SAP Analytics
Thought Leadership

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. 

Should you and/or your BPC power users and support staff use traditional classroom training or online learning for your SAP BPC training? The divide exists between the single fundamental belief that online learning lacks the “humanistic” aspect of training. While many could go back and forth about the pros and cons of each side, both share a commonality: the idea of competency-based training (CBT). CBT is a methodology that believes in focusing training on single units or competencies for the learner to be able to fully consume. This methodology breaks down into the 3 components below related to improving your BPC software implementation:

• Functional: Technical Skills for a position (Accountant vs. Consultant)
• Personal: Individual Attributes and Personality (Ability to communicate, collaborate, etc.)
• Business: Problem Solving in the Workplace (Critical Thinking)

The basic reason why a lot of companies are making the shift toward CBT is to have the ability to run data analysis on each learner. Due to the nature of this training, learners are challenged to complete tasks within a target goal and must retry the skill in order to continue.  If you're not using this style of training for you, your BPC power users and support staff, keep reading to learn why Competency-Based Training is the way to go!

Since the beginning of 2020, Column5 Academy has implemented this methodology to have better insight to our learners, course content, and overall effectiveness of our training. With your EPM software features, users, and support needs changing constantly, it is important to know what content needs to be developed, reorganized, and possibly retired.

How many children are now learning via laptop or pad on the couch?  And how many of you are now having to take virtual SAP BPC training since face-to-face training has been affected due to social distancing?

Many of us in the workforce have taken eLearning courses ourselves – which can be defined as educational content that is consumed via digital technology. This may surprise some, but eLearning has been around for about 22 years now and has been evolving at an explosive pace. From plastic laminated slides, to CD-ROM disks, and now micro-eLearning on your cell phone, learning and development has been continuously impacting our youth as well as ourselves.

It’s obvious.  We are constantly bombarded with alerts, texts, emails, and ads every single day.  In fact, you probably received an e-mail or two as you read that last sentence.  We have grown used to accessing information whenever and wherever we need to – from the moment we wake up and start scrolling through new emails and checking the weather while brushing our teeth to reading the latest headlines while standing in line at Starbucks (and then quickly refreshing our Instagram feed to see how many new likes we got on our latest post.)  We are all used to interacting with and consuming information in a shorter timeframe. Believe it or not, the same is true for how we want to learn.  Whether that’s Googling how to cook a hard-boiled egg, or watching a quick YouTube on publishing a set of books in BPC – we want to learn it, and we want to learn it NOW! 

From November 2015 to November 2016, with 9 months on site, Column5 worked at the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA), which acts as the central bank for the KSA, to implement a Budgeting, Planning and Forecasting system using SAP BPC 10.1 NW on BW 7.4. This is the story of that implementation and the key factors behind the success of the project.

In terms of EPM training, there is a broad range of offerings that a company can utilize.  Whether it be on-site, workshops, or customized training portals, EPM Academy has administered thousands of sessions in pretty much any format you can imagine.  At this point, with over 10 years of EPM training experience, it seems we’ve seen it all. But by far, the most effective format of BPC education is customized eLearning. EPM Academy’s customized BPC eLearning training is in a league of its own, and will greatly benefit any type of organization, regardless of size or number of BPC users.

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:

Since its early OutlookSoft days, BPC has always been touted as a tool that enables finance teams to become independent from IT so they can wield control of the system during crunch time.  Fast forward to SAP acquiring BPC, many SAP shops pride themselves on have the internal capabilities to own their systems, period.  It isn’t shocking that many of our clients have come ready to meet the challenge of proper care and usage with an internal team.  Column5 applauds this approach and has created numerous tools to help your team succeed:

Access to Advanced Training

Before being allowed to drive a vehicle unaccompanied, we are required to undergo training on both the theory (stopping distances, speed restrictions, road signs, etc.) and practice (actually handling a car) of driving, as well as passing a number of tests.