Why Invest in SAP BPC?
By Sam Sliman, President, Optimal Solutions Integration
Adoption of the SAP Business Objects Planning & Consolidation application (still commonly referred to as SAP BPC) has skyrocketed since SAP bought OutlookSoft in 2007.
According to SAP, the number of SAP BPC customers had tripled by 2010, and from what Optimal is seeing, the pace of adoption has accelerated over the past year, with all signs pointing to the trend continuing.
Business planning and consolidation products are nothing new - so why are businesses increasingly investing in SAP BPC? The reasons are many -- ease-of-use, enhanced functionality, product maturity, faster implementation, easier integration with SAP, minimal learning curve, etc. -- but at the end of the day it is the ROI and business value that drives investments in enterprise technology.
In today’s turbulent global economy, businesses need a proven, easy-to-use tool for streamlining financial reporting and forecasting processes -- one that delivers rapid ROI and business value that is measurable. SAP BPC is the best tool for the job.
This is why SAP acquired OutlookSoft and invested so heavily in porting it to the SAP NetWeaver platform; this is why SAP BPC is gathering such steam; and this is one of the top reasons why Optimal has just acquired The Glenture Group -- an original OutlookSoft partner and a well established consulting firm widely regarded as one of the best at delivering the SAP BPC solution.
The SAP Business Objects Planning & Consolidation application falls under SAP’s analytic solutions umbrella and is grouped with SAP’s offering of EPM solutions. Gartner recently named SAP a worldwide market share leader in business intelligence (BI), analytics and performance management software.
In March of 2011, Forrester conducted a study to measure the total economic impact of SAP BusinessObjects EPM solutions adopted by four global companies. Forrester modeled a ‘representative company’ from its findings. The results are compelling, with SAP BPC leading the way:
- Total annual cost savings via improved reporting efficiency: $898,272
- Total annual cost savings via improved financial consolidation: $481,920
- Total annual cost savings via improved forecast efficiency: $90,000
- Total annual cost savings via improved planning accuracy: $64,800
- Total annual cost savings via improved ability to identify underperforming products and sales channels: $27,000
- Total annual cost savings via improved capital cost efficiency: $96,000
Forrester also calculated an aggregate 114% first year ROI and a payback period within 24 months for a company adopting SAP EPM solutions.
As the market demand for EPM solutions has grown (and will continue to grow), SAP has continued growing, innovating and investing in its EPM solutions, particularly SAP BPC -- available in versions for both the Microsoft and SAP NetWeaver platforms.
Combining Glenture and Optimal’s EPM experience and capabilities -- particularly delivering SAP BPC solutions -- makes Optimal an even more formidable player in these increasingly vital solution areas.
The Glenture acquisition represents Optimal’s investment in SAP BPC. From our experience implementing SAP BPC and from seeing its genuine immediate- and long-term business value, we are excited to put more skin in the SAP BPC game.
Read Optimal press release: Optimal Solutions Accelerates Growth Strategy with Glenture Acquisition
Want to know what your peers are doing on the financial planning/consolidation front? Take the Optimal SAP Quick Poll: Got SAP BPC Plans?
For more on SAP BPC read: Why SAP BPC Now?
