Charming Charlie Leads Retail Revolution With Host Analytics

REDWOOD CITY, CA--(Marketwired - Sep 4, 2013) - Host Analytics, the leader in cloud-based enterprise performance management (EPM), today announced that Charming Charlie, a leading North American Fashion Accessories retailer with more than 250 stores, has deployed Host Analytics to modernize and streamline their strategic financial processes. Since deploying Host Analytics, the Finance and Accounting team at Charming Charlie has been able to streamline and improve the accuracy of the budgeting process and move from quarterly to monthly forecasting.

An award-winning retailer, Charming Charlie has grown to more than 250 stores across the U.S. by providing a breathtaking volume and variety of fashion accessories, ingeniously arranged by color, making that perfect accent fun and easy to find. Charming Charlie is spreading style from coast to coast with fabulous, affordable fashions and insider style advice that has women coming back again and again.

Prior to deploying Host Analytics, Charming Charlie relied on a combination of reports from a legacy ERP system along with Microsoft Excel to support the budgeting process and manage expenses. In 2012 the company decided to make a move to Oracle E-Business Suite. The initial assessment was that approximately 250 customized financial statements from the ERP system would be required to support financial reporting and planning, leading the company to evaluate dedicated enterprise performance management applications, including Oracle-Hyperion applications as well as Host Analytics. Ultimately, the company chose Host Analytics based on ease of use, ease of implementation, and ease of adoption among existing Microsoft Excel users, as well as the improved business agility, data security, and lower overall costs made possible by Host Analytics cloud-based delivery model.

Trenegy (www.trenegy.com), a Host Analytics partner, supported the deployment, including tight integration of Host Analytics with the Oracle E-Business Suite, using Host Analytics pre-packaged Oracle E-Business Suite Connector. Because of the intuitive nature of Host Analytics cloud-based EPM suite and Trenegy's process and implementation expertise, the deployment was delivered quickly with minimal technical resources from either the Finance or IT teams at Charming Charlie. The application now supports monthly forecasting across more than 40 cost centers and has reduced the annual budgeting cycle by two-thirds.

"Host Analytics is a very intuitive solution that has been very easy for us to adopt," said Ben Clements, Business Analyst at Charming Charlie. "From deployment and ERP integration to adoption by our end users who like Host Analytics familiar Excel interface, Host Analytics has made it possible for our business users to focus on process improvements."

"Finance and accounting professionals are choosing EPM solutions that they can own and manage without excessive dependence on limited IT resources," said Alison Holmlund, vice president of Customers For Life at Host Analytics. "We work closely with customers and key partners like Trenegy to rapidly achieve success while leaving behind the cost and complexity of legacy on-premises EPM applications."

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About Host Analytics, Inc.
Host Analytics is the leader in cloud-based financial applications for planning, close management, reporting, and analytics. Host Analytics Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) customers benefit from improved business agility, lower total cost of ownership, faster time to value, increased security, and a faster pace of innovation compared to traditional on-premises alternatives. World-class companies like NEC, Burlington Coat Factory, and Crocs trust Host Analytics to power their strategic financial processes. Host Analytics is a fast-growing, private company backed by leading venture capitalists and is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices around the globe.

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