It was 20 years ago today!

February 11, 2025

Malcolm Brock

Managing Director

It was 20 years ago today!

Well not quite today depending on when you are reading this, but I could not resist a relevant Beatles lyric!

For me those 20 years have flown by!

It seems like only yesterday when Marc and I sat down in my dining room and set up Brovanture (for accuracy we were initially called A3). In fact, it was 20 years ago!

We had plans and aspirations back then, but I am not sure we would have predicted 20 years of successful trading and an organisation that has over 200 clients and 50 staff operating in the UK, Ireland, mainland Europe, South Africa and the USA. How small dreams can become a much larger reality.

This year we will celebrate with the team the achievements they have been instrumental in delivering over these incredible 20 years. Here are some of the highlights:

Hyperion / Oracle Partnership

Marc and I, having both worked previously with Essbase, saw Essbase consulting, implementation and support as the opportunity for us. Fortunately, shortly after we started trading our experience with Essbase and wider Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) solutions was recognised and we were appointed a Hyperion partner in the UK. This was the beginning of our most important business relationship that continues today. All be it now with Oracle after their acquisition of Hyperion. Working with the best EPM products in the market has been the bedrock of what we do at Brovanture.

Investing in our team

From the beginning we knew that our success would be depended on having the best people who have up-to-date knowledge and real-life experience. Therefore, we require all our staff to train in the products we work with and we require them to be certified officially by passing Oracle examinations. Beyond this we also offer them to opportunity to take professional finance courses and encourage them to qualify by taking the exams.

We also believe in investing in young people benefits them and us! Our student and graduate placement schemes have provided real world training and experience to over 30 young people in the UK and South Africa. A number continue to work with us today and have risen to senior roles within Brovanture.

Embracing the Cloud

Brovanture has been an advocate of Oracle Cloud EPM since 2014, taking part in the Beta testing of the Oracle Cloud EPM Planning. In 2015 we were the first UK partner to implement Oracle Planning and Budgeting Cloud Service (PBCS), now called ‘Oracle Cloud EPM Planning’, for budgeting and forecasting. In 2018 we were the first Oracle UK partner to sell and implement Oracle Cloud EPM Consolidation and Close.

Expanding our horizons

Initially, from our base in the UK we had worked in the UK and mainland Europe and the USA. Over the last 5 years we have expanded internationally with staff and operations in South Africa, Ireland and the USA. Our cohort of international clients has grown and we expect this to continue.

Delivering for the Public Sector

We recognised the importance to our growth of being able to work with the public sector and that joining the public sector G-Cloud framework would open this opportunity for an SME like us. Since G-Cloud 7 we have applied and been accepted into this framework. The latest being G-Cloud 14.

Through this framework we have won and delivered many successful Oracle Cloud EPM projects across a wide range of both small and large public sector organisations including: Local Government, NHS, Central Government, Blue light and Arms Length Bodies (ALB’s).

Recognition of our Expertise

Our client recommendations and stories say a lot about who we are and what we do but winning awards is always a great endorsement of our work. Winning the UK Oracle User Group (UKOUG) Oracle EPM Partner of the Year three times (2017, 2023, 2024) is something we are all very proud of. I am also personally delighted to see two of our staff, Lydia Maksoud and Sarah Dow, achieve Oracle Ace status. This recognises their personal expertise and experience plus their work with the Oracle EPM community.

It has been a great ride working with wonderful clients, thank you for your business, and an excellent team without whom none of this would have been possible, thank you all. I wonder what the next 20 years will bring? Given I could not have predicted the last 20 years I guess we will have to wait 20 years to find out!

Until next time

Malcolm

upcoming events

march 2025

thu20mar10:10 amthu11:00 amOracle Cloud EPM Planning – Connect Planning Across the Enterprise (1 hour webinar)Event Type :Webinar

Cost

There is no charge to attend this event

Details

Webinar: Oracle Cloud EPM Planning – Connect Planning Across the Enterprise (1 hour)

With political and economic instability continuing to affect the entire world both demand and supply are volatile and therefore business and financial plans need to be agile. We do not seem to be going back to pre-pandemic norms, so we need a different approach and mindset for this new normal.

