The Buzz about SAP Business Planning and Consolidations 10.1, version for SAP NetWeaver, powered by SAP HANA

[pras_chatterjee]

There’s a buzz about the latest release of SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC) 10.1, version for SAP NetWeaver, powered by SAP HANA. Having been released into the ramp-up program at the end of December this new release is now officially available for early access customers to download. But just what’s the buzz then about a seemingly normal software release?  It’s all to do with what this new release delivers, to both current BPC customers, as well as a wider audience of SAP customers who use a business planning solution based on the SAP NetWeaver platform.  Customers may now access new key features and functionality including:

·A NEW Embedded model with tighter integration with SAP Business Warehouse to maximize investment

·A NEW HTML5 Web Client for smoother navigation and mobile readiness

·Enhanced Scalability & Performance for faster decision making leveraging SAP HANA

As described by Uwe Fischer in his recent blog, with SAP BPC 10.1 the Embedded (former Unified) Model brings together the end user flexibility of the existing BPC NW data model (based on the BPC 10.0 paradigm) and the BW-IP / PAK based models (tight integration with BW).  The BPC Standard Model will continue to be supported in BPC 10.1NW.

Customers evaluating the BPC Embedded Model, coming from a BPC 7.X/10.0 environment will be pleased to take advantage of the following new features available to them such as:

·Deeper BW Integration – ability to access data and masterdata from infocubes based on similar (Multiple Key Figure) data structure

·Planning Sessions – easy creation of “What-If” scenarios based on full data sets, optimized by SAP HANA

·Matrix Security

·Calculated Key Figures / Inverse Formulas - Dimension members defined by a formula* with input enablement

·Cell Locking - Keep measure values fixed upon calculations when performing items such as disaggregation’s or inverse formulas

Further highlights to the features and functionality that are introduced in this latest release are provided on the SAP Analytics Blog.

Want more? Then why not watch the new series of videos on YouTube, which have been created to allow you to experience what’s possible in SAP Business Planning and Consolidation 10.1, version for SAP NetWeaver. This series of 12 videos, which I’ll share in two blog posts, highlights a step-wise process, showing just how easy it is to incorporate BW-IP / PAK models into a new Embedded Model. Here are links to the first six videos:

In this video, with the new HTML5 client for administration, leverage the integration native in SAP Business Planning and Consolidation 10.1 to create models based on existing BW InfoProviders.  Watch how existing BW MasterData can be consumed in the BPC Embedded Model real time.

In the scenario above, witness how the Unified Model in SAP BPC 10.1NW uses the new HTML5 Admin layer to assign users to teams and configure work status.  This is similar to the functionality available in the standard BPC paradigm and further moving to greater end user flexibility.

With the new HTML5 Web Client watch how easy Input Schedules can be created in the Embedded Model based on BW queries.  The Web Client also allows for a greater level of mobile readiness. 

In this video, Business Process Flows (BPF’s) are introduced in the Embedded Model.  This is a feature greatly leveraged by standard BPC customers and is now available for use by the BW-IP/PAK users.  With Business Process Flows, users are guided through a sequence of tasks within a defined business process (e.g. Sales Planning, Cost Center Planning).

Within BPF’s multiple tasks are available to use within the various processes.  In this video watch how the activities and tasks required for planning activities leveraging templates are created within the Standard Model.

Once a Business Process Flow has been created, create an instance for a particular time period for planning activities and initiate for users to leverage.

Looks easy doesn’t it? I hope that you’re now feeling the “buzz” about this release too! Don’t forget to watch out for links to the other six videos in my next blog post.

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