Advancing Data Management and Analytics with Protiviti

⇨ Organizations that want to leverage emerging technologies like AI and automation must first attend to their data management needs before anything more advanced is possible.

⇨ Companies should work with a trusted partner like Protiviti to take an honest assessment of where they are relative to where they want to be ahead of any major decisions or investment.

⇨ SAP Datasphere allows SAP-centric organizations to bring together various disparate data sources in real-time. It also helps organizations govern data and critical data models.

With the move to SAP S/4HANA, emerging automation and AI technologies, and the growing push for analytics and data-driven decision-making, companies are struggling to find where they should focus their attention and investments in 2024. Different areas of an enterprise have stakeholders pulling in all different directions, which can make it a challenge for leaders to guide their companies in the best way possible.

In these instances, companies can turn to advisors like the SAP experts at Protiviti to help them plan out their best course of action around data management and analytics and turn their attention to specific, achievable goals that can set them up for long-term success.

Meeting the Demand for Automation and Analytics

Many companies are anxious to enhance their analytics capabilities. In fact, recent SAPinsider research found that the demand for analytics is a key motivating factor driving decision-making within finance, supply chain management, and many other key business areas.

Protiviti has significant experience in helping businesses to achieve the data foundation that they need to enable advanced analytics capabilities. Whether it’s Robotic Process Automation (RPA), machine learning (ML), or artificial intelligence (AI), businesses need cleansed and harmonized data sets to turn these goals into realities.

“The services we provide are end-to-end. We’ve tried to encompass every aspect, starting with data governance, data quality, source systems and analysis, and SAP tables and structures. The data management aspect is going to be anywhere from supporting BW to Datasphere to enterprise HANA. We even branch out and support Azure, Google, AWS, and Snowflake as well,” said Jonathan Haun Senior Director of Technology Consulting at Protiviti.

Accelerating Smart Outcomes

From a front-end standpoint, Protiviti has a long lineage of working with Business Objects, SAP Analytics Cloud, and everything in between. The company also branches out its SAP expertise, which helps with even non-SAP tools.

In addition to its consulting services, Protiviti also offers staff augmentation services. That way, organizations can bring in the resources they need to write code that fits specific business use cases.

“We have worked hard to understand the typical use cases that different teams are going to want from analytics content. We start off with a menu of different self-service analysis capabilities as well as dashboard templates and visuals that you might want to start from,” said Haun.

Protiviti offers customers a solutions accelerator under the SAP Analytics Cloud umbrella known as xP&A Accelerator. This solution greatly accelerates the financial planning process as it is not based around standard SAP out-of-the-box content, but on core FP&A functions and xP&A functions. Its pre-built models delivered as customizable templates, allowing users to take care of standard P&L, reports, forecasting, and budgeting scenarios. It can be utilized with SAP content and non-SAP content.

Big Goals, Small Steps

More and more organizations are looking to add enhanced AI and automation capabilities into their arsenal. Yet many are coming to the realization that they are not able to simply flip a switch and have access to the functionalities.

Businesses are collecting more data than ever. Now they simply need to figure out how to govern it. Unfortunately, Protiviti’s experts noted that many enterprises have let their data management structure lapse. Further complicating matters, SAP users run the gamut in terms of their BI maturity and level of customization within their overall architecture.

Transformation typically requires many small, individual actions and approaches covering not just the technologies, but also data management and more. Protiviti emphasizes to its customers that they need to lay out a roadmap so they can take small steps along the way to their ultimate goal.

“We do an assessment of where they are, what is the state of their analytics across the board. That small engagement might result in 15 to 20 different projects that vary in size. They could be very small, tactical projects to allow for a more strategic transformational engagement,” said Victor Montana, Director of Data and Analytics at Protiviti.

Many companies are choosing to partner with experts like Protiviti for assistance in narrowing their focus on practical strategies and attainable goals.

“We’re really good at taking a strategy and making it bite-size to add real value, making companies very agile and focused, whether it’s point solutions or it’s a step-by-step to a massive data lake or analytics with AI and ML over the top,” said Haun.

Customer Proof Point

A recent example of customer success is a major financial services organization that dramatically improved its financial forecasting process. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic this company needed to produce multiple forecasts, but struggled because they had no baseline point of comparison about what kind of impacts the pandemic would have.

To stay afloat during the unprecedented disruption, the financial services organization needed to have multiple options, but had to develop those options faster than their previous four-month forecast timeframe.

The company turned to Protiviti and its accelerator content within its FP&A, P&L forecasting, and reporting functions. It also invested through technology and automation leveraging the SAP Analytics Cloud Planning solution. Protiviti helped them develop a plan for how to deploy and use the accelerator, mentoring the business throughout the process to help them achieve long-term results.

Before Protiviti, it took 10 people four months to get one version of the of the FP&A plans. That plan was only top-down allocated from a driver standpoint and required all other projects to stop. After partnering with Protiviti, the financial services organization was able to generate more than 10 scenarios in two months using just four people.

The organization was also able to do KPI-based forecasting, rather than just top-down allocated, while they were still working other projects, allowing them to bet in multiple directions while also keeping their business afloat throughout an unprecedented global disruption.

What This Means for SAPinsiders

Don’t let data management slip. Organizations that want to leverage emerging technologies like AI and automation must first attend to their data management needs before anything more advanced is possible. IT leaders should ensure that all necessary data is cleansed, harmonized, and accessible to business users.

Plan a path to success. It is vital that businesses adopt the mindset that advanced analytics capabilities are not just a tool that can be simply taken out of the box and turned on. These capabilities are a goal that companies must work toward by laying a solid foundation and taking practical, achievable steps towards. Organizations should work with a trusted partner like Protiviti to take an honest assessment of where they are relative to where they want to be ahead of any major decisions or investment.

Leverage the power of SAP Datasphere and SAP Analytics Cloud. 

SAP Datasphere allows SAP-centric organizations to bring together various disparate data sources in real-time. It also helps organizations govern data and critical data models. SAP Analytics Cloud offers a unique blend of planning and visual analytics. When the two solutions are properly architected together, organizations can reliably use their data to empower decision-makers in real-time. In addition, such solutions lay out a foundation to support advanced analytics, automation, AI, and ML.