Please note that this blog post is also published on https://justperform.com/tips-to-migrate-to-sap-analytics-cloud/
Many organizations, especially those using legacy planning solutions like SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC), plan to move their planning to SAP Analytics Cloud, the state-of-the-art planning & analytics tool.
The main reasons for the organizations to migrate to SAP Analytics Cloud for planning could be:
There are significant reasons for SAP BPC migrations; however, the most pertinent question is how to effectively migrate from SAP BPC to SAP Analytics Cloud for planning.
This blog post aims to provide you with relevant tips/ best practices for migration from SAP BPC (Microsoft/Netweaver versions) to SAP Analytics Cloud for Planning.
Firstly, identify the need for your migration to SAP Analytics Cloud. There is no hard and fast rule that an organization needs to completely migrate its planning to SAP Analytics Cloud. It can also choose other planning scenarios like:
Since there is more than one scenario, stakeholders need to decide the right scenario that works best. Complete migration of an organization's existing planning processes is not the only option while an organization is thinking of using SAP Analytics Cloud for Planning.
Pro Tip: Do a thorough internal assessment of your planning needs before choosing the right path.
In many cases, migration is considered a mere lift and shift of all planning models, transaction data, master data, dimensions and reports. However, a simple lift and shift of processes from SAP BPC to SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) may not be the most effective option.
The migration project gives the organization a golden opportunity to clean up the existing processes and models. If the existing system contains redundant objects like dimensions, master data or reports, this entire baggage gets migrated to SAP Analytics Cloud, making the solution ineffective.
Hence, an in-depth assessment of all the modelling components in the existing SAP BPC version is pivotal in establishing a clean SAP Analytics Cloud solution.
Pro Tip: Performing an in-depth analysis manually can be quite tedious, consider using process mining & system assessment tools to accelerate this step.
While a simple lift and shift may not be effective, it is of great significance to enhance the existing processes to meet growing business requirements. As mentioned, the migration project helps organizations re-address their golden circle approach for planning i.e. the 'WHY', 'WHAT' and 'HOW' of Planning.
It allows them to optimize their processes and refine their value drivers and metrics. This will ensure the processes in SAP Analytics Cloud delivers results and improves business performance.
Pro Tip: Re-assess and Re-calibrate the organization’s drivers, metrics before migration.
Dwight D. Eisenhower said, "Plans are nothing, Planning is everything." So, how well an organization is aligned while creating planning processes is of high importance. Unfortunately, planning is often restricted to a data collection exercise across the departments. But it is more of an entire organization aligning on specific objectives, metrics and value driver trees that drive business performance.
Even while migrating, an organization needs to collaborate with all the relevant planners, business users and information consumers across departments to finalize the metrics and drivers required for planning.
Pro Tip: Don’t make the migration an IT department’s job. Involve all the business users responsible for enterprise planning.
Migration requires many man-hours, especially if the organization is vast and the SAP BPC environment covers processes across entities.
The high manual intervention leads to a rise in inefficiencies involved in the project. Hence, identify the tools that can assist or automate the tedious tasks like coding and assessment involved in the migration activity.
This helps in accelerating the entire project while improving its effectiveness.
Pro Tip: Perform detailed research in the market to identify tools/System integrators that automate major portions of the migration.
Since the migration from SAP BPC to SAP Analytics Cloud may not seem straightforward, organizations need to apply these tips/best practices for migration from SAP BPC to SAP Analytics Cloud for Planning successfully.
With the evolution of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, adopting tools/system integrators that leverage these can be rewarding. These technologies can automate the migration and help organizations focus on process optimization and process refinement thereby resulting in a successful migration to SAP Analytics Cloud.
P.S: Applications that can help organizations in automating their SAP BPC migrations to SAP Analytics Cloud are available on SAP Store. https://store.sap.com/en/product/display-0000059139_live_v1/JustPerform%C2%AE%20Advance%20Migration%...
Migration from SAP BPC to SAP Analytics Cloud
As the business world is confronting unprecedented challenges, organizations' need to plan better and remain proactive continues to rise.
Robust Planning integrated with analytics is indispensable to combat the unpredictable business world.
To help organizations embrace this, SAP Analytics Cloud emerged as a unified solution that integrates planning to analytics for organizations. Gartner recognized it as a visionary in its magic quadrant.
Gartner Magic Quadrant
Many organizations, especially those using legacy planning solutions like SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC), plan to move their planning to SAP Analytics Cloud, the state-of-the-art planning & analytics tool.
The main reasons for the organizations to migrate to SAP Analytics Cloud for planning could be:
- SAP Analytics Cloud is progressing as a single unified solution that combines the power of Planning, Business Intelligence and Predictive Analytics with a better user experience.
