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SAP Analytics
Thought Leadership

David Den Boer

David Den Boer
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Recent Posts

Discover the Value Formula to evaluate and implement EPM and xP&A solutions for success!

Posted by David Den Boer on Sun, May 14, 2023 @ 10:05 AM

It is said that there is no accounting for taste. Meaning, there is no mathematical formula that can define and score what individuals prefer. This is because each person has their own “taste” or set of subjective preferences they find appealing, and attempting to distill this highly variable process of selecting what one finds attractive, tasteful, even beautiful to a digital formula for universal criteria is considered impossible.

For some reason, this same subjectivity has reigned in the world of Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) solutions for too long, as I will argue. With the advent of xP&A (Extended Planning & Analysis), which can be thought of as high-intensity EPM, deciding which solution to buy is more critical than ever.

Topics: Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Performance, sap, xp&a

Choosing the Ideal EPM Implementation Partner, Part 2

Posted by David Den Boer on Wed, Apr 05, 2023 @ 16:04 PM

thinking

In Choosing the Ideal EPM Implementation Partner, Part 1 , I discussed the three components for an effective enterprise performance management capability: the process state of your company, technological capabilities, and your implementation partner. Today, let's dig into the 8 essential qualities to look for in an implementation partner to best assist your internal team in achieving your objectives.

Topics: Process Improvement, Training, Innovation, Implementation

3 Reasons to Be Skeptical of Best of Breed Cloud EPM Vendors Claims to Support xP&A

Posted by David Den Boer on Tue, Aug 16, 2022 @ 14:08 PM

EPM as a solution category has arguably been around for more than two decades. Before the turn of the century, a long line of solutions starting with Hyperion was developed to alleviate specific pain points caused by Excel-based financial planning and analysis (FP&A) processes. 

In the first significant redefinition of EPM technology requisites, Gartner has just coined xP&A for Extended Planning & Analysis. While Gartner did not necessarily define an advanced performance management process to go along with these new platform technology requirements…xP&A does make possible some highly valuable advancements that are, in our humble opinion, worth serious consideration. 

Two key themes underpin xP&A:

  • Alignment of Operational and Financial planning and analysis
  • Incorporation of AI features such as Predictive Analytics

Of course, astute users of EPM might observe that using EPM tools to cover operational planning and analysis is not new, nor is predictive analytics. What is new is aligning these capabilities as a unified platform and assigning it a label. 

Let's face it, Gartner is influential. Redefining this category has had a ripple effect almost immediately on the market. Vendors formerly identifying as EPM technology developers snapped in alignment to rebrand their product portfolio as supporting xP&A. Customers are sure to follow Gartner's classification and articulate requirements for new analytics solutions using the fresh xP&A framework. 

How do longstanding vendors support these newly defined requirements? Prospective customers seeking the benefits of xP&A are right to be skeptical. Let's discuss three key ways technology vendors offering cloud EPM solutions may be overplaying their capabilities when they claim their solutions support xP&A. 

Topics: EPM ROI, EPM, xp&a

Moving Towards xP&A: How to Re-imagine the EPM Process

Posted by David Den Boer on Fri, Jun 17, 2022 @ 10:06 AM

Most organizations think about defining and improving the business case for expected ROI from EPM models only at the time of technology purchase - if these concepts are considered at all. But this is a mistake. Instead, the best practice is to measure the ROI of the system frequently in as many meaningful dimensions as can be evaluated. For example, solution and cycle performance times, analytic value, accessibility/reach are all crucial dimensions where metrics should be defined and consistently monitored for optimization opportunities. Doing so will help to bring about a significant shift in Performance Management capabilities.

The current trend is to start from scratch and re-implement performance management (EPM or xP&A) solutions to address challenges with the status quo solution effectiveness. Unfortunately, this extreme step is very costly and not likely to produce high-value results.

Topics: EPM ROI, Performance, EPM, xp&a

20 Years On - 9/11: Reflecting on My Experience

Posted by David Den Boer on Sat, Sep 11, 2021 @ 11:09 AM

I first wrote the below blog post on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy in America. As I reflect on the world since then, many subsequent global disruption events have taken place with military conflict, economic turmoil, and even a global pandemic! This volatility serves to underscore the criticality of optimized analytics platforms, and my words of a decade ago are still applicable today:

“…our software enables companies to better respond to economic uncertainty – whether it is changing currency rates, fluctuating commodity prices, or terrorist attacks – it is our mission to make sure that corporations are as prepared as possible to successfully weather those storms.”

May our collective efforts: consultants, vendors, and clients - working in partnership – produce effective platforms that help temper and mitigate economic collateral damage from tragic events that unfold in our global community.

9/11: Reflecting on My Experience – first published to recognize the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

Like other watershed moments in history, here in the US, nearly everyone alive at the time remembers where they were on 9/11. My story is similar to millions of Americans in that the events of that day were simply unforgettable.

Topics: OutlookSoft, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Business Intelligence (BI)

Introduction to SAP Disclosure Management

Posted by David Den Boer on Thu, Feb 25, 2021 @ 11:02 AM

Overview

SAP Disclosure Management is an application within the Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) suite.  It is used to improve organisations’ reporting where multiple users need to contribute to reports, and accuracy and consistency is critical. Key examples are the Annual Report and Accounts, returns to financial markets and regulators, and internal reports such as board report “books”.

