This week has been somewhat of a client reunion week in that three of our clients from the “OutlookSoft” days are looking at upgrading to BPC v10. Enough to where I had three meetings that felt like one topic three times over. That makes me believe there are other SAP BPC clients out there who could benefit from this information. This article is for any existing SAP BPC client who is not currently on v10.
First of all, despite the rumors from Redwood City, SAP is NOT divesting in the Microsoft platform. In fact, we are expecting the release of a new roadmap from SAP soon! Shame on Redwood for saying things that are just not accurate. In fact, the amount of BPC customers today on Microsoft is approximate to that on NetWeaver. It’s not exactly 50-50, but it is pretty close. Additionally, we are seeing a steady mix of BPC business on both platforms as well as HANA. In a nutshell, BPC business is strong and growing. Hopefully that allays some concern about any FUD the market has pushed out there.
The terms v10.1 and “HANA” both indicate the NetWeaver flavor of BPC. I have heard a few customers ask about BPC v10.1 for Microsoft or SQL Server running on HANA and we are not there….yet. Stay tuned to the roadmaps! However for the time being, if you hear v10.1 or HANA that means NetWeaver.
Speaking of HANA, what is it and why would I care? Well HANA is SAP’s wonderful creation of SAP database and in-memory hardware with all the goodies needed to make a database and ultimately the Application that business users are running extremely fast. SAP has developed a technology that brings the database, queries and other system intensive processes into memory where it can execute operations much, much faster.
Last, clients want to understand the level and effort required to upgrade. Sometimes they are just seeking to plan the upgrade and need budget guidance, where other times it is a competitive situation. In almost all situations, it is at least half the cost savings to upgrade BPC to v10 than to deploy any other solution. In some cases, a new deployment can be 3-10x the cost of a BPC upgrade. A couple of key reasons that BPC upgrades are easier and less expensive to achieve are:
- BPC v10 Software is free to existing SAP customers paying support and maintenance.
- Training required for both Admin and User communities is a fraction of the cost/time. Users are calling this “up training” and many users simply require no up training as BPC v10 is that easy.
- Data Pipes and Integration are typically done or require little effort.
- Reports from BPC v7 work in BPC v10. EVDRE’s work as well in BPC v10.
- Processes, logic and code to export metadata, attributes, hierarches and transactional data are often re-used.
- Consulting engagements are a fraction of the time (typically 25-50% of an original deployment). The big factor is if new functionality/enhancements are being added.
Point #6 above brings me to the last point. Any time you do a major version upgrade, it is a chance to revisit the requirements and the alignment of the tool. Sometimes we have functionality we no longer need and often we have new data or areas we need access to. Upgrading to BPC v10 is a good opportunity to revisit the requirements and how BPC is deployed. Even a few enhancements or upgrades can make it feel like a brand new system at a fraction of the cost.
Last but not least of the 30+ clients I have been involved with, 0% have regretted either upgrading to BPC v10 or working with Column5. I guess you could say that BPC v10 and Column5 are batting a 1000!
WEBCAST ON-DEMAND: What You Need to Know About a BPC 10.0 Upgrade
Considering an upgrade to SAP Business Planning and Consolidation (“BPC”) version 10.0? Relevant for both Microsoft and Netweaver versions of BPC, this three part webcast series will dive deep into the topics that must be at the forefront of your mind when planning and executing the upgrade.
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