Don’t miss our upcoming live webinar on June 10, 2025, from 8–9 AM PT where AWS and Column5 experts will demonstrate how Virtual Client technology can help you maximize the value of your SAP BPC investment. Whether you’re experiencing Excel performance issues, support overload, or security risks, this is your opportunity to rethink how BPC should run.
As SAP phases out mainstream support for many versions of BPC and BFC, customers are left facing an uncertain path forward. While some may choose to migrate to SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) or other EPM solutions, many organizations—especially those with a heavy investment in SAP BPC—prefer to maximize their existing investment. For those customers, Column5’s BPC Lifeline Program offers a compelling path forward. At the heart of this program is a powerful capability: Column5’s Virtual Client Solution, hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS).
In this blog, we explore how this innovative solution can dramatically improve the performance, stability, and security of your SAP BPC environment, especially when using Excel-based tools like the SAP EPM Add-in or Analysis for Office (AO). Whether you’re still on-premises or already in the cloud, the Virtual Client offering is a game-changer—and a critical enabler for BPC customers seeking long-term stability without costly migrations.
Despite the growth of cloud-native planning tools, many finance teams continue to rely heavily on Excel-based clients. SAP’s EPM Add-in and AO offer flexibility, familiarity, and speed—allowing analysts and power users to model, plan, and report using tools they trust. However, performance issues and technical challenges are common when these add-ins are deployed on local desktops, especially in complex or global environments.
Problems like:
These challenges result in frustrated users and costly IT support, which can undermine the value of the BPC platform. That’s where Column5’s Virtual Client solution comes in.
Column5’s Virtual Client leverages Amazon Workspaces to deploy a hardened, cloud-based Windows desktop—tailored specifically for SAP BPC users. Whether your team is using the EPM Add-in for Excel or SAP Analysis for Office (AO), this secure and scalable solution ensures consistent performance across all users, regardless of geography or device.
This approach eliminates common issues seen in local deployments, such as add-in conflicts, Excel crashes, and patching nightmares. By delivering a fully configured and centrally managed desktop experience, Column5 ensures your team stays productive and secure—even during peak periods like planning cycles and month-end close.
Column5 has partnered with AWS to deliver a fully managed, cloud-hosted desktop environment for BPC and BFC users. Using Amazon Workspaces, Column5 provides a standardized, optimized desktop instance that ensures consistent access to BPC tools and Excel-based reporting environments.
Here’s how it works:
This solution provides users with a high-performance desktop experience that’s consistent across geographies, reduces local IT burden, and solves many of the issues related to client-side instability.
✅ Improved Performance
Users access high-speed desktops hosted on AWS infrastructure, minimizing lag, file access delays, and sync issues. The solution is tuned specifically for BPC scenarios, ensuring that large workbooks and planning templates perform reliably.
✅ Stability Across the Board
Each virtual desktop is configured to eliminate the plugin conflicts, Office version mismatches, and local driver issues that typically plague BPC users. Column5’s environment is hardened and standardized to ensure maximum uptime.
✅ Enhanced Security & Compliance
Hosting on AWS enables enterprise-grade security—including encryption, user authentication, and data protection that meets the strictest compliance standards. Column5 also assists customers with audit documentation and secure access provisioning.
✅ Simplified Support
Column5’s support team manages the entire virtual client infrastructure, including:
✅ Cost Efficiency
Instead of upgrading infrastructure or investing in new licenses, customers can extend the life of their existing BPC system. With many customers holding perpetual licenses, dropping SAP maintenance and using Column5’s virtual client offering is a cost-effective path.
Column5’s Virtual Client solution is not just a standalone option—it’s a key component of the broader BPC Lifeline Program. This program was designed for customers who want to continue using SAP BPC without being forced into a premature migration by SAP’s maintenance deadlines.
With the Lifeline Program, customers receive:
The Virtual Client solution is what ties the user experience together—ensuring that everything from input templates to reporting dashboards runs smoothly and securely, without relying on each user’s local desktop.
For customers ready to evolve, the Virtual Client solution provides a perfect foundation for introducing AI-driven orchestration with Darwin Analytics. Because the environment is standardized and managed in the cloud, it’s easy to layer on automation, workflow enhancements, and advanced analytics.
Use cases include:
With Darwin and the Virtual Client as part of the BPC Lifeline stack, customers are not just maintaining the status quo—they're setting the stage for innovation.
Who Should Consider This Solution?
Whether you’re running on-prem or in the cloud today, this solution offers a path to greater stability and lower TCO, without forcing a disruptive migration.
To help organizations experience the benefits firsthand, Column5 is offering a free trial of the Virtual Client solution. This allows your team to test performance, evaluate user experience, and validate security—all before making a long-term commitment.
You’ll get:
Column5’s Virtual Client solution, delivered on AWS and supported by seasoned BPC professionals, offers the perfect balance of innovation and continuity. If you want to extend the life of your BPC platform while improving user experience, security, and cost-efficiency, this is your best next move.
Don’t wait for SAP deadlines to dictate your strategy. Take control with BPC Lifeline—and experience the future of BPC support with Column5’s Virtual Client.
Sign up for a free trial today and experience the difference for yourself.
Join Column5 and AWS on June 10 to see real customer use cases and how our Virtual Client enables faster Excel performance, lower IT overhead, and smoother planning cycles. Register now or request a free trial and transform your SAP BPC experience.