In a world that is changing rapidly – due to technological innovations, global markets or unexpected crises – companies are faced with the challenge of always being flexible and adaptive. Traditional planning approaches based on fixed assumptions, rigid annual budgets and simple projections are reaching their limits and are often no longer sufficient to remain competitive in a dynamic environment.
The speed of change affects all sectors and company sizes. Market conditions change suddenly, customer preferences evolve and external factors such as geopolitical tensions or global crises can turn entire business models upside down. The consequence for controllers and company management is that they have to revise rigid, long-term plans more and more often.
Understanding market changes and the associated new requirements is essential for companies because it enables them to adapt to current conditions and remain competitive. If companies know what is changing in the market, they can adapt their products, services and strategies accordingly to meet the needs of their customers. This understanding also helps to identify risks early and seize opportunities before the competition does. This enables companies to secure their future viability and achieve sustainable success.
What does this mean? Business planning must be flexible and adaptable. Companies should regularly review their strategy and, if necessary, adapt it to current market changes and new requirements. This includes, for example, revising targets, optimizing resources or developing new products and services. Such proactive planning enables companies to minimize risks and take advantage of opportunities. For long-term success, business planning must not remain static, but must react dynamically to changes. This ability is becoming increasingly important for controllers and decision-makers. In this respect, it is time to redesign the strategic approach and operational implementation with regard to planning.
Traditional planning systems are often static and time-consuming. For these reasons, they are no longer suitable for mapping the complexity and rapid pace of change in today’s world. Instead, companies need flexible, iterative processes that can be continuously adapted. Digitalization plays a decisive role here. Modern software applications make it possible to combine planning, analysis and forecasting in an integrated platform.
The following key points form the basis of modern business planning:
Agility instead of rigidity
Companies need flexible planning models that allow them to react to changes at short notice. Instead of one-off budgets, modern companies rely on continuous planning and scenario analyses.
Flexibility of the planning tool
The planning tool should make it possible to update and adapt plans quickly if the framework conditions require it by offering simple options to change data or run through scenarios.
Data-driven decisions
The amount of available data is growing exponentially. It is crucial to use this data in real time to make informed decisions. This is where digital planning tools and analytics solutions come into play. These integrate the latest data and thus help to keep operational planning dynamic. This allows companies to recognize early on when adjustments need to be made.
Simulation capability
Scenarios and what-if analyses help to identify risks and exploit opportunities. Good planning tools should make it possible to run through various scenarios in order to understand the effects of changes. This enables companies to react quickly to new situations.
Greater transparency and better collaboration
Business planning should not be a monolithic process, but should be designed transparently across teams so that all those involved can react and adapt their strategies according to the framework conditions.
User-friendliness
To ensure that planning remains truly agile, the planning tool should be easy to use so that changes can be implemented quickly at short notice.
Integration
Ideally, the planning software can be integrated into other systems – such as financial software, warehouse management or CRM – to ensure a holistic view of the company.
The key points of successful business planning outlined above show that suitable planning tools should support the flexibility and adaptability of planning. This enables companies to react quickly to changes, making planning not only more efficient but also more resilient to unforeseen events and developments.
In this context, SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) offers a modern, integrated platform that supports companies in making their planning processes more efficient and flexible. It combines data analysis, forecasting and planning in a user-friendly interface that enables both business departments and controllers to access up-to-date data in real time and make informed decisions.
Thanks to the following features, modern approaches to business planning can be easily implemented with the help of SAC:
Data-driven approach in real time
SAP Analytics Cloud integrates data from various sources so that planning is based on up-to-date and accurate information. This ensures a realistic assessment of the situation and better planning results. The seamless approach enables access to the latest data in real time for planning.
Scenario planning and what-if analyses
SAC can be used to model various scenarios, for example to simulate the impact of geopolitical developments on supply chains, production or finances. This functionality helps with planning and decision-making by allowing the effects of various developments to be simulated and used as a basis for decision-making.
Automation and efficiency
Thanks to automated data updates and planning functionalities, planners save time and can focus on strategic decisions, which increases agility in planning. AI-supported forecasts ensure more precise predictions and an accelerated planning process. In addition, the usability for end users is very high – in SAC itself and also in connection with Databricks as part of SAP Business Data Cloud.
Collaboration
SAP Analytics Cloud promotes team collaboration by enabling shared dashboards and analyses. This enables different departments to make joint decisions based on the latest data. Multiple users can work on reports and plans simultaneously, leave comments and track changes. This makes planning more transparent and efficient.
Integration with SAP and non-SAP systems
As a cloud solution, SAC can be seamlessly integrated into existing SAP systems (e.g. SAP S/4HANA) and other data sources. This provides a holistic view of the operational situation.
Value driver trees and simulations
Graphical representations that show the most important influencing factors (value drivers) on certain key figures or targets make the relationships between the various parameters clear: for example, how are sales, costs or margins influenced by individual variables? In SAP Analytics Cloud, users can use value driver trees to identify which areas have a particular impact on planning and where any measures should be applied. Simulations make it possible to run through various scenarios to assess the impact of geopolitical changes and adjust planning accordingly.
User-friendly interface
SAC’s intuitive user interface enables even non-experts to create their own reports, dashboards and plans in a short space of time. This promotes team collaboration and reduces dependency on IT.
Ready-to-use business content
The “Integrated Financial Planning” business content provides the basis for business planning for the integrated data model, including a driver-based planning logic that links the subplans with each other. This content can be used as a template for individual developments.
In a constantly changing world, it is essential for companies to rethink their planning processes and adapt them to the new circumstances. Agility, access to real-time data and transparent collaboration are crucial keys to success. Traditional, linear planning approaches are increasingly being replaced by agile, adaptive and data-driven models. Companies must learn not to avoid uncertainty, but to actively manage it – through flexibility, continuous learning and the ability to make decisions quickly. This is the only way to remain successful in a volatile world.
SAP Analytics Cloud supports companies in making their operational planning more resilient and agile by using data in real time, simulating scenarios and recognizing risks at an early stage. SAC enables planning to be more transparent, flexible and data-based. This makes SAC an important tool for business success in times of geopolitical uncertainty.