EPM Leadership SUMMIT 2015
February 24-27, 2015 AGENDA
ADVANCING EPM EXCELLENCE
Executive Track
Functional Track
Technical Track
Customer Success Story
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
PRE-SUMMIT: Mastering EPM Workshops
7:00am - 5:00pm
9:00am - 4:00pm
Registration
BPC Logic
EPM v10 Reporting
Performance Tuning
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
SUMMIT OPENS!
7:00am - 5:00pm
Registration
9:00am - 9:45am
Opening Ceremonies
Keynote Address: David Den Boer, CEO Column5 Consulting
10:00am - 10:50am
Integrated Reporting
Report Writing in BPC 10 –
EPM10 Reports as a Foundation for
Understanding Axes
Optimizing Usability &
Effective EPM
Performance
11:00am - 11:50am Customer Success Story
Column5’s Methodology and
Upgrading 7.5 to 10/10.1
Approach to Organizational
NW to NW, Migrating MS
Change Management
to NW
1:00pm - 1:50pm
20 Years of the Virtual
Consolidation Business Rules Upgrade 7.5 to 10/10.1 MS
Close? Why Does Speed
to MS
of Reporting Matter and
Who Cares
2:00pm - 2:50pm
Big Data / Predictive
Tricks in BPC 10 Microsoft –
Performance Tuning HANA
Analytics
Understanding Properties and
10.0/10.1
Hierarchies
Reducing Cost of
3:00pm - 3:50pm
Making the Best of EPM
Tips & Tricks in BPC 10
NetWeaver – Leveraging
Ownership
the Web Client in Business
Process Flows
4:00pm - 4:50pm
Latest Features of BPC
The Keys to Successful
Cloud for Planning
Master Data Harmonization/
Technical Architecture
Automation
5:30pm - 7:30pm
EPM Leadership Summit Networking Reception
Column5EPMEvents.com
EPM Leadership SUMMIT 2015
February 24-27, 2015 AGENDA
ADVANCING EPM EXCELLENCE
Executive Track
Functinoal Track
Technical Track
Customer Success Story
Thursday, February 26, 2015
9:00am - 9:50am
11:00am - 11:50am
Case Studies of
Excellence in the Close
Process
Strategic Considerations
of BPC v10.1
Customer Success Story
1:00pm - 1:50pm
EPM Cloud Options
2:00pm - 2:50pm
EPM Value - The Right
Audience
EPM, Mobility & BI
Integration Strategy
10:00am - 10:50am
3:00pm - 3:50pm
4:00pm - 4:50pm
Build a Business Case
for EPM
Report Writing in BPC 10 –
Formatting
Customer Success Story
Bottom Up and Top Down
Cloud Deployment Options
for BPC
Recommended Information
Sources
Design and Impact
Considerations for Migrating
From 10.0 to 10.1
Tips & Tricks in BPC 10
BPC Production
NetWeaver – Leveraging
Roundtable Q&A MS
the Web Client in Business
Process Flows
Common Project Challenges
Customer Success Story
and Design Pitfalls
Enterprise-Wide Reporting &
Disaster Recovery
Analysis with the Combination Configuration Tips for BPC
of SAP Business Planning
MS & NW
and Consolidation and SAP’s
Business Intelligence Solutions
Plan and Forecast Better with
Configuring a High
SAP Predictive Analytics
Availability/High Scalability
Environment MS & NW
Friday, February 27, 2015
9:00am - 10:00am
10:00am - 11:00am
11:00am - 12:00pm
How to Achieve “Above
Average” EPM Results
Selecting a Service
Provider to Fit Your
Culture
Customer Success Story
Darwin EPM Introduction
Customer Success Story
Customer Success Story
Integrating BPC with
Business Intelligence
DarCE
Technical Administrator
Training Recommendations
Column5EPMEvents.com
EPM Leadership SUMMIT 2015
February 24-27, 2015 AGENDA
ADVANCING EPM EXCELLENCE
SESSION DESCRIPTIONS
PRE-SUMMIT: Mastering EPM Workshops
Title: Performance Tuning - BPC NW
Description: Starting with strategies to troubleshoot report/input schedule
performance in a NetWeaver environment, this session will demonstrate a
methodical approach to demystifying how performance can be improved.
