Integrating Salesforce.com and Oracle for Stronger Strategic and Tactical Planning
Despite the clear benefits of integrating an Operations view of the forecast with the sales funnel, companies have struggled to do so due to both technology challenges as well as a lack of clear methodology for integrating this information in a way that improves a consensus forecast. And while “more data” doesn’t always result in “better information,” leading companies using Salesforce.com and Oracle Supply Chain tools have learned how to intelligently make this data available to both sales, marketing, and operations organizations as well as senior executives in a way that:
- Provides a seamless view of sales and operations data that allows planners to use this information in a “What-if” scenario solution.
- Helps companies create business rules that combine this information without burying users in data.
- Allows the Supply Chain team to measure the impact of significant shifts in the sales pipeline while there is still time to react.
- Provides true S&OP/IBP level information on the direction of the business.
- Drives better decisions upfront knowing the trade-offs between inventory investments, expedite costs, and lead-time versus funnel / opportunity probability
As with any use of technology, success in combining Salesforce.com funnel information with Supply Chain data requires an approach that considers the key decisions that need to be made at both strategic and operational levels, your team’s planning processes that must be supported, and the maturity of your S&OP process.
Join Oracle and AVATA in an examination of key learnings from companies who have successfully leveraged their Salesforce.com Sales Funnel information in a way that drives stronger Strategic and Tactical decision making.