<img src="https://certify.alexametrics.com/atrk.gif?account=3HHNq1DlQy20Y8" style="display:none" height="1" width="1" alt="">
iStock-955408614

SAP Analytics
Thought Leadership

What is an Installation Consultant? – Part 1: Installation vs. Technical Consultants

Posted by Charles Dagaev on Mon, Jan 07, 2013 @ 09:01 AM

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)

Death of the Budget – Long Live the Rolling Forecast

Posted by Martin Lloyd on Thu, Dec 27, 2012 @ 09:12 AM

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

Retail Analytics: Understanding The Weather

Posted by Jamison Chochrek on Tue, Dec 11, 2012 @ 09:12 AM

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

EPM Training: From Strategy to Execution

Posted by Jennifer Harlan on Thu, Dec 06, 2012 @ 09:12 AM

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)

BPC for Multiple Languages: Found in Translation

Posted by Adam Schulang on Tue, Dec 04, 2012 @ 09:12 AM

As Column5 continues to reach out to the global marketplace and engage clients with an international presence and user base, developing Business Planning & Consolidation (BPC) with multiple language capabilities has become all the more important. I recently came across a customer challenge that illustrates how getting it right often means keeping it simple.

Topics: Best Practices, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Training, Innovation

What Should an SAP BPC Implementation Team Look Like?

Posted by Ian Garrington on Tue, Nov 27, 2012 @ 09:11 AM

Click here for an updated version of this blog!

It seems like another age now, looking back at the various roles I had to play as an OutlookSoft implementation consultant. Often working by myself, or if I was lucky, with the assistance of a another more junior consultant, I was expected to liaise with the client to analyse requirements, produce a design, build, test, and deploy the solution while at the same time providing customer training and technical infrastructure expertise. My evenings were typically spent trawling websites and forums, keeping up with the latest service packs and patches along with findings from other consultants out in the field. The saying 'Jack of all trades, master of none' pretty well sums up what a BPC consultant needed to be in those simpler times.

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

EPM Implementations: The Cost of Buying on Price Alone

Posted by Rick Bryant on Thu, Nov 15, 2012 @ 09:11 AM

"The bitterness of poor quality is remembered long after the sweetness of low price has faded from memory."-Aldo Gucci

Topics: Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Training, Performance, Value, Implementation

The Cloud: EPM Bust or Solution?

Posted by David Den Boer on Tue, Nov 13, 2012 @ 12:11 PM

A cloud buster is a device invented by Austrian Wilhelm Reich, who claimed to be able to produce rain by draining energy from the cloud--effectively "busting a cloud." This far-fetched claim reminds me of some of the outlandish claims being made about how revolutionary cloud technology is these days. The fact is, the cloud has its place for some customers, but it is not quite the ultimate enterprise performance management (EPM)solution as it may be billed. The goal of this post is to discuss the realities, pros, and cons of the cloud deployment model that is becoming more popular in the market.

Topics: Thought Leadership, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Cloud, Performance, Value, BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation)

The Easy Way to Increase EPM ROI - Part 1

Posted by Jonathon Pause on Thu, Nov 08, 2012 @ 08:11 AM

Like it or not, we are a business society of metrics and when it comes to enterprise performance management (EPM), few are more important than return on investment (ROI). You have two ways to increase your EPM ROI: increase the gain from investment or reduce the cost of investment. We are steadfast believers that partnering with Column5 is the best way to optimize your gains, but today I want to discuss how you can control your costs, no matter the size of your company. The easiest way to reduce costs is to focus on reducing your cost per model (application BPC 7.5 and earlier).

Topics: Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), EPM ROI, Rapid Deployment Systems, Performance, Value, Implementation, BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation)

Beyond Spreadsheets: The Future of EPM

Posted by David Den Boer on Tue, Nov 06, 2012 @ 07:11 AM

Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) has come a long way from solutions that were first seen almost two decades ago. Of course, it could be argued that the first “EPM Technology” was the spreadsheet—dating back more than 30 years now.

Topics: Process Improvement, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Business Intelligence (BI), Performance, Roadmap

Subscribe

Recent Posts

Posts by Topic

see all

3  S T E P S

To Enhance Your EPM Performance:

 1.Get Your Ultimate Guide to Improving SAP EPM Performance

ebook 2

 Learn what could be contributing to your poor performance and how to diagnose common problems. Get tips that will empower you and your team to improve the  performance  of your system in order to get the most out of your SAP EPM Investment.

Get the e-Book

 

2.  Test Your BPC Performance 

Benchmark 2

Get a BPC performance report card and custom report to identify performance issues you may not even know you have.

Test my BPC

 

  3. Get Your EPM Assessment  

Assessment

Our assessment delivers a complete, best practice roadmap for you to follow.  We’ll work together to assess what you need to pivot your financial forecasting, planning, reporting and analysis to handle the compressed requirements from the volatile COVID-19 environment. 

New Assessment