What’s Next for SAP BPC Customers? Why Many are Choosing OneStream

Having worked with finance executives for over 20 years now on software selections, its clear that they prefer to select platforms that can provide them a rapid payback and strong ROI.   They typically also prefer software that provides a stable, consistent environment on which to support their finance processes for 5 – 10 years, and sometimes even longer.  What finance executives don’t appreciate is having the rug pulled out from under them as a vendor announces the end of support for a platform they are relying on, forcing a major upgrade or re-implementation.

Such is the case for organizations who have been using SAP BPC.  SAP BPC (business planning and consolidation) evolved from the OutlookSoft acquisition SAP made back in 2007.  And while SAP has invested and made some innovations to BPC over the last 12 years, they are now changing course and the end of the road is coming soon for SAP BPC customers.  So, there are strategic decisions to be made about what path these customers should choose for the future.

Life After SAP BPC

This challenge faced by SAP BPC customers was the focus of a recent webinar sponsored by Performance Analytics, a long-time SAP BPC implementation partner.  Led by Peter Digby (President) and Graham Finney (Chief Operating Officer) the webinar covered SAP’s EPM Strategy, the roadmap for SAP BPC, options for SAP BPC customers, and why many of them are choosing to migrate to OneStream.

One of the key points made during the webinar is the end of maintenance that’s coming for various versions of SAP BPC, and the options available for customers using the product.  The end of maintenance for some older versions, such as BPC 10.0 Microsoft and NetWeaver, is coming at the end of 2020.  Others will see the end of maintenance in 2021 and 2022, and all versions will be in sustaining support by the end of 2024.

So, what’s the path forward for these customers?  SAP’s stated direction for these customers is to migrate to their new HANA-based Group Reporting for Consolidation, and to the new SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) solution for budgeting, planning and forecasting.  Both of these paths require a rebuild and re-implementation, which will be costly and disruptive.  And even an upgrade from BPC 10 to BPC 11.0 on HANA is a rebuild, to a very IT-intensive solution that takes control away from finance.

Another Alternative for BPC Customers – OneStream

Mr. Digby and Mr. Finney then presented another alternative that is being adopted by a growing number of SAP BPC Customers – migrating to OneStream. Why?  If customers are going to have to go through a major rebuild and re-implementation they may as well look at other alternatives to SAP – and OneStream provides a great one.  It’s a unified platform supporting financial consolidation, reporting, planning, forecasting and analysis – not separate applications that you have to move data between. And it’s deployable in the cloud, hosted or on-premise – your choice.

Its Extensible Dimensionality® allows customers to support corporate and more detailed line of business reporting and planning requirements in a single application.  They can also vary the level of detail they collect in their actual results vs. plan and forecast scenarios.  OneStream provides seamless integration with SAP R/3, S/4 HANA, and BW – so it’s a great complement for SAP-focused IT shops.

The OneStream MarketPlace offers over 50 downloadable solutions that enable customers to extend their investment into additional areas such as account reconciliations, people planning, capital planning and tax provision.   So, it’s a platform that can support current as well as future requirements without adding complexity.

And the icing on the cake is that Performance Analytics has developed a conversion utility that eases the pain of migration by converting SAP BPC dimensions and properties into corresponding OneStream dimensions.  OneStream has now amassed over 350 customers globally, including over 100 SAP ERP customers and over 70% converted from SAP BPC, Oracle Hyperion, IBM Cognos and other legacy applications.

Learn More

While SAP BPC customers learn about the roadmap for the current solutions, and potential paths forward with SAP, Performance Analytics encourages them to consider other alternatives.  And OneStream is becoming the proven alternative for SAP BPC customers.  With a unified architecture, seamless integration with SAP data sources, advanced capabilities and an extensive solutions marketplace, it allows customers to extend and future-proof their investment.

To learn more, watch the replay of the Performance Analytics webinar and check out our white paper titled:  SAP ERP and OneStream: The Path to Modern Finance to hear more about the value OneStream provides for SAP customers.