SAP Analytics
Thought Leadership

For those of you working EPM 10 and contemplating using EVDREs, this blog should be of help to you and ideally save you time!

Topics: Best Practices, Training, Implementation

This exact list is, of course, debatable from one BPC Deployment Expert to the next.  In fact, I am curious to see what other experts think.  Here are my top 5 features that are often overlooked in SAP’s Business Planning and Consolidation & EPM offerings.

 #1: Business Process Flows

Also known as BPFs.  This is a free feature embedded within BPC that requires minimal consulting expense if the user takes the appropriate training.  How to achieve this:

Topics: Thought Leadership, EPM 10

Remember the great 1996 classic flick, Jerry Maguire? Do you recall that moment early in the movie when Tom Cruise’s character writes his memo before he got whacked? His coworkers clapped and cheered. They did so because they believed in what he said. Then corporate reality set in and they had to get back to work… back to business as usual!  So did Bob “Business as Usual” Sugar win in the end?

Throughout the movie many characters call the memo a “Mission Statement”.  Well, folks, after 20 years I have had it!  I am writing my “memo” in this blog.  While I am not staying up late and photocopying my “memo” to be hand placed on my colleague’s seats, I hope this has a (somewhat) similar effect. 

Topics: Best Practices, Thought Leadership, EPM ROI, Performance, Implementation

EPM stands for Enterprise Performance Management.  In a nutshell, it is at least a 4^th generation moniker describing an underlying use of OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) technology.  Why should you care?  Well, it really is the current “end game” of computing for most organizations.  If you are an executive or in a leadership role in say, Finance or FP&A, you should really care!  One cannot manage that which they do not measure. Those who can achieve EPM and leverage OLAP technology will outperform their peer groups across the board.  How in the world can you track your EPS or monthly profit if you do not capture and report the information to do so?  How can you take action to get back on plan, or stay ahead of plan, if you have no tools to do so?  This is what EPM is for, and what OLAP has been solving for nearly 40 years.  The path to effective leadership and success is not simply about delivering results; it is about consistently delivering results.  In order to do this one must be able to both monitor their business, and be able to take actions to control the business. 

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

This is a 100% true story.  The names have been altered to protect the innocent (and the guilty)!

Everyone likes a great story.  What makes a story great is a plot, a villain, and a hero.  What makes this particular story more interesting is that it is a business story. It also one that clients keep asking me to repeat to their teams, peers and even their executive staff.

Topics: Best Practices, Thought Leadership, Analytics, EPM ROI, Microsoft, Implementation

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

Topics: HANA, Thought Leadership, OutlookSoft, NetWeaver, Roadmap, Microsoft, Implementation, BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation)

Column5's EPM Academy sets the industry standard in quality curriculum, with course content developed by top field experts on SAP products and delivered in a variety of formats.Software knowledge and skills are only as valuable as what's retained and applied in the real world. Column5's "360 Training Experience" ensures that your staff will not only develop good habits and acquire confidence while mastering the software—they'll build organizational enthusiasm for EPM that lasts long after implementation.

Topics: Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Training, Data, Forecasting

In a previous post, I discussed how top storage vendors believe that global data stores are doubling every few hours or weeks, and how this problem can be turned into an opportunity in almost every vertical or field of work. Today, let's focus on one of the retail sector's larger data opportunities, and how this data can increase profitability for organizations who deploy retail analytics.

Topics: Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Performance, Implementation, Data