Join us to find out how Finance can transform planning, budgeting and forecasting so the entire organisation can operate successfully in a new ‘connected’ environment. You will have the opportunity to see the software working and to ask questions to our uniquely qualified team.

Oracle Cloud EPM Planning is a purpose-built business planning solution that is a perfect fit for both corporate finance as well as operational planners (such as services, communications, HR, IT, and other lines of business). It empowers operational planners with flexibility, scalability and the ownership to plan the way they want, while still offering the transparency and control required for corporate finance.

This solution provides the freedom of choice to deploy a solution that meets the specific needs of both large and medium sized corporations and public sector organisations. It also delivers both the simplicity and flexibility to meet organisational needs, whilst maintaining the ease and upgradability of a Cloud based planning solution.

Date

(Thursday) 10:10 am - 11:00 am UK time

Location

on-line Webinar

How to register

Please use RSVP function to book your place on the webinar

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Future Event Times in this Repeating Event Series

may 22, 2025 10:00 am - may 22, 2025 11:00 amjuly 17, 2025 10:00 am - july 17, 2025 11:00 amoctober 23, 2025 10:00 am - october 23, 2025 11:00 amdecember 9, 2025 10:00 am - december 9, 2025 11:00 am

Calendar GoogleCal

thu20mar2:00 pmthu4:00 pmOracle Cloud EPM: All Applications – Refresher Training Courses (2 hours per course)Event Type :Training Course

Cost

No charge for Brovanture clients with current support contracts. Non Brovanture customers contact us to discuss participation.

Details

Oracle Cloud EPM: All Applications – Refresher Training Courses (2 hours per course)

Please note these courses are applicable to administrators and/or end users within organisations who have any of the Oracle Cloud EPM applications.

These courses are designed to be a perfect knowledge boost, whether you’re at the beginning of your path, or simply looking for ‘tips & tricks’ and advanced features information.

During each course you’ll be fast tracked, getting an overview of a specific set of features and having a chance to try them out in our development Oracle Cloud EPM environment. The course mode will be geared toward being working through examples and analysing common scenarios and best practices.

PLEASE NOTE THAT EACH COURSE COVERS SPECIFIC SUBJECTS AND ARE DESIGNED FOR EITHER ADMINISTRATOR OR END USER ATTENDEES. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU BOOK ON THE APPROPRIATE COURSE(S). Use the links highlighted by ‘Register HERE’ below to select the correct course and date and then click the RSVP button to book on that specific course.

Thursday 16 January 2025: Register HERE

ADMIN Data Management – As Data Management End User Course, plus registering data sources; DM Configuration; Security; Load Rule set-ups; Complex Mapping & Reports

Thursday 20 March 2025: Register HERE

ADMIN & END USERS: Reports – Creating Reports; Grids; Images; Text boxes & Headers; hidden grids, Output options and bursting

Thursday 22 May 2025: Register HERE

ADMIN & END USERS: Data Forms, Dashboards & Infolets

Thursday 17 July 2025: Register HERE

END USER Data Management – Overview of DM & Data Exchange; Loading Data; Error Management; Mapping Overview; Data Validation

Thursday 18 September 2025: Register HERE

ADMIN Data Management – As Data Management End User Course, plus registering data sources; DM Configuration; Security; Load Rule set-ups; Complex Mapping & Reports

Thursday 20 November 2025: Register HERE

ADMIN & END USERS: Reports – Creating Reports; Grids; Images; Text boxes & Headers; hidden grids, Output options and bursting

After completing each course:

End Users will have the knowledge to confidently use their application and carry out their daily, monthly and annual tasks.

Administrators will have the knowledge to not only maintain their applications, but to develop new features, have more confidence supporting their end users, and overall, have an in-depth understanding of the application.