OneStream vs. Oracle HFM: What You Need to Know

Modern businesses – those with huge in-person offices, those working remotely and every business between the two – are run on the cloud.  In the process, a lot of software is used, but none can be considered more important than financial close & consolidation software.

Every organization must produce and file financial results.  That process can entail loading data from multiple global entities, consolidating complex ownerships, reconciling thousands of accounts and matching detailed transactions, and more.

But whatever processes are involved, one thing is certain: Choosing the right EPM software with best-in-class capabilities for each process is vital.  Why?  The right software enables an organization to move away from unreliable, inadequate EPM applications and/or spreadsheets.

In this article, we’ll compare two great options in the financial close & consolidation space: OneStream and Oracle HFM.  Now let’s dive in, so you can zero in on the best forward-looking choice for your business.

OneStream vs. Oracle HFM: What Is OneStream?

OneStream is the only solution for EPM delivering end-to-end management of enterprise-wide consolidation, close, financial, and operational planning & forecasting in a uniquely unified platform.  With it, Finance and Operations teams can collaborate by creating a single source of truth that eliminates a host of time-consuming or costly aspects of legacy EPM solutions:

• Complexity of multiple solutions, interfaces and integrations
• Cost and duplication of data and metadata,
• Time-consuming processes
• On premise upgrades

OneStream is how Finance teams can stop wrangling data and start making more of an impact on the business.  In fact, OneStream is the only Enterprise Finance platform that does all three of the following:

• Unifies all financial and operational data
• Embeds AI for better decisions and productivity
• Allows organizations to keep adding capabilities without adding technical debt

OneStream vs. Oracle HFM: What Is Oracle HFM?

Oracle HFM was originally Hyperion Financial Management.  It was launched in 2005 as an on-premise client server solution-based financial consolidation and reporting solution.  Globally, HFM was widely adopted by medium to large organizations.  Why?  It was one of only a few applications that could handle much of the complexity in processes demanded by these organizations.  While budgets and forecasts could be loaded to HFM, it couldn’t run some of the more advanced processes – often forcing organizations to purchase a separate budgeting, planning and forecasting tool.

The Oracle HFM user community is declining and this raises questions for the longer term.

OneStream vs. Oracle HFM: OneStream Features

• Advanced Financial Close Management:  Guided Workflow and Task Management solution with Close Calendar
• Superior Dimensional Capability:  10 standard + 8 reusable custom dimensions, Extensible Dimensionality to handle different levels of detail
• Innovation:  Modern cloud-based product utilizing latest technology & user experience

OneStream vs. Oracle HFM: Oracle HFM Features

• Strong Dimensional Capability:  8 standard dimensions, plus configurable custom ones
• Advanced Data Integration:  Flat file, direct and drill-back through FDM
• Consolidations:  Full consolidation logic – proportional, organization by period for ownership changes over time

OneStream vs. Oracle HFM: Which Is Better?

OneStream is the only solution for EPM delivering end-to-end management of enterprise-wide consolidation, close, financial and operational planning & forecasting in a unified platform.  This platform helps Finance and Operations teams collaborate by creating a single source of truth.  With OneStream, you can thus eliminate the complexity of multiple solutions, interfaces and integrations; cost and duplication of data and metadata; time-consuming processes; and upgrades.

OneStream ultimately puts Finance in full control.  How?  By providing a strong, flexible foundation for close, consolidation, planning, reporting and analysis with superior data quality that’s ERP and source system agnostic.  And the platform delivers it as real-time as needed, with drill down and drill back to any source.  With those capabilities, Finance gets not only auditability across all processes but also actionable insights behind every number.

OneStream delivers the following:

• One uniquely unified EPM solution owned by Finance for end-to-end management of enterprise-wide consolidation; close; financial and operational planning and forecasting; reporting; and analysis.
• Built-in data quality engine – providing a strong, flexible foundation in integration and data quality that delivers confidence, trust and a single source of truth.
• Guided workflows and task management for standard, defined, and repeatable close, planning, and operational processes – simplifying complexity by guiding users through all data management, data collection, verification, approval, certification, locking, reporting and analysis processes.
• Built-in self-service reporting, dashboarding, ad-hoc analysis and deep integration with Microsoft Office in one platform – from balance to transactional details with seamless drill down and drill back to supporting details for transparency, auditability and actionable details behind every number.

To be sure, Oracle HFM excelled when it comes to the consolidated financial results of global organizations.  However the HFM user community is declining, and the solution is not a latest generation fully unified EPM platform.

Conclusion

Oracle HFM offered unique features and benefits, catering to the diverse needs of organizations across industries.  However, for a current, fully supported solution that streamlines key Finance processes and significantly increases confidence in reporting, OneStream is the best unified EPM software.  It’s equipped to handle all your requirements, no matter how complex.

Learn More

To learn more about how organizations are managing the complexity in their EPM processes, check out our whitepaper titled Mastering the Financial Close.

And if you’re ready to take the leap from spreadsheets or legacy EPM solutions and start your Finance Transformation with OneStream, let’s chat!