SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC)
What is SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC)?
Integrated solution for planning and group consolidation based on SAP BW/4HANA as the technical basis with web and Excel front-ends
About SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC)
Self-description of the vendor
SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC) BARC Review & Rating
Provider and product description
SAP was founded in 1972 as a business applications company. Today, with revenues of over €31 billion and more than 107,000 employees, SAP is one of the world’s largest providers of business software.
SAP’s data and analytics portfolio is built on the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP), which provides cloud-based data, analytics, application integration and extension services for all SAP products. It includes solutions for BI, analytics, enterprise planning and performance management. Strategically, SAP is investing heavily in cloud innovation while continuing to support and develop its on-premises solutions. SAP’s data, analytics and EPM solutions are spread across several product lines. While SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) and the on-premises solution SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC) are the core offerings for planning and budgeting, SAP S/4HANA Finance for Group Reporting is the strategic product for financial consolidation and close. For data management, SAP Datasphere and SAP HANA Cloud are the foundation of SAP’s strategic offerings.
SAP BPC is SAP’s recommended product for those requiring an integrated on-premises planning and financial consolidation solution. The product was originally developed by OutlookSoft and based on Microsoft SQL Server as a database platform. Since its acquisition by SAP, a second version for BW has been developed. Capabilities from BW Integrated Planning (SAP’s own former BW-based planning product) were introduced into SAP BPC in release 10.1. The product is an integrated, Microsoft Excel and web-based solution for planning and financial consolidation that can be used to develop individual, workflow-based applications for various kinds of planning topics (e.g., sales, financials etc.) as well as financial consolidation. The latest version uses BW/4HANA as its basis. As an additional front-end option, SAP BPC customers can combine SAP Analytics Cloud with the product’s planning engine. SAP Analytics Cloud can access SAP BPC’s Embedded model (data and structures) using a ‘BPC Live Connection’ without replicating data, thus providing write-back options for planning data directly into SAP BPC’s planning model in BW through write-back enabled queries.
Strengths and challenges of SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC)
BARC’s viewpoint on the product’s strengths and challenges.
Strengths
- Highly scalable on-premises planning and financial consolidation capabilities for web and workflow-based scenarios in SAP BPC based on SAP BW/4HANA.
- Flexible configuration of the consolidation solution via rules. Starter kits with predefined standard functions available.
- Integration with SAP Analytics Cloud as an additional front-end option to access SAP BPC’s Embedded model (data and structures) using a ‘BPC Live Connection’ without replicating data, thus providing write-back options for planning data directly into SAP BPC’s planning model in BW through write-back enabled queries.
- Exclusive connectivity (e.g., live access and direct write-back) and prebuilt content available for SAP’s own data sources and applications (e.g., SAP BPC with SAP BW/4HANA).
Challenges
- The strong focus on cloud products, such as SAP Analytics Cloud, leads to reduced investment in the on-premises EPM and analytics product portfolio (e.g., SAP BPC, SAP BusinessObjects BI).
- SAP BPC Embedded Model: Back end in SAP BW focuses on IT staff for building database (cubes) and queries and is not very business-user-friendly. IT-focused creation of input-ready queries via query designer in Eclipse-based environment.
- Depending on the model variant, different web and Excel-based front-end options (Standard Model vs. Embedded Model).
- BARC’s customer feedback surveys reveal year after year that many customers are dissatisfied with various aspects of SAP BPC. Quotes from some customers indicate that their use of SAP BPC is born out of necessity rather than love for the product.
SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC) User Reviews & Experiences
The information contained in this section is based on user feedback and actual experience with SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC).
The information and figures are largely drawn from BARC’s The BI & Analytics Survey, The Planning Survey, The Financial Consolidation Survey and The Data Management Survey. You can find out more about these surveys by clicking on the relevant links.
Why users buy SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC) and what problems they have using it
- Get independent information on software solutions, market developments and trends in data, analytics, business intelligence, data science and corporate performance management.
- Make data & analytics decisions based on numbers, data, facts and expert knowledge
- Access to all premium articles and all our research, including all software comparison studies, scores and surveys.
- Unlimited access to the BARC media library
- Consume unlimited content anywhere
Full user reviews and KPI results for SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC)
All key figures for SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC) at a glance.
- Get independent information on software solutions, market developments and trends in data, analytics, business intelligence, data science and corporate performance management.
