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. 

We have all overcome mistakes in life, using the rearview mirror to observe how easy it would have been to sidestep the pitfall, commenting, “If only I knew then what I know now.” This thought crosses my mind almost daily.

What do you do when you feel this way about the EPM process, BPC or your consultants? Do you ever wonder how they became experts, or how qualified they truly are? How do they define best practice? Recently, I worked with a customer who started their BPC journey with an early version of BPC for NetWeaver. They sought out highly talented consultants, assuming their talent and experience based on their reputation within the industry.

During November and December, Column5, in conjunction with our client DNB, three interesting and informative webcasts ran on the exciting and rewarding journey taken by DNB ASA, Norway’s largest financial services group.

This series of webcasts focused on the following specific and important elements of Enterprise Performance Management:

• Financial Consolidation for Statutory and Regulatory Reporting
• Intercompany Reconciliation
• The Last Mile of Financial Reporting

Each topic was underpinned by informing the attendees how SAP EPM solutions help companies achieve excellence and efficiency based on this real life DNB example.

In the last article we looked at the definition and content of the EPM Maturity Model.

In this article we’ll look at how to gauge EPM Maturity and how to identify areas to improve. At the core of the Maturity Model is the definition of:

• Right Model
• Right Audience
• Right Time

Across these definitions we lay a scale that moves from low levels of maturity to high levels of maturity:

Organizations need to plan, measure and manage across Strategy, Operations and Finance. Isn’t that what Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) is all about? It seems like a simple formula. But what about if we change the question to ask what makes successful EPM and successful organizations? If we start with the definition that “Successful EPM drives organizations that dramatically outperform their competitors in terms of both financial and non-financial results” – this gives a very different perspective on the importance and value of EPM. It also means that you need to have a mechanism and framework to objectively review your EPM capabilities and relative maturity.

At Column5 we always advocate the approach to EPM that yields the highest value returned to our clients and EPM users in general. One emerging best practice in EPM is adopting packaged content in lieu of custom developed solutions for your EPM functionality. The advantages are legion: faster time to value, more robust functionality, enhanced performance, improved supportability, lower project cost and total cost of ownership over time. Packaged content is most applicable when facing standard requirements that are consistent across customers.

Need to calculate a grand total dynamically?  Shifting of Local Members giving you a headache?  I previously used Indirect() functions, but I discovered with larger reports this put a drag on reporting performance.  To sum from the first report column to the last report column I was using something like this  =SUM(EPMPOSITION(1):INDIRECT(ADDRESS(ROW(),COLUMN()-1))), which is not considered best practice but I got results!

The SAP definition: “EPMALLMEMBERS is used to perform a calculation (such as sum or average) on all the members displayed in a row or column axis, whether the axis contains one or several dimensions”

HOW?  Here are some examples:

SAP has a portfolio of Consolidation solutions with their own unique positioning and the SAP Financial Consolidation (FC) software is an enterprise solution offered to companies looking to improve and speed up their financial close – without sacrificing quality control and compliance.

FC became part of the SAP EPM portfolio through the acquisition of BusinessObjects in 2007.  BusinessObjects itself acquired the French software vendor Cartesis who originally marketed Financial Consolidation as Cartesis Magnitude.  With a large and loyal customer base throughout Europe and Japan, FC has a particularly strong focus on statutory consolidation requirements within large multinational organisations that have complex and evolving corporate structures across multiple reporting standards (e.g. IFRS and local GAAP).

Column5 and I have seen a lot of things over the years in the EPM space. I have been working on the technical side of BPC MS since 2000, BPC NW since 2007, and BPC NW on HANA since 2012, having implemented it around the world over 1000 times.

I have a dream to, at some point, write a book of everything I have seen over the years. If investors knew what was really going on deep within some of the world’s datacenters, I think some heads would be rolling! I won’t mention ANY NAMEs but some of them are the who’s who of worldwide companies!

I keep running into the same thing over and over and over again, whether it is hosted by a 3rd party or implemented on-site at a client. The challenges start with a common element that is surprisingly easy to fix: No one seems to take care of the servers and technology!