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SAP Analytics
Thought Leadership

SAP BPC Reporting Tips & Tricks

Posted by Deb Silverman on Tue, Jan 12, 2016 @ 08:01 AM

This blog is part of a series on reporting techniques to help you get more value from SAP BPC.

DROP-DOWN LISTS help make a worksheet more efficient by provided a controlled list of options that make the report or input template respond to preconfigured options.

To create the list use Excel’s Data Validation tool. We are going to take this a step further by populating the list with EPM reports on a ‘List’ tab within the workbook.  In the snapshot below we are using drop-down list for Company, Cost Centre, Program, and Account. Each drop-down list will have its own report to populate the list.

COST CENTER LIST: A list of cost centers is created using fixed members that had been input. In this example, the dropdown has a friendly label that is the result of concatenating ID & Description, but the report will only use the dimension ID’s referenced on the list tab by using Excel’s VLOOKUP function to match the concatenated friendly label to the ID from the right row.

Topics: Best Practices, Excel, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), best

Formatting in SAP BPC

Posted by Deb Silverman on Wed, Jan 06, 2016 @ 10:01 AM

The formatting strategy chosen for a report or input schedule is one of the most important decisions made in development because it influences performance, complexity and the “fun factor” for development.  I say this with humor because the report may take 4 hours to build and 8 hours to format!  There isn’t room enough to go into all aspects of formatting in detail, however the understanding of choices we have is critical and can certainly influence the overall life cycle (maintenance and productivity).

The EPMFormatting sheet is used to format dynamic reports and input templates.  It is an Excel sheet that can be copied and changed for multiple worksheets and reports.  Dynamic formatting means the formats are applied to levels of a hierarchy, types of members or column and page axis dimensions.

Topics: Best Practices, Excel, Data, best

Buying Services to Run BPC for You

Posted by Jonathon Pause on Wed, Dec 16, 2015 @ 10:12 AM

Buying an Adequate Level of Service

Column5 offers many solutions and best practice concepts outlined in numerous blogs and webinars with the intent of supporting clients who wish to cultivate an internal capability to best elicit value from their EPM solutions. While all are recommended for our clients, we understand that for many organizations, being in a confident position to properly support their EPM investment is not easily met immediately after go live. We have found some clients looking for assistance with adhering to these best practices, or a little extra bandwidth to supply additional continued support post go-live. In response to these requests, Column5 has assembled a number of services designed to fill any gaps in your EPM deployment plan.

Topics: Best Practices, Process Improvement, EPM Maturity, Cloud

How to Calculate Return on Investment for SAP BPC Projects

Posted by Richard Hynes on Wed, Nov 25, 2015 @ 10:11 AM

We know that EPM (and specifically SAP BPC) implementations have the potential to be very profitable, more so than other IT projects like ERP implementations. But how do you prove that?

This blog takes a step by step approach to building a solid business case for a SAP BPC implementation. There are many intangible benefits to an EPM project which are difficult to put a value to, but we can set out all the costs and calculate a large part of the benefits. Even without adding in the intangible benefits, such as improved data quality, higher management efficiency and faster decision making, BPC projects can still be very profitable projects, so let’s go through the business case elements step by step.

Topics: Best Practices, Thought Leadership, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), EPM ROI, BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation)

New Features of BPC 10.x Upgrades

Posted by Staci Matt on Tue, Oct 13, 2015 @ 08:10 AM

When upgrading to BPC 10.x, many companies are curious about what new features will become available to them.  Besides being quicker, more stable, etc., there are three new features that Column5 believes are worth the upgrade.

Topics: Best Practices, Thought Leadership, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Project Management, EPM 10, BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation)

EPM Add-in and Admin 10/10.1 on a Tablet?

Posted by Charles Dagaev on Tue, Oct 06, 2015 @ 09:10 AM

A key component of an effective reporting strategy is the ability to get data to users when, where, and how they need it to make better decisions. For many users in today’s technology-driven world, that means mobile devices are a critical part of the overall reporting strategy.

Topics: Best Practices, Thought Leadership, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), EPM 10, BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation)

Going Back to Diagrams

Posted by Israel F. Anotado on Tue, Aug 25, 2015 @ 10:08 AM

While working with clients to deliver EPM capabilities, we have all heard about how it is critical to have good EPM business processes in place within an organization. I would say that I totally agree with an earlier Column5 blog post, “The Process is King”. Clearly documented business process models assist organizations to align operations to their strategy, promote better communication, improve existing practices, establish control and consistency, and even gain competitive advantage.

Topics: Best Practices, Process Improvement, Thought Leadership, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation)

Why EPM Checklists, Methodologies, and Fast Start Templates Ensure Success

Posted by Connie Folk on Wed, Aug 19, 2015 @ 09:08 AM

Column5 CEO David Den Boer once told me, “Behind every checklist there is a dead body. “ As a military veteran, he knew that safety procedures were often put in place in the aftermath of a tragic accident that unfortunately involved the loss of life. The military is well known for their rigor, strict definition of procedures, and processes that deliver consistent and repeatable results.  Isn’t that what we all strive for in delivery of our EPM projects? You can accomplish this result without enduring fatalities along the way.

Topics: Best Practices, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Project Management, BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation)

The MakeDim Task is Not a Dimension Automation Process - BPC for Microsoft

Posted by David Kolka on Tue, Aug 11, 2015 @ 08:08 AM

BPC owners often seek to implement automation to make manual administration the exception wherever possible, in order to lower TCO and increase uptime.  For dimension automation, new members added to source systems (accounts, product names, etc.) would be automatically inserted into the BPC master data tables.  Automating this task could save quite a bit of manual effort over time, and increase system uptime.  If your BPC deployment requires manual dimension maintenance, this solution may be of great interest to you.

Topics: Best Practices, Excel, Thought Leadership, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Microsoft, BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation)

Does BPC Performance Depend on the Technology Stack?

Posted by Charles Dagaev on Wed, Aug 05, 2015 @ 12:08 PM

The Battle of BPC

I have been in the Analytics space for over 13 years, having started at the original OutlookSoft Corporation (creator of the BPC software) as employee #33 (or so). I stayed with the company that acquired OutlookSoft in 2007, SAP, until 2008, when I came to Column5. I have been involved in over 1000 technical implementations of the BPC software (all technology stacks) over the years with companies around the world.

When I say “Technical Implementation”, I mean performing a System Landscape Design (SLD), multiple Installations, Performance Tuning, Disaster Recovery, Environment Synchronization (Transports), and Go-Live Support. As I started the Technical team at Column5 back in 2008 after working at SAP/OutlookSoft for 8 years Column5, has used the above services and others to ensure client success, or as I like to say “EPM NIRVANA”.

Obviously SAP has moved the software forward leaps and bounds in a lot of functional ways, but especially supporting multiple server technology stacks on the backend. This allows SAP to really fit into just about all of the worldwide business technology strategies. Currently with BPC, there are three different “flavors” of the software and they are:

  • BPC (10) BW powered by HANA
  • BPC (10) NetWeaver
  • BPC (10) Microsoft

Topics: Best Practices, Thought Leadership, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Performance, BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation)

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