For more than 30 years, Activision has been changing the way people play. In the process, we have built one of the largest portfolios of recognized brands and today we are one of the most valuable interactive entertainment companies in the world. Founded in 1979 as the first independent video game software developer and distributor, the company launched a series of multi-million unit selling titles in the early 1980s for the Atari 2600 including Pitfall, Kaboom! and River Raid. And since then, Activision has created some of the most iconic and memorable game experiences of all time.
THE CHALLENGE
Activision Blizzard and its studios compete in the top echelon of the massive worldwide gaming industry. Its portfolio of top titles demonstrates that the company has developed a deliberate and refined process for developing and releasing blockbusters. However advanced Activision Blizzard’s game development was, legacy internal processes like limited financial reporting, long data reconciliation cycles, and limited data governance was a challenge.
THE SOLUTION
OSI tackled these problems in three steps. The OSI team first employed a well-defined development and support process to implement Hyperion Data Relationship Management to centrally manage Activation’s chart of accounts and reporting hierarchies. Following this, the team implemented interfaces to integrate with Oracle E-Business, Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition, Hyperion Planning, Hyperion Profitability and Cost Management, and a data warehouse to provide real-time visibility of Activation’s business intelligence. Once in place, the team introduced business rules, data validation procedures, a data governance process, and audit & reporting capabilities to provide the company’s users with confidence in the quality of their data.
THE RESULT
OSI’s smooth implementation provided Activision with a solution that helped efficiently maintain chart of accounts and reporting hierarchies across all operational and analytical systems.
Reduced financial data reconciliation turn times by 50%
Reduced monthly financials closing and planning cycle time by 25%
Empowered financial team to control data creation, modification, and synchronization independent of IT
