Plan. Analyze. Decide. Why Integrated Planning and Analytics Are Indispensable in 2026.
Würzburg, March 31, 2026 – BARC has published the BARC Score Integrated Planning & Analytics 2026. The report evaluates 17 leading software vendors based on diverse criteria such as functionality, business user friendliness, portfolio integration, product strategy, customer satisfaction, and financial results, making it one of the most comprehensive independent analyses of the IP&A market.
The results show: Integrated planning and analytics are more important than ever, yet full implementation remains an unfulfilled task for most organizations. Less than 20% of companies have fully integrated planning and analytics. The majority still relies on time-consuming data transfers between isolated software environments – a structural barrier to agility and data-driven decision-making.
Integrated Planning & Analytics (IP&A) combines strategic, financial (FP&A), and operational planning (xP&A) with reporting, dashboarding, and AI-driven insights on a unified data foundation, creating the basis for faster, more informed decisions in an increasingly volatile environment.
“Organizations that still operate planning and analytics in silos are leaving critical potential untapped. Those who want to make fast, informed decisions in a volatile environment need a unified data foundation – and software that seamlessly connects strategic, financial, and operational planning with analytics. The BARC Score IP&A 2026 shows which vendors already meet this standard today,” says Dr. Christian Fuchs, Senior Analyst at BARC.
Current Trends in the Performance Management Market 2026
- Data management tops the list. High-quality, consistent, and reliable data forms the foundation for informed decisions, drives innovation, and enables the use of advanced technologies such as AI.
- User-friendly software with self-service capabilities is key. Empowering business users to independently update plans and forecasts reduces IT dependency, shortens cycle times, and increases agility.
- Unified CPM – the unification of planning, reporting, analytics, and financial consolidation – either through all-in-one platforms or integrated best-of-breed solutions.
- Simulations and scenario analyses are indispensable in today’s dynamic environment. These capabilities enable organizations to evaluate alternative scenarios, identify risks, and prepare for critical situations.
- AI is the transformative technology of our time. 98% of companies expect AI to address future challenges in performance management.
Key Market Developments
The IP&A market is maturing, but vendors vary in their speed of innovation. The central innovation theme across all vendors is currently agentic AI:
- AI-powered planning as well as reporting and analysis as primary focus areas
- AI support for consolidation, closing, and group accounting
- Relief of users, process optimization, task automation, and workflow management
- Conversational AI assistants (copilots) based on natural language interaction
- Role-based and domain-specific AI agents to support modelers, planners, analysts, and administrators
- Environments for managing and developing custom AI agents
Vendors Evaluated in BARC Score IP&A 2026
Anaplan, Board, Corporate Planning, IBM, Infor, insightsoftware, Jedox, OneStream, Oracle, Pigment, Planful, Prophix, SAP, Unit4, Vena Solutions, Wolters Kluwer | CCH Tagetik, Workday
About the BARC Score
The BARC Score is BARC’s annual evaluation of software markets in business intelligence, analytics, and performance management. It combines market presence with insights from BARC’s extensive user surveys, delivering a balanced, independent assessment of leading vendors.
The BARC Score Integrated Planning & Analytics 2026 is available now.
