Once, integrated end-to-end planning was a distant dream. Today, digitalization and the right holistic approach can bring it much closer.
In today’s large enterprises, the business of formulating a plan (and putting it into action) is as complex as it has ever been. Sales, operations, finance, investment, inventory, HR: all of these functions and more must be planned with as much care and accuracy as possible.
Therein lies the challenge for many organizations. Each of these functions has its own planning process, but they tend to operate in silos. Different systems are used, different data formats, and different approaches. Bringing them all together to see the bigger picture can be a difficult and daunting task.
Build a more complete picture – step by step
Digitalization has made corporate planning easier and quicker, but many enterprises are still struggling to make integrated end-to-end planning a reality. BearingPoint’s technology and business consulting can help you make sense of it all, bringing together your disparate planning functions step by step to build a more complete picture that brings greater responsiveness, visibility and strategic value.
Why build your integrated end-to-end planning?
Reliability – end-to-end integration brings a level of consistency and trust when it comes to how planning is viewed. While plan figures by definition cannot be 100% correct, they can be relied on with more confidence and certainty, and therefore have greater value.
Strategic impact – planning acquires greater strategic significance when it becomes integrated and end-to-end. Because you can see across your whole business, planning can directly inform corporate strategy. Interdependencies can be seen and understood quickly.
Agility – integrated, accurate planning gives your organization a far greater ability to react. You’re able to pivot your direction and activity in response to market and competitor changes within days, not months.
Risk – greater integration of planning means that companies can take more informed risks. They’re also less susceptible to changes in market dynamics over the medium term – and at the very least, can react quicker to mitigate them.
Effectiveness – in simple terms, quality of planning is improved by enhancing integration. Planning becomes more accurate and more grounded.
Efficiency – an integrated approach to planning brings efficiencies in both time and cost. With systems and data formats aligned, gathering, processing and reporting can be done quicker.
The value of advanced statistical methods
End-to-end integration may be the ultimate goal, but in the pursuit of better planning there is a second critical shift that many enterprises overlook. The use of advanced statistical methods transforms planning, and enables you to predict the future with more clarity rather than rely on past data to inform decision-making. These methods bring much greater certainty and automation, especially in forecasting.
BearingPoint’s unique approach
- We help you go further on your journey towards integrated end-to-end planning. We combine this with our understanding of building and using modern system architectures, as well as advanced statistical methodologies for more accurate and reliable planning.
- BearingPoint has the expertise to deliver end-to-end integrated planning, unlike other consultancies that only offer specialisms in certain functions. This is thanks to our dedicated global planning and performance management community, with specialists in all major functional planning areas.
- We help you define your specific planning landscape process map, and identify the major gaps in integration. Together we assemble a roadmap based on that, prioritizing gaps to address using a matrix of benefit versus complexity and cost.
- We leverage strong partnerships with proven planning integration platforms, including SAP Analytics Cloud, Anaplan and OneStream integrated business planning software. We combine this expertise with our proprietary technology assets, including Python-based AI. We define and integrate planning applications in modern data management architectures and take advantage of new ERP systems (such as SAP S/4) in turning planning into reality.
- We provide pre-configured assets to speed up the transformation towards integrated end-to-end planning.
- Your enterprise may have a huge number of planning processes and key metrics. We help you to think in terms of data flows, not data silos. This means changing and aligning the way you collect, analyze and report your data.
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Dr. Frank TiefenbeckPartnerGermany
