Early Morning Insights – 5:00 am session: Transforming Planning with SAP Analytics for Cloud (SAC)

In the world of business, precise planning can be quite the challenge, often hampered by siloed data and system limitations. The solution? We must elevate our systems to a new level of intelligence, with advanced predictive models that connect data, fostering data-driven planning.

During multiple Finance Transformation leadership roles I have helped connect the dots across financial planning, demand planning, spend planning, product cost planning, and more to create predictability within the planning process. At MIT Professional Education AI ML Leading Business Growth program, we delved into the realm of machine learning models to enhance predictability across various models. I understand its not easy to bring it all together however we have an opportunity with SAC to change the status quo.

SAP Analytics for cloud is definitely pushing the envelope to bring us the next-gen planning and analytics . Here are my key takeaways from the session today:

• SAP SAC seamlessly integrates data from both external and internal SAP sources, transforming planning into an end-to-end experience, underpinned by native SAP integrations.
• SAC empowers us to incorporate influencers, such as external data like weather patterns and currency fluctuations, supercharging predictive capabilities.
• The user-friendly interface makes dashboard creation a breeze. In our hands-on exercise, we effortlessly crafted multiple views.
• Preconfigured content across various domains simplifies implementations, sparing you the effort of starting from scratch.
• Transparent explanations for AI-driven calculations foster trust and informed decision-making.
• The possibilities for comparing planned vs. actual performance and conducting variance analysis are boundless.

I extend my gratitude to Nicolas Plocharski, Paul McDonnell, Daniel Davis, Dean Farrow and the SAP team for a well-organized and insightful session. I eagerly await future sessions and opportunities for collaboration.

I’m keen to hear your insights, challenges, and experiences with planning tools, and the advantages you’ve uncovered. Let’s keep the conversation going.

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