Server and client logging options will be utilized to discover what is
causing underlying performance problems, so factual explanations for
performance challenges can be identified. Attendees will leave this course
with understanding of the different areas of the client server application that
can affect performance of reports including: query creation, send/retrieve
performance and formatting and what server/client changes can be made to
positively affect performance.
Title: EPM v10 Reporting
Description: Topics include: considerations for input forms, including context options, selection and hidden
areas, and password protection. We will also be working with basic, intermediate and advanced EPM functions
in the EPM Add-In.
Title: BPC Logic
Description: Performance for BPC solutions often hinges on an ability to run vital business rules efficiently.
Similarly, cost of ownership can skyrocket when internal teams cannot manage these critical calculations
without calling in an external consulting team. Given the role logic plays as a linchpin in the success of EPM
projects, you might think training on this all important topic would be easy to come by. Not so. This is the only
place you can find training focused on logic by the team that knows it best.
Column5EPMEvents.com
EPM Leadership SUMMIT 2015
February 24-27, 2015 AGENDA
ADVANCING EPM EXCELLENCE
SESSION DESCRIPTIONS
EXECUTIVE Track - Wednesday, February 25
Title: Integrated Reporting as a Foundation for Effective EPM
Description: We will explore how organisations are integrating the reporting of actual results across the time
and functional dimensions of the business to create a solid foundation for effective performance management.
Moving beyond traditional financial data and into key driver reporting and embracing customer and product
key performance indicators, as well as profitability measures, integrated reporting takes organisations into new
and more agile levels of reporting, analysis, and predictive capability. How do organisations move to this level
of excellence in performance reporting and how do they exploit latest generation ERP and EPM solutions to
provide a robust platform to support such fast and effective integrated reporting?
Title: 20 Years of the Virtual Close? Why Does Speed of Reporting Matter and Who Cares
Description: For the last 10 years we have been conducting unique research on the speed of external
reporting and audit sign off for the world’s largest companies. We look at the key trends in this research and
the impact of events such as the introduction of Sarbanes-Oxley and the global financial crisis. Nearly 20 years
since the champions of virtual close, such as IBM, Cisco, and Alcoa set out their stall for a world of highly
automated and real time actual results reporting, we look at whether the principle of virtual close has taken
hold, and if not, why organisations are holding back. As we identify those who have consistently reached the
upper quartile of the speed of close metric, we also look at the common characteristics of those organisations
from a systems, process and organisational standpoint. What are the 10 most common characteristics of those
organisations and how can we use these as learning points for process improvement in our own organisations.
What are the common benefits that such organisations declare in focusing on a fast close? Do those benefits
really justify the investment necessary?
Title: Big Data / Predictive Analytics
Description: Big data is one of those buzzwords you can see on billboards, in the airport, on TV, and all over
the internet. You see it everywhere, but what is it? What relevance does it have for EPM? Discuss several
use cases for “Big Data” appliances in the EPM world. Another buzzed about solution is “Predictive Analytics”.
Learn whether predictive solutions can increase value in your enterprise.
Title: Making the Best of EPM
Description: What are the real opportunities in developing and delivering EPM for an organization? What are
the benefits to be gained and the challenges that driving an EPM strategy brings? This presentation examines
the strategic importance of EPM and how organizations can develop a realistic and value-based approach to
this area. Included is an unraveling of the technology hype surrounding Business Intelligence, to examine the
real drivers of performance management.
Title: Latest Features of BPC
Description: In this session, we will review the latest features available in BPC. This session will provide an
overview of the new features available in both platforms of BPC as well as deeper dives into features. In this
session we will provide an overview of the new features of BPC 10.1 and take an in-depth look at the new
unified/embedded planning capabilities.
Column5EPMEvents.com
EPM Leadership SUMMIT 2015
February 24-27, 2015 AGENDA
ADVANCING EPM EXCELLENCE
SESSION DESCRIPTIONS
EXECUTIVE Track - Thursday, February 26
Title: Case Studies of Excellence in the Close Process
Description: Learn how selected organisations tackled key pressure points in the close such as inter-company
reconciliations, data sourcing and integration, ledger close management, ledger balance reconciliations,
automation of equity eliminations and process management. We also review the business case made for
change across these case studies and what the actual outcome was in terms of success and value delivered.
