Mercer Advisors, a privately held wealth management firm with approximately $11 billion in assets under management, needed a more robust financial reporting solution. Its legacy solution relied on an Excel-based framework with multiple General Ledger systems providing current and historical data. Mercer Advisors decided to implement Essbase Cloud, part of the Oracle Analytics Cloud (OAC) platform to provide a modern platform for financial reporting. Mercer Advisors partnered with Perficient to execute on its vision to reap the benefits of this solution. Mercer Advisors chief financial officer, Douglas Maxwell, discussed the OAC implementation including lessons learned and how OAC can benefit organizations like yours. Discussion included: -Challenges with the legacy environment -Excel to cloud migration approach -Benefits realized

1. Oracle Essbase in the Cloud:
A Mercer Advisors Success Story

2. J. Douglas Maxwell
Chief Financial Officer
Mercer Advisors
Santhosh Nair
GM, Enterprise Performance
Management
santhosh.nair@perficient.com

3. 3
Agenda
• Introductions
• About Perficient
• Oracle Essbase on the Cloud Overview
• Mercer Advisors Success Story
– Current State / On-premises Challenges
– Project Scope and Timeline
– Outcomes / Success Metrics
• Q&A

4. 4
About Perficient
Perficient is the leading digital transformation
consulting firm serving Global 2000 and enterprise
customers throughout North America.
With unparalleled information technology, management consulting,
and creative capabilities, Perficient and its Perficient Digital agency
deliver vision, execution, and value with outstanding digital
experience, business optimization, and industry solutions.

5. 5
Perficient Profile
Founded in 1997
Public, NASDAQ: PRFT
2016 revenue $487 million
Major market locations:
Allentown, Atlanta, Ann Arbor, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago,
Cincinnati, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Fairfax,
Houston, Indianapolis, Lafayette, Milwaukee, Minneapolis,
New York City, Northern California, Oxford (UK), Southern
California, St. Louis, Toronto
Global delivery centers in China and India
3,000+ colleagues
Dedicated solution practices
~95% repeat business rate
Alliance partnerships with major technology vendors
Multiple vendor/industry technology and growth awards

6. 6
Oracle Practice Overview
3000+Deployments
Industry Expertise
Multi-Solution Expertise
EPM | ERP | BI | CX
Platinum
200+Oracle Experts
Partner
Cloud Select
Healthcare | Supply Chain/Mfg. | Energy/Oil & Gas
Financial Services | Consumer Markets
15
Specializations

7. 7
Perficient’s EPM Practice
Fast Facts
• Practice Started: 2002
• Projects Completed: 1000+
• Management Team: 14+ years
• Oracle Authorized Education Center
• Hyperion Education
• SupportNet Managed Services
• Support Services
Solutions Expertise
• Cloud readiness assessments
• EPM strategy and health check
• Financial close & consolidations
• Cloud & on-premises solutions
• Reporting & analytics
• Data relationship management
• Account reconciliations
• Profitability & cost management
• Infrastructure & high availability
Oracle Specializations

8. 8
Oracle Training and Education
Live Virtual Class Training on DemandClassroom Training
Learning Streams Self-study Courses
Train in person at an Oracle or Perficient
facility. These include in-class
demonstrations and hands-on labs.
Keep learning beyond the classroom
with the latest and continuously
updated video training though
subscriptions.
OU and Perficient instructors teach
students in a "virtual" classroom. Attend
these courses online, in real-time.
Train when and where you want, at
your own pace. Download the
courses online and take them from
your computer.
Train online via an internet connection.
Access streaming lectures, white
boarding, and lab activities 24/7.
Train in person at an Oracle or
Perficient facility or your office with
content tailored to your specific needs.
Private Events

9. 9
Survey 1: Which of the following Oracle cloud offerings is your organization currently considering
(choose all that apply)
A: Oracle Analytics Cloud (Essbase & Business Intelligence)
B: Oracle EPM for Financial Close (Close & Consolidations, Account Reconciliations)
C: Oracle EPM Planning & Budgeting
D: Not Considering Oracle Cloud
E: No Cloud Strategy at this time
POLL QUESTION 1

10. Oracle Analytics Cloud
Overview

11. 1111
Infrastructure-as-a-Service
Platform-as-a-Service
Software-as-a-Service
Data as a Service
Compute, Storage, Networking, Elastic
Hadoop, NoSQL, Spark, Kafka, Database
Data Management, Data Integration, Identity
Management, Business Analytics
Sales, Service, Marketing, Human Capital,
Recruitment, Finance, ERP, EPM, Supply
Chain, Projects.
5 Billion customer profiles, 1500 data providers,
45K dimensions, 40K pre-built audiences
11
Oracle Cloud: From Data to Infrastructure

12. 12
Integration with Oracle BI Cloud,
Data Visualization Cloud
• Native integration with Essbase Cloud
• Connect to EPM Cloud
• Relational sources
• Cloud and on-premise connectivity
• Prescriptive dashboards for consumers
• Self-service analysis for LOB users
• Explore, visualize, share insights

13. 13
Essbase – History of Innovation
“Excel on Steroids”
• 1st Multidimensional DB
• Empower business users
• Multi user read/write
• 1st to offer an Excel add
in to a dimensional data
model
• 1st to offer drill and pivot
capabilities in Excel
Enterprise
Grade
• Shared services
• Strong security
• ASO engine
• Clustering & HA
• Smartview
In-Memory
• Pure in-memory
user experience
• Adaptive
Analytics engine
Cloud
• Java-based
architecture
• Excel to Cube in
seconds
• “Excel on
Steroids”

