Transformation Solutions

Treasury & Finance Controls Transformation for a MENA Oil & Gas Producer

Challenge

A leading MENA-based oil and gas producer faced growing regulatory pressure to bring its middle office treasury and finance control functions up to modern global standards. Legacy processes relied heavily on manual, paper-based workflows, with fragmented booking, reconciliation, and reporting systems. This created challenges in:

• Daily PL and Balance Sheet control integrity.

• Risk-based attribution for treasury transactions and hedging portfolios.

• Fragmented data capture from upstream booking feeds.

• Inefficient workflows in financing supply chains tied to oil production and exports.

Regulators required a digitised, transparent control environment and a clear ERP transformation roadmap to modernise reporting, automation, and operational governance.

Solution

Harmonic designed a Treasury & Finance Controls Digital Transformation Blueprint, integrating ERP transformation strategy, process re-engineering, and change readiness frameworks to drive sustainable control excellence and regulatory compliance.

1. Strategic Alignment & Vision Definition

• Conducted strategy alignment workshops with finance, treasury, and regulatory stakeholders — focusing on “business before technology.”

• Defined the transformation mission and vision around efficiency, transparency, and data integrity.

• Evaluated strategic options:

  • Single Global ERP deployment vs. best-of-breed regional stack, depending on operational maturity and local compliance needs.

• Established a “Transformation Lens” — a continuous strategic checkpoint ensuring all initiatives aligned with long-term business goals, risk appetite, and growth plans.

2. Business Process Review (BPR)

• Mapped all existing finance and treasury workflows, including P&L, risk attribution, and liquidity management.

• Performed SWOT and bottleneck analyses across daily, monthly, and annual control cycles.

• Identified automation opportunities within core finance functions (PL attribution, reconciliations, and trade capture).

• Benchmarked current-state processes against global middle-office standards from leading financial institutions (e.g., Murex, Oracle Financials, Tableau).

3. Business Case for Change

• Developed a comprehensive change rationale, combining quantitative ROI modelling and qualitative efficiency gains.

• Articulated value drivers:

  • Reduction in manual controls and reconciliation effort.

  • Improved accuracy and regulatory confidence in reported numbers.

  • Enhanced real-time visibility into balance sheet exposures.

• Linked outcomes directly to strategic alignment and regulatory compliance metrics.

4. Change Readiness & Cultural Assessment

• Conducted a change readiness survey to measure leadership alignment, workforce adaptability, and cultural readiness.

• Identified barriers including internal politics, process ownership gaps, and fear of automation.

• Designed a resistance management plan including targeted communication, leadership coaching, and employee upskilling.

• Estimated transformation velocity — realistic timelines for full adoption across treasury, finance, and control functions.

5. Technology Evaluation & ERP Roadmap

• Objectively evaluated technology alternatives — balancing risk, cost, and strategic fit.

• Considered both centralised and federated data models depending on inter-entity complexity.

• Evaluated ERP and adjacent technologies across six IT pillars:

  1. IT Operating Model: Centralised vs. Federated Data Architecture

  2. Technology Stack: Cloud, AI/ML, IoT, Blockchain, ERP systems

  3. Data Management: Ingestion, cleansing, transformation pipelines

  4. IT Services: Strategy, design, operations lifecycle

  5. Vendor Management: Procurement and supplier governance

  6. Integration Readiness: Real-time API connectivity and data lineage

• Delivered a five-year ERP roadmap with phased implementation milestones and cost-benefit scenarios.

6. Project Governance & Execution Framework

• Defined roles, responsibilities, and governance layers (SteerCo, PMO, and domain SMEs).

• Established decision rights and escalation protocols to prevent scope drift.

• Introduced a governance playbook mapping project workflows, sign-off checkpoints, and delivery KPIs.

Key Deliverables

• ERP Transformation Strategy Blueprint (Vision, Roadmap, Cost-Benefit).

• Treasury Controls Operating Model for daily, monthly, and annual cycles.

• Business Process Re-engineering Report with gap analysis and automation priorities.

• Change Readiness Assessment & Resistance Management Plan.

• Governance Playbook & PMO Execution Framework.

Client Benefits

• Achieved regulatory compliance alignment with transparent PL and balance sheet attribution processes.

• Reduced manual processing and reporting time by over 40% through digitisation.

• Established a clear ERP transformation roadmap supporting long-term automation and operational resilience.

• Enhanced cross-functional accountability and data integrity across the middle office.

• Improved organisational readiness for future digital and cultural transformation programs.