take?

An account reconciliation solution can be implemented in as little as 12 weeks while a complex global consolidation and budget and forecasting roll-out can take up to two years with a phased iterative approach. The length of a OneStream implementation depends on the number of components you wish to utilize and the complexity of your data landscape.

This broad range depends on you, including your current processes, hardware, software dependencies and current team experience with CPM solutions and cloud-based technologies.

If you are currently working in Excel with on-premise hardware, this process could be longer, while a transformation from Oracle Hyperion, or similar system, with a company already employing business process best practices and experience with project management across departments shortens implementation timelines.

The Ascend Advantage offers the best solution for your implementation with the quickest route to success.
Does OneStream integrate with my Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software?

This is one of the main advantages of OneStream. As a unified and extensible SmartCPM platform, OneStream was built from the ground up to be a cloud-based solution for integrating a fragmented data landscape. It can integrate and connect with any relational or web service-based system (ie: not just your ERP system).

With the Ascend Advantage, you receive our unique global expertise across multiple industries, geographic-specific differences, and fragmented software environments. This ensures a seamless transformation of your financial software environment with the OneStream platform.
What resources are required for a OneStream implementation?
Resources for implementation can vary based on how you configure OneStream and which areas of the platform you plan on using. There are a few major platform implementations, including:
- Financial Close and Consolidation
- Planning, Budgeting and Forecasting
- Reporting and Analysis
- Financial Data Quality
- Technology Leadership
Implementation resources depend on whether you implement one of these areas or all of them and the complexity of your current systems and processes. However, with the Ascend Advantage, we provide a solution roadmap that outlines your resource requirements, so you will know what you need before you begin.

For example, resources that may be required for a Financial Close and Consolidation implementation:
- Leadership team, 10 hours
- Implementation Committee (3-10 members), 100 hours
- IT Team (1-3 members), 20 hours
- HR Team (1-2 members), 10 hours
- Designated OneStream Administrator, Project Duration