A lot of people use the terms dashboard and scorecard interchangeably, believing that the two are really one and the same. The reality is that they are quite different and are used for different Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) purposes. When discussing the differences, it is easy to make an analogy with two things that we are very familiar with: the dashboards in our cars, and the scorecards or report cards we all received in school. Like the dashboard in your car--which monitors speed, fuel level, and distance traveled.
Topics:
Process Improvement,
Enterprise Performance Management (EPM)
If you have recently evaluated replacing your consolidation system, you were undoubtedly faced with justifying the value of the solution. While a new solution will have a plenty of new features and performance benefits, at the end of the day, the accounting rules that need to be followed and the results being generated are the same. Today, we are seeing more consolidation system evaluations based not only on adding value, but more importantly their ability to integrate with and add value to the overall enterprise performance management (EPM) processes. Implementing SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC) is one way of accomplishing that, particularly through the use of business process flows (BPFs).
Topics:
Process Improvement,
Enterprise Performance Management (EPM),
Consolidation,
Value,
Data,
BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation)
What's in a name? – A history lesson on the many name changes of what is now known as BPC.
Topics:
Enterprise Performance Management (EPM),
Value,
BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation)
In Part 1 of this series, I discussed the differences between installation consultants and technical consultants. In Part 2, we dug into the details of technical landscape design. In this third and final post of the series, I'll outline some of the Column5 Technical Services that can help ensure your project keeps moving forward in the post implementation environment.
Topics:
Process Improvement,
Enterprise Performance Management (EPM),
Performance,
Implementation
In Part 1 of this series, I discussed the differences between installation consultants and technical consultants. In Part 2, let's dig into the details of technical landscape design.
Topics:
Process Improvement,
Enterprise Performance Management (EPM),
Performance,
Implementation,
BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation)
Column5 is the premier partner of SAP in the enterprise performance management (EPM) space, and in the Technical Services team, we often come across competitors' proposals and RFPs that refer to installation consultants as distinguished from a technical consultant role.
Topics:
Enterprise Performance Management (EPM),
Project Management,
Performance,
Implementation,
BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation)
I've been implementing planning solutions for many years. One of the areas that we often find on the agenda for a planning application design meeting -- or, if it's not on the agenda, something we will bring up -- is the question of whether the organisation has a separate budgeting cycle or whether the budget has been subsumed into a rolling forecast process.
Topics:
Process Improvement,
Excel,
Enterprise Performance Management (EPM),
Project Management,
Innovation,
Performance,
Roadmap,
Forecasting
Whether you are just getting started with your Business Planning & Consolidation (BPC) implementation or looking for improvements to your existing implementation, best practices are often simple concepts that improve user satisfaction and reduce chances for errors.
Issue: Untrustworthy Data
One of the most frustrating things for users when it comes to planning and forecasting is data that they cannot trust. I recall one example where, after publishing executive reports, an analyst realized that their prior forecast had unexpectedly changed. The bad data was an accidental result of input templates, logic, and security being open for a prior forecast. Fortunately, the data was recovered, but not before a costly loss of time and resources. The error was the result of many manual steps in a process where all steps had to be done in exactly the right order. Prior to the forecast, there was a change in personnel. Even though proper knowledge transfer was done, the error still occurred.
Topics:
BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation),
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
To transform your organization into a performance-driven one, you need Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) solutions that link your processes and data together to provide a common view of your business. You also need to ensure these software solutions are properly installed and tuned on the back end, as well as making sure they are optimally configured to meet your business needs on the front end. Those needs being met, and -- depending on the size of your implementation -- hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars later, the success of your implementation still hangs in the balance. Are your finance and IT departments equipped to maintain the solution moving forward? Are your users knowledgeable and enthusiastic about using the new tools in which you've invested so much time and money?
Topics:
Thought Leadership,
Enterprise Performance Management (EPM),
Training,
BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation)
Mike Sullivan
Charles Dagaev
Martin Lloyd
David Meharry
Jennifer Harlan