In particular, we focus on our unique methods and how they have been used by some of these organisations to
drive significant improvement in close processes and systems. We also look at the full toolset available now in
the SAP EPM financial close toolkit and highlight how these tools are making a difference to the efficiency and
effectiveness of the close process. Finally, we consider what the next steps on the close process improvement
roadmap will be for those organisations who are already good, but want to further improve.
Title: Strategic Considerations of BPC v10.1
Description: BPC v10.1 includes new features that can increase the value received by organizations adopting
the latest versions. When considering an upgrade, learn why you should consider changing your processes to
leverage new features for both planning and consolidation solutions.
Title: EPM Cloud Options
Description: Cloud may be featured prominently in your IT strategy. If that’s the case, then EPM may be an
important solution to deploy in the cloud. There are many considerations; this will review the benefits of BPC in
the cloud, and SAP’s new Cloud for Planning solution. Identify options and receive guidance on how to build a
business case to champion cloud deployment.
Title: EPM Value - The Right Audience
Description: Building on the discussion from the ESN Session (EPM Value - The Right Model), our thought
leaders discuss how identifying and deploying to the right audience can boost value delivered from your
EPM solution. Analysts & power users only? Directors and above? Every decision maker? Choose the right
audience and reach them with the right user experience (mobility, BI, Excel, etc.) for best results in your
organization.
Title: EPM, Mobility & BI Integration Strategy
Description: This session provides an executive persepctive on how EPM, mobility, and business intelligence
technologies should be integrated to deliver maximum impact in your organization.
Title: Build a Business Case for EPM
Description: Chances are when you purchased an EPM solution like BPC, the business case you leveraged
was based on ‘“time saved”, making your finance operation more automated and efficient. Did you know this
value is only the beginning of dividends you can realize from BPC? Additional sources of value are discussed,
and sample business models are provided to ensure you are not leaving “money on the table” with your BPC
deployment.
Column5EPMEvents.com
EPM Leadership SUMMIT 2015
February 24-27, 2015 AGENDA
ADVANCING EPM EXCELLENCE
SESSION DESCRIPTIONS
EXECUTIVE Track - Friday, February 27
Title: How to Achieve “Above Average” EPM Results
Description: Everyone wants to be “above average”, right? With your BPC deployment, now you can! Discuss
a scientific and measurable approach to excelling in EPM. Our expert discloses the research we have done
into what it takes to achieve exceptional results from your investment. Explore process changes, cost of
ownership, and user satisfaction tips to achieve sustainable results.
Title: Selecting a Service Provider to Fit Your Culture
Description: There’s a cliché in technology projects - success from the project is dependent on three
components: the customer (expectations, internal team, resources made available), the technology (strengths/
weaknesses), and the partner. We will discuss in great detail how to get more out of the technology, best
practices for identifying proper scope, and how to build an internal team to get the best results. The final piece
of the puzzle is how to identify the best partner to bring it all together and unlock the value in your organization.
Column5EPMEvents.com
EPM Leadership SUMMIT 2015
February 24-27, 2015 AGENDA
ADVANCING EPM EXCELLENCE
SESSION DESCRIPTIONS
FUNCTIONAL Track - Wednesday, February 25
Title: Report Writing in BPC 10 – Understanding Axes
Description: Understanding the page, row, and column axes in relation to the EPM context in the creation of
multi-dimensional reports.
Title: Column5’s Methodology and Approach to Organizational Change Management
Description: Is the Organizational Change Management Approach for SAP Projects just a “snappier” title
referring to people? Project teams and stakeholders frequently ignore the people side of change focusing on
the technical aspects of the solution. Too often, technical success is equated to project success. Successful
projects are more about people and processes, and ultimately, the overall adoption of the technical solution.
During this session, we will define organizational change management, discuss the value proposition and show
you how you can easily incorporate change management into the overall project implementation methodology.
Title: Consolidation Business Rules
Description: Introduction to using BPC Business Rules to perform legal and management consolidations.
