4 minute read

How to combine a passion for IT and interest in finance

Joram Boland

Senior Consultant

Senior Consultant Joram Boland is passionate about IT. Whilst studying and working he found out many of his interest align with the financial world. He explains how he found the perfect job to combine both his passion and his interests.

My bachelor thesis was conducted at a major transportation company in financial cost modeling, after which I worked there as a Financial Analyst. During this time I had regular contact with consultants from various companies, amongst which Deloitte (Consulting). Due to the pleasant nature of these contact moment, my first curiosity into consulting and Deloitte was sparked.

After a year I started my master in Information Management, and was selected to join the inhouseday at Deloitte’s Rotterdam office organized by the Oracle offering. During this event I had a stimulating conversation with the partner of the Oracle offering regarding developments within the Information Technology domain. She seemed particularly knowledgeable when it came to developments in the technology space and had an interesting perspective on future developments.

"I decided to go with the oracle cloud offering, because of my interest in information technology and finance. For me this department offers the best of both worlds."

Joram Boland | Senior Consultant

The combination of an interesting conversation, interactions with the team throughout the day and a great view convinced me that this was the place where I wanted to conduct my thesis (and later on to work).

While doing your thesis at Deloitte, they offer you the great opportunity to have a look in “multiple kitchens” (read departments, business units). The Oracle Cloud offering has three main flavors; ERP (Finance), MDM (Master Data Management) and EPM (Enterprise Performance Management). During my first months at Deloitte Consulting in the Oracle offering, I noticed the following facts and fictions.

ERP (Finance) – Stigma: A stuffy system, running in the basement of any company, guarded by the IT employees.

In reality I discovered how much an ERP system is the backbone of almost every large enterprise, and how understanding it provides a true competitive edge for every employee. These insights help you understand what a company workflow looks like and how It works.

MDM – Stigma: Relational databases and binary (1’s & 0’s), meant for only the Beta’s amongst us.

In reality this is one of the fastest growing disciplines, creating the strong foundation for any company to achieve a strategic edge. I’ve seen the impact that this team makes, laying foundations allowing companies to capitalize on all their (future) data requirements.

EPM – Stigma: One of many modules within Oracle, creating graphs for financial wizards.

In reality EPM is on the intersection of Accountancy, Corporate Finance and Information Technology. It is about giving CFO’s insight in key financials, enabling strategy and creating a vision. The multiple areas might be intimidating at first – as they were to me - but with a strong eagerness to learn, the terminology can quickly be made your own (as is with each of these segments).

In the end I decided to go with the Oracle Cloud offering (more specifically EPM), because of my key interest in information technology and in finance. For me this department offers the best of both worlds. However similar advantages would have been achieved choosing MDM (visibility on how to strategically use master data, while also being comfortable with implementing a solution) or ERP Finance (understanding the core drivers behind a company and its IT roots, whilst also being possible to configure those solutions).

Going forward in my career I want to keep learning on topics like corporate finance and accountancy, but also remaining as close as possible to information technology. Deloitte provides learnings (by doing, but also in an academic setting) on topics like finance, while I can still be hands on with the IT side (module configuration, implementation and data integrations to mention a few topics). This combination is why Deloitte is the perfect fit for me.

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