These systems are very different from traditional planning systems and have an architecture that enables them to support the modern agile planning process. In the same way that ERP transformed the ‘back office’ requirements of general ledger, stock and production by combining them into a true, single solution controlled through workflow, these new breeds of systems are set to transform how organisations plan and manage performance.ġ.2 Transforming Planning into a Data-Driven ActivityĪ new generation of data-driven planning systems is beginning to emerge. But things are changing, and new systems are appearing that are more able to support planning as a single enterprise solution. This can lead to integrity issues and greatly increases the complexity of the final solution.Īs a consequence, organisations find themselves implementing multiple products with different architectures and setup procedures. Most mainstream planning systems only support one kind of database, and if multiple sets of data are supported, then it’s up to the user to decide when data ‘moves’ between models. Some are multidimensional in nature, while others are relational, and all are associated with text/dates and other data types. Similarly, throughout the description of the seven planning models, it is evident that the underlying data structures of each are quite different. Although some vendors offer ‘suites’ that contain the promise of an integrated solution, that integration is often limited to moving data between applications, which increases the overall solution's complexity and cost). For example, many software vendors offer budgeting systems but require further systems to enable results to be analysed or reported as a scorecard. To begin with, planning systems are often sold as discreet products aimed at particular processes or applications. But despite the advantages over spreadsheets, there are still some fundamental issues that stop them from supporting the data-driven planning framework outlined in these blogs. They were developed specifically to overcome the limitations of spreadsheets and possess several common capabilities, such as being multidimensional, multi-user, and having name-based rules, workflow and integrated reporting. Specialist enterprise planning and reporting systems have been available for many years. The limitations of a spreadsheet are well known and are due to their fundamental design.Įnterprise Systems: The Alternative to Spreadsheets But as an organisation grows in both users and information requirements, those same spreadsheet systems quickly turn into a liability and a major source of concern. This is due to a number of reasons, including their relatively low cost of deployment - everyone has access to a spreadsheet simplicity in setup and use - most accountants know how to use a spreadsheet without the need for specialist training and because of their extensive reporting and analysis capabilities. And despite the availability of systems aimed at finance, Gartner estimates that around 50% of large and 75% of mid-size organisations still use spreadsheets for enterprise planning and reporting. Spreadsheets have been the dominant tool within organisations for planning, forecasting and management reporting for the past 20 years. For most organisations, that technology today is the spreadsheet. For the models described in this set of blogs to work effectively, some form of planning technology will be required.
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