This exact list is, of course, debatable from one BPC Deployment Expert to the next. In fact, I am curious to see what other experts think. Here are my top 5 features that are often overlooked in SAP’s Business Planning and Consolidation & EPM offerings.
Also known as BPFs. This is a free feature embedded within BPC that requires minimal consulting expense if the user takes the appropriate training. How to achieve this:
Topics: Thought Leadership, EPM 10
“Is our BPC implementation working well? How are competitors using the same software? What are the best practices? What is the ROI?”
Topics: Center of Excellence, Thought Leadership, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Financial Close, Value, BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation)
Remember the great 1996 classic flick, Jerry Maguire? Do you recall that moment early in the movie when Tom Cruise’s character writes his memo before he got whacked? His coworkers clapped and cheered. They did so because they believed in what he said. Then corporate reality set in and they had to get back to work… back to business as usual! So did Bob “Business as Usual” Sugar win in the end?
Throughout the movie many characters call the memo a “Mission Statement”. Well, folks, after 20 years I have had it! I am writing my “memo” in this blog. While I am not staying up late and photocopying my “memo” to be hand placed on my colleague’s seats, I hope this has a (somewhat) similar effect.
Topics: Best Practices, Thought Leadership, EPM ROI, Performance, Implementation
Mike Sullivan on Tue, Sep 23, 2014 @ 11:09 AM
The landscape of an EPM project is literally changing right before our eyes. In fact, we posted a blog on this topic not long ago and realized that there were several updates that needed to be made. Not because the post was incorrect but because the practice in the field had changed in a few short years.
Topics: Thought Leadership, Project Management, Implementation
This is a 100% true story. The names have been altered to protect the innocent (and the guilty)!
Everyone likes a great story. What makes a story great is a plot, a villain, and a hero. What makes this particular story more interesting is that it is a business story. It also one that clients keep asking me to repeat to their teams, peers and even their executive staff.
Topics: Best Practices, Thought Leadership, Analytics, EPM ROI, Microsoft, Implementation
Michael Sheard on Wed, Aug 06, 2014 @ 07:08 AM
The Excel Add-In reporting tool of EPM 10 combines the features of Excel with EPM functionality. A feature within Excel that is sometimes useful to meet more advanced reporting needs is macros programmed using Visual Basic (VBA). This can achieve features that are not achievable through EPM 10 functionality.
Topics: Best Practices, Excel, Thought Leadership, Analytics, EPM 10, Value
I have had the pleasure of being involved with at least 100 BPC (OLAP) deployments over the past two decades in some role or another. I wanted to share what I believe are the 7 Deadly Sins of a BPC Implementation. Over the past 9 months I have been speaking with new clients to my organization who have had prior experience with another firm claiming to understand BPC. Seventy-five percent (75%) of these discussions involved most, if not all of the aspects described below.
Topics: Best Practices, Thought Leadership, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Project Management, Performance, Value, Implementation, BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation)
The PowerPoint reporting package for the executive review meeting will consist of income statements, capital spending reports and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Comments will be included, and there will be slides/reports at the region and total corporate level. You have spent hours copying the Excel “reports” and pasting them into the PowerPoint slides. Also, in order to produce the numbers for the region and total corporate reports, you had to combine the multiple Excel spreadsheets from the site analysts. This included calculating the KPIs at the region and corporate levels. You finally have everything ready for tomorrow’s first executive review meeting, although it’s 9:15 PM and you’re still at the office.
Topics: Center of Excellence, Excel, Thought Leadership, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Value, Implementation, BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation), Forecasting
This week has been somewhat of a client reunion week in that three of our clients from the “OutlookSoft” days are looking at upgrading to BPC v10. Enough to where I had three meetings that felt like one topic three times over. That makes me believe there are other SAP BPC clients out there who could benefit from this information. This article is for any existing SAP BPC client who is not currently on v10.
Topics: HANA, Thought Leadership, OutlookSoft, NetWeaver, Roadmap, Microsoft, Implementation, BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation)
Will Leonard on Tue, Jun 17, 2014 @ 10:06 AM
The business blueprint is arguably the most important – and most complex – document that is delivered during an implementation. But how much time should be allotted to this phase?
Topics: Center of Excellence, Best Practices, Thought Leadership, Value, Implementation, BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation)
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