Disclosure Management, as a process, is also known as the “last mile of finance”, where the culmination of all previous steps – financial close, variance analysis, and re-forecasting – are all key ingredients in what is reported to external stakeholders at the culmination of all subordinate tasks. In today’s world of increased expectations of closing faster, integrating financial and operational processes via advanced versions of EPM  – like xP&A – the appetite for more integration, automation, and on demand timing is at the highest point ever.

The business case for Disclosure Management is that it manages and streamlines the process of bringing together multiple data sources and text required in external reporting all of which are owned and authored by multiple teams and which require approval by multiple approvers.  Some clients choose to outsource performance of this function to a third-party service provider, while others purchase tools for in house use from vendors like Workiva and SAP. We won’t weigh the value of internal or external functionality in this space, but if a decision is taken to perform this function internally, this article provides an overview of the business case for and operational structure of SAP’s Disclosure Management product.

Business Case

The below diagram created by SAP demonstrates the issues faced in reporting that Disclosure Management is designed to streamline.

A typical process leading to a major reporting output such as an annual report or regulatory filing will often have a wide range of data sources.  For example, General Ledger systems, Enterprise Performance Management applications such as SAP BPC, SAC, Group Reporting and BFC as well as manually created inputs such as written text.  These data sources often feed into numerous Excel and Word documents that form part of the reporting output.  The report sections require approvals and collaboration within the organisation that can be difficult to monitor and coordinate.  The sections of the report that have been created separately need to be put together into the final output.  In the past, the output may have only been a printable format such as a Word document or PDF file, but a number of legal and regulatory filings require electronic submission, notably via XBRL.


Topics: Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Business Intelligence (BI), Analytics, Financial Information Management, Data

COVID-19: How To Update your EPM Solution & Avoid Exposure by Long Planning Turnaround Times

Posted by David Den Boer on Wed, Jul 15, 2020 @ 12:07 PM

The COVID-19 pandemic hit just like the children’s game of musical chairs. As the music of our economy stopped, if you were not near a safe place to sit, you were caught out in the open…finding yourself at risk. Similarly, your EPM solution was likely being enhanced, and upgraded on a certain path before the virus came into being. Any EPM strategy not ready for intensified operations learned the hidden weaknesses of their solution.

To make you feel better, almost no EPM solution was ready for this.

Whatever the state was of your EPM solution, that is the tool you had to wield as you navigated your organization through  the impacts of the virus. As we said in part one of this blog series, the jarring impact to the market doesn’t specifically need to be the virus, it could be anything. Just some unpredictable market influence that won’t wait for long running processes.

Topics: Thought Leadership, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Performance, Performance Tuning

COVID-19: A time for Leadership - Leveraging Enterprise Performance Management in Times of Crisis

Posted by David Den Boer on Fri, Jun 19, 2020 @ 05:06 AM

"The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word 'crisis. ' One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger--but recognize the opportunity." 

John F. Kennedy, US President 

It's the sort of blockbuster movie plot you'd expect to see while sitting in the dark confines of a movie theater, booming audio and a gasping crowd. A thrilling plot has your eyes riveted to the screen, where the dramatic tension is only broken when you run out of popcorn or the movie ends. In that scenario, you can return to your "real life" in a little over an hour, with no discernible life altering impact. It is now clear this COVID-19 provocateur is no movie; this virus will not go away so quietly without leaving an indelible impact on the world.  It most certainly will impact how you and the leadership team rely on your EPM software and Enterprise Performance Management in general. 

For this article, we'll define EPM software as Gartner does as dealing with “the process of monitoring performance across the enterprise with the goal of improving business performance.  Other activities we'll include under the Enterprise Performance Management umbrella are FP&A modeling, budgeting, forecasting, reporting, and consolidation.  Keep reading to find out how our plot unfolds. You'll learn how to avoid high latency, Excel centric planning.  You'll also learn 3 stages of recovery and the leadership principles needed to accelerate  your Enterprise Performance Management and remodeling during COVID-19. 

Topics: Thought Leadership, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Performance, User Experience

EPM Summit Event | Best SAP BPC & SAP Analytics Cloud Training

Posted by David Den Boer on Tue, Jan 14, 2020 @ 02:01 AM

Column5 is excited to announce the release of the 2020 EPM Leadership Summit Agenda.  A unique opportunity for users of SAP BPC and SAC Solutions to learn, share and network in its 11th successful year! Part of a series of over 40 events promoting SAP EPM worldwide. Coverage has included 20 US cities, Canada, the Philippines, Singapore, Milan, London, and counting. Don’t miss out on our growing community of SAP EPM users – join us in Vegas this year!

Topics: SO - Functional Track, SO - Executive Track, SO - Technical Track, epm summit

David Den Boer gets inspired on the EPM Summit Network and wants all EPM customers to embrace his vision

Posted by David Den Boer on Thu, Dec 12, 2019 @ 08:12 AM

Is there an EPM Summit this year? What is this Network?!

If you’ve ever been to the legendary Column5 EPM Summit event, I know what you’re probably thinking. The event was so awesome, networked with great people, took in great content, engaged in deep discussions, found solutions to our problems, learned so much with hands on practice…it was even fun.  

Why would you ever change the EPM Summit Leadership Event to the EPM Summit Network? As the kids would text: IKR? (If you’re like me and recently find yourself in the 50+ demographic, that means: I know, right?) 

Topics: EPM, sap bpc, User Experience, EPM Roadmap, epm summit, technology

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