The users fall into two groups. The first is those looking for a consolidation solution to replace HFM, the Oracle product. HFM is aging out, and OneStream is a great fit as a replacement.
The other group wants a single product solution for everything – forecasting, planning, consolidation, and reporting. They don't want to switch between multiple products, and they can do it all in OneStream. That 'one version of the truth' concept is what they're looking for.
Think about how consolidations work – you're doing one month or quarter at a time. But with projections, you could be going out one, two, or three years. So you're processing multiple months at a time.
Earlier versions excelled at one month or one quarter, but they were a little clunky when doing 36 months out. OneStream has since fixed that; it's much better and more efficient now. My experience was going from something a bit chunky to something quite good in the current version.
Moreover, the analytics capabilities in OneStream XF are quite beneficial.
The BI-type capability is what OneStream calls 'blended analytics.' It's more about ad-hoc queries and insights rather than standard monthly reports. It asks, "What's happening in my business? Am I selling more red widgets or blue widgets?"
This is a solid innovation. OneStream can hook into transactional data, not just balance-oriented data. It's like your bank statement: the final balance is like a traditional report, but blended analytics lets you see every transaction – where money comes in and goes out. It's powerful, and they're ahead of the market with this. It fits their mentality of a single-user interface. No need to train people on a separate BI product – you can do it all within OneStream.
