SAP Analytics
Thought Leadership

To appreciate the new foundation for BPC 11, we have to explore the underlying database platform.  BW/4HANA may share a similar name with its predecessor, however, this all-new platform represents SAP’s rearchitected, next-generation data warehouse.

Let’s explore this new platform by directly addressing five key commonly asked questions:

As with most specialized software programs, it is usually not suggested to implement SAP BPC without the assistance of a consulting partner.  Many projects require expertise that most EPM administrators do not have, and so it is recommended to find a partner that can ensure success.  Choosing this partner is an important decision.  Here are a few of the top things a company should look at when deciding on an appropriate organization. 

A risk is the possibility of an event or a condition that could negatively impact a project. There are many events or conditions in any EPM BPC implementation that can derail the project, because BPC is a complex tool that touches many areas of your organization. This article is intended to help mitigate risk.

For 30 years there has been a divergent view as to the best approach to using technology to support the key finance process of consolidation and reporting, generally known today as the “record to report process”.

To deliver excellence in the record to report process SAP now offers S/4HANA Group Reporting.  Read on to see if it's the best technology for you:

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. 

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.

Over the last decade, Column5 has been very involved in supporting SAP BPC Solutions, and a common theme for our customers has been the performance and stability of their system. With this in mind, we set out to address this challenge by developing the Darwin program.

Darwin has evolved (pun intended) to become a comprehensive platform of advanced features and pre-defined processes helping organizations maximize the value of SAP Analytics investments.

This blog focuses on how customers leverage Darwin’s advanced calculation capabilities to address common performance challenges specifically.

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.

Attn: SAP EPM & Analytics Professionals

How to supercharge your EPM (SAP BPC, SAC, S4) training

(this works whether you're an executive, power user, or technical user)

Did you know that over the course of 30 days you forget close to 80% of what you learn?  

Here is the problem you face:  After you learn something new at an  SAP BPC or SAP Analytics Cloud course for example,  your ability to retain that information declines over time unless you review it repeatedly.

Most people try to take a single course with no repetition.

On top of that, you attempt to keep your career current by taking old fashioned lecture style or recorded video courses.  These outdated training methods lack the repetition and interactive exercises you need for strong memorization. This means you'll never achieve the career, skill level, or EPM system performance you would if you only had taken  effective training on a regular basis. This applies to you whether you're an executive, power user, or technical support staff, and whether you run SAP BPC, Analytics Cloud, and/or S/4HANA. 

Luckily for you, there's now a solution so you don't have to count on your scribbled notes from that one-time training course to improve your SAP EPM skills or further your career. Introducing the all-new EPM Summit Network, an online Community for SAP EPM & Analytics Professionals that will supercharge your career while providing year-round EPM (SAP BPC, SAC, S4) training in addition to community forums, private groups, and events.

You'll remember the latest BPC, SAC, and S4 course material on the EPM Summit Network like a scholar due to its hands-on exercises. Interactive exercises and tests drive home lesson retention so you'll feel confident implementing your new-found skills.