Learn the advantages of using Business Rules to perform a variety of common accounting functions including
rolling net income to the balance sheet, rolling forward equity and retained earnings from prior years,
performing full legal consolidations using various consolidation methods, and more. Discuss the required
applications, dimensions, dimension properties, data manager packages, script logic, and rules tables to
employ this powerful functionality
Title: Tricks in BPC 10 Microsoft – Understanding Properties and Hierarchies
Description: Dimensional and reporting considerations with regard to creating and utilizing properties and
hierarchies in BPC 10 Microsoft.
Title: Tips & Tricks in BPC 10 NetWeaver – Leveraging the Web Client in Business Process Flows
Description: Utilizing web client reports and input forms in conjunction with business process flows in BPC 10
NetWeaver.
Title: The Keys to Successful Master Data Harmonization/Automation
Description: One of the critical parts of a successful BPC implementation is master data harmonization
and automation across all interfaces feeding BW (in turn BPC). In this session we will explore the key
considerations and share best practices for harmonization and automation of master data. We will discuss
the use of SAP Master Data Management (MDM), as well as keys to a successful harmonization/automation
without the use of SAP MDM.
Column5EPMEvents.com
EPM Leadership SUMMIT 2015
February 24-27, 2015 AGENDA
ADVANCING EPM EXCELLENCE
SESSION DESCRIPTIONS
FUNCTIONAL Track - Thursday, February 26
Title: Report Writing in BPC 10 – Formatting
Description: Formatting options in the EPM Add-In, including the format sheet, sheet options, and report
options.
Title: Bottom Up and Top Down
Description: Discover the power of using allocation functionality for both driver-based planning calculations as
well as high-powered allocations.
Title: Design and Impact Considerations for Migrating From 10.0 to 10.1
Description: With the release of SAP BPC 10.1 choosing which is the right model for your organization
is an important decision. In this session we will provide insight into design considerations when choosing
between the Classic and Unified models, and how those decisions will impact the use of BPC throughout the
organization.
Title: Tips & Tricks in BPC 10 NetWeaver – Leveraging the Web Client in Business Process Flows
Description: Utilizing web client reports and input forms in conjunction with business process flows in BPC 10
NetWeaver.
Title: Common Project Challenges and Design Pitfalls
Description: We will share business and design related project challenges, as well as common design pitfalls
and best practice approaches.
Title: Enterprise-Wide Reporting & Analysis with the Combination of SAP Business Planning and
Consolidation and SAP’s Business Intelligence Solutions
Description: Learn about strategies to utilize both BPC advanced reporting along with SAP Business
Intelligence – focused on Lumira and Predictive Analysis. There are a variety of different users within
organizations that have different reporting needs and different ways that they need to consume information.
This session will focus on meeting the reporting needs of multiple diverse individuals/groups from a reporting
perspective and allowing them to gain insight into their data.
Title: Plan and Forecast Better with SAP Predictive Analytics
Description: This session will explore SAP’s Predictive Analytics and will demonstrate techniques that can be
used to improve your Planning and Forecasting processes. Predictive Analytics can help uncover trends and
patterns and anticipate business changes. These solutions can be combined with the SAP HANA Platform and
the SAP Business Intelligence platform to help drive better business outcomes.
Column5EPMEvents.com
EPM Leadership SUMMIT 2015
February 24-27, 2015 AGENDA
ADVANCING EPM EXCELLENCE
SESSION DESCRIPTIONS
FUNCTIONAL Track - Friday, February 27
Title: Darwin EPM Introduction
Description: CFOs want high value results with low predictable costs. And they want it now! Is that too much
to ask? Maybe not with Darwin EPM built on SAP BPC. Understand the broader strategy to leveraging off the
shelf modules built with best practices. Experience the next evolution in EPM...Darwin EPM!
Title: DarCE
Description: For those who attended the Darwin EPM Intro, they were exposed to DarCE, Darwin’s powerful
calculation engine. Darwin EPM’s technical architect reviews several real world cases where calculation
performance was increased by 50% or more!
Column5EPMEvents.com
EPM Leadership SUMMIT 2015
February 24-27, 2015 AGENDA
ADVANCING EPM EXCELLENCE
SESSION DESCRIPTIONS
TECHNICAL Track - Wednesday, February 25
Title: EPM10 Reports - Optimizing Usability & Performance
Description: Join this tip-filled session where we will explore the best ways to create EPM10 Reports and
Input Forms. We will examine the structure, features, and settings that will enhance the user experience.
