Embracing Business and Technology: My OneStream Journey So Far 

Ask yourself this: “In my career, did I end up where I thought I would end up when I was in school?” If your answer is yes, then I’m impressed; it takes extraordinary focus and passion. Otherwise, you and I have at least one thing in common. 

For the longest time, I thought I’d be an accountant – taking the Big Four path, either climbing the corporate ladder or landing at some industry shop. I never thought I would be spending my days designing OneStream Applications, enhancing business processes, and writing code at Black Diamond Advisory.  

I have a dual degree in business/accounting and computer science, but I’m mostly self-taught when it comes to programming. A lot of people ask me how I was able to effectively self-teach code. For me, the boredom of working in the frozen-dairy section of a grocery store helped. But really, the most important thing is to ask yourself, “What’s the purpose of doing this?” and to have a tangible, interesting, and motivating answer to it. My answer was that I wanted to ride the sweeping wave of technological transformation and make my mark. 

I started small with simple websites that looked like they might have been made in 2005, complete with poorly formatted images and buttons that go nowhere. Over time I got better, and anybody who has done self-teaching can attest to how fast improvement comes after the initial hurdles.  

Fast forward a few years and I still love web development, but I must admit that something else has stolen my attention – the world of corporate performance management (CPM). This acronym has many complexities hidden beneath the surface, especially when it comes to technological transformation. In essence, the goal of modern CPM is to allow accountants to use their skills to analyze data rather than being data entry clerks by automating the most tedious and complex financial processes businesses face. CPM software such as OneStream streamline executing layered consolidations, creating nuanced forecasts, and complying with stringent reporting requirements to simplistic and intuitive forms and buttons. 

Why are tech giants willing to deploy billions of dollars of capital and mobilize hundreds of thousands of people to collect data? Data is the sustaining force behind the push for modernization – its importance cannot be understated. Ask any data scientist – the hardest part of data analytics is the “data” part. It’s sourcing the data, storing it, cleaning the data, and understanding it. The effort of building the model dwarfs the effort required to prepare the data it is built on. 

With the seemingly infinite number of different data sources and tools for processing data on the market, the task of consolidating it into a workable dataset gets harder by the day. Here’s where OneStream comes in – where other software packages are fragmented platforms with too many apps, and where interconnectivity is an afterthought, OneStream is a unified and integrated platform. It’s an accessible, organized, and performant data hub that primarily facilitates consolidation and planning, but it is capable of much more. It is compatible with all the major ERP software, and it enables the building of integrated software on top of it. It is the definitive cutting edge of CPM tools. 

As a 4x Diamond OneStream Implementation partner Black Diamond Advisory (BDA) is one of the best and largest global OneStream implementation partners. There are a lot of talented people at BDA (including the people that wrote the OneStream Planning textbook) that have built frameworks and standards that drive our competitive advantage. BDA’s competitive advantage lies with its products that are integrated with the OneStream platform (think about downloading an app on a smartphone), which enable complex implementations to be done efficiently and precisely. 

My role at BDA has been client-facing application and solution development. I support the development of completely new BDA solutions that help address emerging client needs. My days are primarily spent understanding the client’s business case and process, and then developing solutions to meet client needs. I can definitively say that I have never experienced more challenging yet rewarding work. In the short period of when I first began developing in OneStream to now, I feel like I’ve grown exponentially in my coding skill, accounting knowledge, consulting skills, and productivity. 

I started learning how to code because I wanted to be on the cutting edge of technological transformation. While working with OneStream at BDA, I’ve been able to collaborate with some of the most talented people in the CPM industry to help a variety of clients solve complex problems. 

If you’re interested in talking to me or learning more about my journey in CPM you can connect with me on LinkedIn.