- Make data & analytics decisions based on numbers, data, facts and expert knowledge
- Access to all premium articles and all our research, including all software comparison studies, scores and surveys.
- Unlimited access to the BARC media library
- Consume unlimited content anywhere
Individual user reviews for SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC)
Number of employees
Industry
Source
What do you like best?
Solides und schnelles Tool - breites Anwendungsspektrum.
What do you like least/what could be improved?
Die Frontendschnittstelle kommt langsam in die Jahre.
What key advice would you give to other companies looking to introduce/use the product?
Ausgiebig mit den Liefersystemen testen.
How would you sum up your experience?
Insgesamt gutes Zusammenspiel mit allen anderen Systemen.
Number of employees
Industry
Source
What do you like best?
Integration mit SAP S/4HANA. Einheitliche Planung und Konsolidierung.
What do you like least/what could be improved?
Benutzeroberfläche.
What key advice would you give to other companies looking to introduce/use the product?
Starke Vorbereitung und eine gründliche Bestandsaufnahme.
How would you sum up your experience?
Umfassendes und leistungsstarkes Tool für Finanzplanung und Konsolidierung.
Number of employees
Industry
Source
What do you like best?
Teil des SAP Universums, alles aus einer Hand.
What do you like least/what could be improved?
Teil des SAP Universums. Gebundenheit an SAP Lösungen.
What key advice would you give to other companies looking to introduce/use the product?
Bestes Ergebnis in Verbindung mit anderen SAP Produkten.
How would you sum up your experience?
Gute Ergebnisse, aber etwas kostspielig.
Number of employees
Industry
Source
What do you like best?
Sehr fachbereichsbezogen, bei uns ist keine Involvierung der IT notwendig.
What do you like least/what could be improved?
Für hohe Automatisierung insbesondere in der Datenbereitstellung (via BW) hohes IT Knowhow notwendig, um Daten aus ERP ins BPC zu bekommen (Customizing).
What key advice would you give to other companies looking to introduce/use the product?
Einheitliche Logik / Prozesse im Unternehmen notwendig. Gute Datenqualität als Basis für eine hohe Automatisierung.
How would you sum up your experience?
Sehr gut, insofern guter Implementierungspartner vorhanden ist.
Number of employees
Industry
Source
What do you like best?
Single view. Ease of consolidation. Slice and dice.
What do you like least/what could be improved?
Long time of implementation and customer specific customization.
What key advice would you give to other companies looking to introduce/use the product?
Compare other products and check requirement as per your company’s fitment.
How would you sum up your experience?
Good to start and use.
Number of employees
Industry
Source
What do you like best?
The chance to work with Excel connected with BPC and the automation of manual processes.
What do you like least/what could be improved?
Slow performance and strong IT dependencies for maintenance.
What key advice would you give to other companies looking to introduce/use the product?
It is a good choice if used with SAP ECC transaction system.
How would you sum up your experience?
We can successfully manage corporate finance for a big company with a seamless integration with SAP ecosystem.
Number of employees
Industry
Source
What do you like best?
Einfache Verbindung zu anderen SAP-Produkten.
What do you like least/what could be improved?
Kaum spezifische Eigenentwicklung / Anpassung möglich.
What key advice would you give to other companies looking to introduce/use the product?
Entfaltet volles Potential nur im SAP-Gesamtpaket.
How would you sum up your experience?
–
Number of employees
Industry
Source
What do you like best?
Provides comprehensive capabilities and nice reports.
What do you like least/what could be improved?
User interface could be improved.
What key advice would you give to other companies looking to introduce/use the product?
Make sure you involve all the key stakeholders prior to purchasing, to get their input.
How would you sum up your experience?
It's a pretty good tool.
Number of employees
Industry
Source
What do you like best?
It's generic and able to serve as a self-serve tool for planning.
What do you like least/what could be improved?
It lacks capabilities native to the latest Cloud-based xP&A solutions especially integration to AI and ML tools.
What key advice would you give to other companies looking to introduce/use the product?
Consider the newest Cloud Planning xP&A solutions.
How would you sum up your experience?
It's good but not longer built for the current trends in XP&A
Number of employees
Industry
Source
What do you like best?
SAP integration.
What do you like least/what could be improved?
Restrictions on customization.
What key advice would you give to other companies looking to introduce/use the product?
Conduct a POC.
How would you sum up your experience?
Solid product that does what it purports to.
