Jonathan Cunliffe Group IT Projects Manager

United Business MediaGroup Reporting Project

United Business Media

Who are United Business Media?

United Business Media

A leading provider of business information services to the technology, healthcare, media, automotive, financial services and property industries

Provide services in news distribution, market research, publishing and events to customers across the globe

Brands include: PR Newswire - world’s leading corporate news distribution service NOP World, one of the largest market research groups globally CMP, the B2B media and exhibition group operating in the US, UK, Asia

and Europe.

Major UBM Products

UBM Media Channels

UBM Media Channels

UBM Media Channels

UBM Media Channels

UBM Media Channels

United Business Media

What size of system were we implementing?

United Business Media

For Group Reporting, Divisions report to Head Office

10 Divisional Offices in US 2 Divisional Offices in UK 1 Divisional Office in Asia Head Office operations in Ireland, Luxembourg, NY and London

25 divisional users of the system plus Head Office staff

The Project and its Drivers

When and why did the project start?

The Project and its Drivers

2003 - Decided to replace Group Reporting system Main Drivers were:

End of life of existing application Looking for enhanced analysis and production reporting

capabilities for group management Statutory and Management applications to sit on 1 platform Wanted to automate cash flow Required more real-time validation checks Aiming for improved inter-company reconciliation Wanted integration with local accounting applications such as

Oracle GLs Looking for quicker system operation in general

From beginning considered Project Management methods

Software Selection

What steps did we take to select the vendor and software?

Software Selection

First collected “feature” requirements using Use-Case modelling

Drew up a list of all known vendors 20+ and then using a Gartner survey, narrowed this down to 5

Initial introduction to each of these products and requirements sent to vendors

Utilised scripted scenarios

Cartesis Magnitude was chosen as most suitable product for our requirements on this particular project

Selection of the Vendor and Software

Why did we choose Cartesis?

Selection of the Vendor and Software

Why did we choose Cartesis?

The Magnitude software met our feature requirements

Specifically Intercompany Reconciliation was better

Cartesis showed best understanding our particular requirements

Known quantity as a supplier long relationship with UBM

Selection of the Vendor and Software

What were the challenges?

Selection of the Vendor and Software

Challenges:

Getting stakeholders to buy in to the process

Trying to remove prejudice towards/against certain products

Concentrating on our requirements rather than being impressed by features that were not actually useful to us

Project Management Approach

What project management approach did we take?

Project Management Approach

Used PRINCE2 Project Method, which revolves around:

Management by exception Defining the requirements Having representatives from the users, suppliers and the business Has a project manager and project assurance Actively manages risks and issues Puts in place a clear communications plan Focuses on quality checking Has specific planning techniques

Timing was not ideal

But the Project Method did deliver and is being used on many other projects now

Stakeholders

Stakeholders

DCFO

CFO

Group Head of AccountsAnd Divisional Users

Group FinancialSystems AnalystAnd Cartesis Project Manager from US

HO

Group IT Projects ManagerInternal and external team managers

Results and Benefits

What did we get from the project?

Results and Benefits

Faster consolidation – from hours to seconds

Enhanced usability and interface

Up-to-date software

Running on industry standard databases

Significantly greater detail of data

Many more reporting/analysis options – company/FX simulation

More flexible to update company and account structures than previous application

Platform upon which we can expand our management systems

Key Lessons Learned

What were the key lessons to learn for the future?

Key Lessons Learned

As part of PRINCE2 process an End Project Review

Lessons Learned - 5 main areas Understand the method to be used and treat project roles seriously

Do not under-resource from the start

Do not start project until user requirements agreed and signed

Manage risks - but also give each an owner

Operate a dual-level communication channel with vendor

Future Steps

What are we going to do next?

Future Steps

Launch our Statutory part of the system with IFRS capability for interims, followed by US GAAP capability for year end

Refinement Project – to enhance the applications further to remove some areas where we evolved the system

Roll out Magnitude management system for one of our divisions CMP Medica

Additional 30 Offices Subset of our Group Application so quicker development Possibly explore this model for other group companies

Ensure the applications are SOX compliant for next year

Consider Magnitude for planning, forecasting and budgeting

Summary

In summary…

Summary

Challenging at times and many lessons learned

Overall has been a successful implementation

Project Team now fully understands the benefits of Project Management

You may be able to benefit from our experience

Questions…

Questions…