This will include tips to improve format, functionality, and performance. Also, we will examine a few common
challenges that may be encountered, and how to meet the users’ needs in these cases.
Title: Upgrading 7.5 to 10/10.1 NW to NW, Migrating MS to NW
Description: Though the products appear very similar, there are changes on the client side, and the server
side technology stack has changed significantly. We will discuss moving from 7.5 to 10 on NetWeaver and
moving from Microsoft 7.5 to NetWeaver 10 / 10.1. This sessions discusses effective strategies so you can
prepare for the upgrade or migration with the full knowledge of all you need for success.
Title: Upgrade 7.5 to 10/10.1 MS to MS
Description: This session discusses what technical considerations you need to be aware of when moving up
from BPC v7 MS family to v10 MS. The Technology Stack has changed significantly in=n what is needed and
support on both the client and server. This sessions discusses effective strategies so you can prepare for the
upgrade or migration with the full knowledge of all you need for success.
Title: Performance Tuning HANA 10.0/10.1
Description: HANA is the most powerful data platform available in the SAP portfolio, however, simply
purchasing HANA does not guarantee the huge gains in performance that SAP highlights. Learn the scenarios
where HANA can make a world of difference, and how it must be configured to ensure success.
Title: Reducing Cost of Ownership
Description: When deployed properly, BPC can have a low cost of ownership profile. Talk with an expert
at making client environments successful to determine how you can get the right people, technology, and
processes in place to establish an internal capability to become independent, and deliver the best results. The
focus is to achieve the most sustainable results at the lowest cost.
Title: Cloud for Planning Technical Architecture
Description: Cloud for Planning is SAP’s latest addition to the EPM portfolio. Listen to experts discuss how
the solution was architected to deliver the latest capabilities to clients.
Column5EPMEvents.com
EPM Leadership SUMMIT 2015
February 24-27, 2015 AGENDA
ADVANCING EPM EXCELLENCE
SESSION DESCRIPTIONS
TECHNICAL Track - Thursday, February 26
Title: Cloud Deployment Options for BPC
Description: BPC is well known as SAP’s flagship EPM solution deployed most commonly on premise. Did
you know that BPC can also be deployed as a cloud solution? Column5 experts walk you through several
options and a comparative cost model for you to evaluate whether this deployment option makes sense for
your organization.
Title: Recommended Information Sources
Description: Supporting BPC can be a challenging task. Get tips from our experts on where they go to get the
most reliable information on BPC and dependent technology.
Title: BPC Production Roundtable Q&A MS
Description: SAP BPC is a powerful and flexible solution, but there can be pitfalls when certain features are
used in the wrong proportions. Attend this moderated session to air your challenges, share your solutions, and
come away with answers to your nagging questions.
Title: Disaster Recovery Configuration Tips for BPC for Microsoft & NetWeaver
Description: Our experts share tips to ensure your BPC solution is safeguarded in the event of failures in your
environment.
Title: Configuring a High Availability/High Scalability Environment for Microsoft & NetWeaver
Description: BPC is a mission critical application, and enterprises are making unprecedented investments
to make BPC highly available and highly scalable. If this is important to your organization, learn tips from our
experts on how to make this a reality.
Column5EPMEvents.com
EPM Leadership SUMMIT 2015
February 24-27, 2015 AGENDA
ADVANCING EPM EXCELLENCE
SESSION DESCRIPTIONS
TECHNICAL Track - Friday, February 27
Title: Integrating BPC with Business Intelligence
Description: BPC & Business Objects are commonly implemented together. Learn about security,
performance, functional, and process considerations to make the most of this integration.
Title: Technical Administrator Training Recommendations
Description: A critical component to success for any solution is assigning the right people to the internal team.
For best results in terms of performance, stability, customer satisfaction, and cost of ownership, hiring the
right individual(s) is of paramount importance. Our experts reveal what the ideal candidates look like, and the
training you can invest in to increase the capabilities of the staff you do have.
Column5EPMEvents.com