14. 14
The Cloud Lets You Focus on Your Business
Faster Innovation
• Faster pace to product innovation
• Modern, global platform
• Shorter upgrade cycle
Lower Cost
• Reduced infrastructure cost
• Reduced IT maintenance cost
• Reduced customization and
upgrade cost
Faster Deployments
• Pre-installed and pre-configured
• User experience-focused design
• Elastic & expandable
Lower Risk
• Reduced administrative burden
• Guaranteed system availability
• Scalable platform for future
expansion

15. 15
• Essbase users looking for a
cloud solution
– Reduce costs and simplify
maintenance
– Hybrid Deployments
between on-premises
applications and cloud
cubes
– Faster access to latest
Essbase innovation
• Integration with other cloud
services
– Essbase as a data source
for Analytics Cloud
(BICS/DVCS)
– Consolidated data from
multiple EPM cloud and on-
premises instances
– Analyze data from other
SaaS applications
• Analytics platform for every
Excel user
– Analytics happens
everywhere
– Most still use Excel, using
data downloaded from other
applications
– Essbase empowers Excel by
adding unified analysis
model, interactivity and
collaboration
Who Will Use Essbase Cloud?

16. 16
The Essbase you know and love!
• Access to Essbase capabilities
– BSO/ASO/hybrid databases
– Flexible dimensionality
– Dynamic formulas
– Calc scripts
– Data uploads
• Smartview connectivity
• Powerful admin functions
Cloud Features and Innovation!
• Browser-based UI
– Multiple entry points
• Cloud-only features
– Sandboxing, scenario management
– Design-by-example templates
– Excel import/export
• Integration with Oracle Analytics
Essbase Cloud Features

17. 17
Survey 2: What are your top concerns about moving to Essbase to the Cloud (choose all that apply)?
A: Data security
B: Performance / scalability
C: Lack of parity
D: Can’t capitalize SaaS expense
E: Time and effort
F: Other
G: Not applicable
POLL QUESTION 2

18. Mercer Advisors’
Success Story

19. 19
+30 years
Serving HNW investors as a fee-only
financial advisor
Family
Office for
Real
Families
Financial
Planning
Investment
Mgmt.
Estate
Planning
Corporate
Trustee
Tax
Planning
& Prep
Client Service Units (CSUs), led by advisor with
CFP own the delivery of client experience
CSUs backed by centralized, expert teams
Investment management
Estate planning (in-house law firm)
Tax practice (in-house CPA firm)
+$11B
Client Assets
~8,000
Clients
24
Offices
+200
Employees
83
CFPs
7
CFAs
10
CPAs
5
JDs
11
MBAs
1 Operating Model
Mercer Advisors Overview – Who We Are

20. 20
• Mercer Advisors acquires Kanlay Trust in March 2016
• Kanaly began using Mercer’s COA in
August 2016
• Kanaly transitioned to Mercer’s General Ledger
System in May 2017
• Two GL: Mercer Advisors: Great Plains and
Kanaly: Solomon
• Duplicate reporting out of both systems
• Two sets of Financial Statements
• Mapping down at Parent Level
• Mercer continues to experience rapid growth – both
organically and through M&A
• 3 acquisitions in 2016 ~$2.2B AUM
• 6 acquisitions in 2017 ~$0.9B AUM
Compelling Events

21. 21
Multiple General Ledger Systems
• Historical data sits in multiple systems
• Source systems need to be mapped to single COA
Manual & Duplicate Reporting
• Reporting out of multiple systems
• Duplicate sets of financial reports
Ad-hoc Analysis
• No ability to drill into data for further analysis
• Additional or detailed data must be pulled from source
system
Reliance on Microsoft Excel
• Reports & Budget were previously in Excel
• Prone to errors
Need a Scalable Solution
• Rapid growth requires a reporting system that could adapt to
the growth and changing reporting requirements
• Cost center managers need to manage their respective P&Ls
Challenges

22. 22
May 2017
Initial scoping
End of June:
Proposal
presentation
August
/September:
Commenced
project with
Perficient.
Analysis of
COAs and
design of
Dimensions and
Integrations.
October:
Reconciliation
of Kanaly and
Mercer COAs
and mapping of
historical data.
November :
Complete
validations, UAT
and go live.
Essbase Cloud Timeline

23. 23
Cube Design Reporting Administration
• Single COA for both
Mercer and Kanaly
• Capture Actuals, Budget
and Forecast
• Data integrations for
multiple sources
systems
• Excel-based reporting
using Smart View
• VPN connectivity with
corporate network
• Excel Cube Designer used
to create and update
• Essbase Command Line
Interface to manage
processes
• Easy migration of objects
from dev to prod instance
Essbase Scope Areas

24. 24
Single
Source
Oracle
Analytics
Cloud
Project
Success
• Integrated GLs
• Single COA
• Actuals, Budget and Forecast
• Excel based reporting and
analysis
• Cloud Essbase environment
• Excel-based Cube creation via
Excel and administration via web
• PaaS provides scalability
• Self-service reporting and analysis
• No hardware or dependence on IT
• Ability to quickly deploy application
updates through Excel
• Client involvement
Project Outcomes

25. Questions
Type your question into the chat box

26. 26
Next up:
[Event] Modern Supply Chain Experience
January 29-31, 2018
Follow Us Online
• Perficient.com/SocialMedia
• Facebook.com/Perficient
• Twitter.com/PRFT_Oracle
• Blogs.perficient.com/Oracle

27. Thank You