SAP S/4 HANA for Finance (formerly SAP Simple Finance) and Business Planning and Consolidation: Architecture review

The biggest change with regards to SAP S/4 HANA for Finance is that there is now a common architecture across SAP BPC, SAP BW, SAP HANA, and SAP ERP. This provides a wealth of benefits, but the most significant is that by using a shared architecture there isn’t a need for data replication, which helps to eliminate the redundancy of data . Customers are provided with quick and direct access to ERP master data and actual data utilizing the in-memory capabilities of the SAP HANA in-memory planning engine.  It’s also important to note that many of the SAP FI/CO tables have been removed and replaced by SAP HANA views. This means less data in the database and better performance.

Another key thing to note about the architecture of SAP S/4 HANA for Finance is the combined use of the Planning Applications Kit (PAK- which is the HANA version of BW-IP) and the BPC Planning Engine. This gives the customers the ability to combine the flexible features from BPC (like Business Process Flows and Work Status) with the mature features from PAK like the planning functions and the central interface to the UI (BW Query).  SAP S/4 HANA for Finance also provides Common Excel and Web UI, which will help improve overall the user experience. Here is a diagram to illustrate:

Next week, one of TruQua’s Partner Principal’s Scott Cairncross will be presenting a session on integrated business planning in SAP S/4 HANA for Finance and how SAP BPC fits into the mix.  For more information on the full line up of sessions visit: www.simplefinancebootcamp.com. Hope to see you there!