To keep pace with their continued growth, Akamai decided that a new planning platform was needed to meet growing business needs. To implement the best solution possible, all organizations should take a step back and take the time to analyze their current state. The right first step is to make sure that what you built will fit properly into your system. 

Akamai reached out to Archetype for assistance in their planning, budgeting, and forecasting process review and design. They asked us to review their existing processes to identify gaps, streamline current processes, and recommend changes that will essentially align them with industry-leading practices and help build a world-class planning environment.

Oracle Hyperion Planning platform was selected as the tool of choice. To ensure this new platform will be implemented in a way that leverages all it has to offer, Archetype worked alongside all designated functional, technical, and business subject matter experts (SME’s) to understand, document, and articulately map out an efficient and enhanced planning process and architecture for Akamai.

The team delivered the requirements in two phases:

First, Archetype led a deep dive Business Process Analysis exercise that focused on the review and identification of key areas of improvement within Akamai’s existing planning, budgeting, and forecasting processes. The key objectives of the Business Process Analysis were:

• Review current planning processes to recommend a set of planning best practices

• Deliver an approved Business Process Analysis and Process Improvement Roadmap with recommendations that can be leveraged and translated into functional requirements

Second, Archetype focused on the architecture and design for Akamai’s Oracle Hyperion Planning platform directly following the Business Process Analysis. The focus of this effort was to design an industry-leading planning environment by:

• Incorporating findings and closing identified gaps from the Business Process Analysis

• Conducting cross-functional and technical requirements gathering effort that ultimately informed the technical design document

Following the approval of Archetype’s formal design document, Akamai moved forward to develop the robust planning solution designed for them across the following pillars:

• Plan linkage and efficiency: Akamai streamlined processes by replacing off-line files with integrated and flexible models.

• Quality controls: Akamai deployed programmatic data quality checks and ultimately developed trust through enhanced visibility.

• Decentralized process: Akamai aligned accountability to appropriate process owners and standardized models. Where possible, they added additional rules and calculations.

• Level of detail: Akamai created strong definitions for each user view and user access provisioned based on materiality and impact

• Reporting: Akamai standardized metadata and developed a flexible set of reports that met end-user needs.

Akamai’s upgraded planning environment will provide them with the ultimate foundation and a detailed step-by-step roadmap to build a best-in-class planning solution. Archetype aided the internal Akamai team in:

• Creating process efficiencies by right-sizing the use of standardized models and leveraging centrally formulated business logic

• Enhancing quality by unifying reporting and expanding visibility into data as it moves through the planning process

• Allowing resources time to develop deeper strategic insights through significant time savings realized by automating complex offline processes