- Its seamless integration and connection capabilities with various data sources like SAP HANA, SAP BPC, SAP S/4 HANA, Salesforce, SuccessFactors, SAP Integrated Business Planning (SAP IBP), SAP BW …etc.
- Ease of rolling out various planning functions to many users with no additional infrastructure costs, unlike other on-premise solutions.
There are significant reasons for SAP BPC migrations; however, the most pertinent question is how to effectively migrate from SAP BPC to SAP Analytics Cloud for planning.
This blog post aims to provide you with relevant tips/ best practices for migration from SAP BPC (Microsoft/Netweaver versions) to SAP Analytics Cloud for Planning.
1. Choose the right path
Firstly, identify the need for your migration to SAP Analytics Cloud. There is no hard and fast rule that an organization needs to completely migrate its planning to SAP Analytics Cloud. It can also choose other planning scenarios like:
- Hybrid planning, where an organization can complement its planning in SAP BPC with SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) for Planning. It can expand existing planning capabilities to SAP Analytics Cloud or
- Add new functional/departmental plans in SAP Analytics Cloud while the enterprise level planning is done in SAP BPC. This enables better collaboration and visualization, thereby enhancing the agility in planning or
- Based on the organisation's industry and its cloud readiness, completely migrate its planning processes to SAP Analytics Cloud.
Since there is more than one scenario, stakeholders need to decide the right scenario that works best. Complete migration of an organization's existing planning processes is not the only option while an organization is thinking of using SAP Analytics Cloud for Planning.
Pro Tip: Do a thorough internal assessment of your planning needs before choosing the right path.
2. Don't lift and shift the processes to SAP Analytics Cloud
In many cases, migration is considered a mere lift and shift of all planning models, transaction data, master data, dimensions and reports. However, a simple lift and shift of processes from SAP BPC to SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) may not be the most effective option.
The migration project gives the organization a golden opportunity to clean up the existing processes and models. If the existing system contains redundant objects like dimensions, master data or reports, this entire baggage gets migrated to SAP Analytics Cloud, making the solution ineffective.
Hence, an in-depth assessment of all the modelling components in the existing SAP BPC version is pivotal in establishing a clean SAP Analytics Cloud solution.
Pro Tip: Performing an in-depth analysis manually can be quite tedious, consider using process mining & system assessment tools to accelerate this step.
3. Refine and Enhance the processes prior to migration
While a simple lift and shift may not be effective, it is of great significance to enhance the existing processes to meet growing business requirements. As mentioned, the migration project helps organizations re-address their golden circle approach for planning i.e. the 'WHY', 'WHAT' and 'HOW' of Planning.
It allows them to optimize their processes and refine their value drivers and metrics. This will ensure the processes in SAP Analytics Cloud delivers results and improves business performance.
Pro Tip: Re-assess and Re-calibrate the organization’s drivers, metrics before migration.
4. Collaborate with business users before finalizing the process to be deployed
Dwight D. Eisenhower said, "Plans are nothing, Planning is everything." So, how well an organization is aligned while creating planning processes is of high importance. Unfortunately, planning is often restricted to a data collection exercise across the departments. But it is more of an entire organization aligning on specific objectives, metrics and value driver trees that drive business performance.
Even while migrating, an organization needs to collaborate with all the relevant planners, business users and information consumers across departments to finalize the metrics and drivers required for planning.
Pro Tip: Don’t make the migration an IT department’s job. Involve all the business users responsible for enterprise planning.
5. Eliminate manual inefficiencies involved in the migration to SAP Analytics Cloud
Migration requires many man-hours, especially if the organization is vast and the SAP BPC environment covers processes across entities.
The high manual intervention leads to a rise in inefficiencies involved in the project. Hence, identify the tools that can assist or automate the tedious tasks like coding and assessment involved in the migration activity.
This helps in accelerating the entire project while improving its effectiveness.
Pro Tip: Perform detailed research in the market to identify tools/System integrators that automate major portions of the migration.
Since the migration from SAP BPC to SAP Analytics Cloud may not seem straightforward, organizations need to apply these tips/best practices for migration from SAP BPC to SAP Analytics Cloud for Planning successfully.
With the evolution of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, adopting tools/system integrators that leverage these can be rewarding. These technologies can automate the migration and help organizations focus on process optimization and process refinement thereby resulting in a successful migration to SAP Analytics Cloud.
P.S: Applications that can help organizations in automating their SAP BPC migrations to SAP Analytics Cloud are available on SAP Store. https://store.sap.com/en/product/display-0000059139_live_v1/JustPerform%C2%AE%20Advance%20Migration%...
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