Article
Overcoming federal operational hurdles with Oracle Cloud solutions
Apr 21, 2025 · Authored by Meghan Loomis, Prasad Joshi, Emily Hegel and Halie Morris
As federal agencies continue to modernize, the push towards adopting cloud solutions has gained momentum. Legacy systems, often siloed and inefficient, are not equipped to meet the demands of the modern federal landscape. Many organizations are exploring how configurable cloud technologies can drive change for them due to growing pressure to improve transparency, reporting accuracy and overall efficiency. This shift was the focus of Baker Tilly’s FedForward webinar, aimed at showcasing how purpose-built software as a service (SaaS) configuration can help federal entities overcome longstanding operational hurdles.
The panel consisted of Baker Tilly’s Meghan Loomis, Emily Hegel, Prasad Joshi and Halie Morris. The session focused on practical, real-world solutions designed to solve financial budgeting and reporting as well as procurement connectivity challenges, two areas burdened by outdated, disconnected systems.
Challenge 1: Financial budgeting and reporting
- Data integration issues: Multiple systems that don't integrate seamlessly
- Time-consuming processes: Complex coordination among multiple stakeholders
- Manual workflows: Decreased efficiency and increased errors
- Limited visualization: Difficulty presenting complex budget data clearly
- Legacy systems: Outdated financial management systems lacking modern capabilities
- Automation gaps: Absence of artificial intelligence (AI)-driven analytics slows decision-making
- Scalability problems: Systems unable to handle fluctuations in data volume
Oracle Cloud EPM solution
Oracle Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) addresses these challenges through:
Cloud planning: Streamlines budgeting and forecasting processes, improving accuracy and enabling more agile, data-driven decision-making
Narrative reporting: Enables federal agencies to create auditable, data-driven reports with narrative insights, supporting transparency and compliance
Financial consolidation: Automates the financial consolidation and close process, reducing manual effort and ensuring greater accuracy and efficiency
Cost management: Empowers federal agencies to model and trace costs across programs based on drivers, providing full visibility and traceability into cost allocations
Integrated architecture: Integrates seamless data flow from transactional systems to consolidation, planning, and reporting—ensuring accuracy, consistency, and real-time insights
AI-powered analysis: Leverages AI-driven predictive planning, automated narrative generation, and streamlined workflows with built-in auditing for smarter, more efficient decision-making
Business value
Oracle EPM’s modular approach allows organizations to implement all applications at once or one at a time, enabling a "crawl, walk, run" implementation cadence that matches each agency's readiness and capacity. The solution provides seamless integration between products and with existing systems, particularly Oracle enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and sub-ledgers, creating a connected ecosystem where data flows naturally between components. Users benefit from a consistent experience across all applications as the engine behind all products is the same. Additionally, the platform enables real-time collaboration, eliminating the need for manual spreadsheets and lengthy email chains, as everyone accesses the same information simultaneously. Finally, enhanced visualization and reporting capabilities provide intuitive dashboards and flexible reporting options that can be modified in real-time to suit specific needs and audiences.
Challenge 2: Procurement process inefficiencies
Federal organizations face frequent challenges in their procurement processes, such as:
- Disconnected systems: Leads to operational inefficiencies
- Complex supplier management: Requires data to be manually entered and maintained within supplier records by users, creating errors and inconsistencies
- Manual data entry: Can be time-consuming and prone to error
- Communication delays: Affects warehouse management and operations
- Time-intensive requisitioning: Requires substantial manual processing
- Data accuracy issues: Occurs due to reliance on outdated information affecting decisions
Oracle Cloud Self Service Procurement solution
Oracle Cloud enhances efficiency, accuracy and real-time tracking in procurement processes, addressing key challenges and improving overall performance. The application features Oracle's latest Redwood interface, providing an intuitive and user-friendly experience that allows end users to easily locate exactly what they need when they need it. A key feature showcased during the webinar was the "punch-out" capability, which enables users to seamlessly transition from the Oracle platform to vendor websites. This integration permits users to shop within a curated vendor environment that contains only the materials relevant to their business needs.
The solution includes automated data transfer eliminating manual entry of pricing, units of measure and product specifications, as all information is captured directly from the vendor's system and imported back into the Oracle application. The procurement workflow includes streamlined approval routing to the appropriate procurement professionals or buying departments. Because product information is maintained by suppliers within their own systems, data accuracy is notably improved, giving buyers and contract professionals the most up-to-date information possible when processing orders.
Business value
By automating data transfer and maintenance, Oracle Cloud Procurement significantly reduces the administrative burden on staff, freeing them to focus on more strategic activities. The streamlined processes lead to increased operational efficiency throughout the procurement lifecycle, from requisitioning to approval and fulfillment. Decision making improves dramatically due to the availability of real time, accurate information. The direct connection to supplier systems enhances collaboration between agencies and their vendor networks, creating a more transparent and responsive supply chain. The entire end-to-end procurement lifecycle becomes more streamlined, with fewer manual touchpoints and reduced opportunities for error or delay. This connected approach ultimately releases agencies from the burden of data maintenance while increasing efficiency and improving overall procurement outcomes.
Future trends
Software providers are increasingly integrating AI and machine learning (ML) capabilities into budgeting and reporting systems to provide powerful predictive analytics capabilities. Oracle EPM and SCM suites incorporate robust AI features with predictive engines and systems that support custom ML model integration.
User experience is evolving through guided user journeys and embedded learning capabilities deployed directly to end users, putting critical information at their fingertips when needed. AI-powered assistants and chatbots are becoming more prevalent, ensuring that information is delivered to end users in the fastest and most efficient manner possible, reducing the learning curve and improving adoption rates across organizations.
How we can help
By addressing these fundamental challenges in budgeting and procurement, Oracle's cloud solutions offer federal agencies a path to improved accuracy, efficiency and decision-making capabilities through modern, integrated systems designed for their specific needs. Hundreds of clients have looked to Baker Tilly to transform their business with Oracle’s portfolio of enterprise solutions since 2006. With the ability to see the big picture, we help companies navigate the interdependencies and inner workings of Oracle’s products.
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