SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation is dedicated to fulfilling planning, budgeting, and forecasting requirements, as well as enabling legal and management consolidations. It also provides advanced reporting capabilities. Furthermore, SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation enables all these functions to operate through a single unified application. What follows is a primer on the basics of SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation. We assume the reader already has SAP NetWeaver BW knowledge.

One of the most attractive parts of the application is that it is designed to enable business users to effectively manage their business, with minimal reliance on the IT department to move ahead with any changes required in the system. Figure 1 represents a common scenario, in which the business is changing at a faster rate than the IT systems that support it. Missed Q stands for missed quarter. Usually, planning happens on a quarterly basis and if business requirements aren’t met by the end of the quarter, you’ve missed a whole planning period without getting your update.

Figure 1

Rate of business change against rate of system/IT change

SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation solves the challenge of keeping IT systems up-to-date with business processes. If you have ever worked in a support environment, you are probably familiar with how businesses manage change in their systems. There is usually some form of official request process (e.g., support tickets or change requests) that the business fills out when it needs something new or changed in the system.

The request comes into the IT queue where it sits until there is time to process it. Even when it is processed, the IT team first needs to go back to the business to gather more details, estimate the size of the change, and then go back to the business to get approval if there is any form of cost sharing. The implementation often requires more back and forth between IT and the business as the necessary changes are made. Once it is ready, the business users test the changes. This is followed by more back and forth to finalize the change before it is finally rolled out to all users.

Depending on the nature of the requested change, this process can take weeks or months after the initial event that triggered the change. In the meantime, more changes have occurred in day-to-day business operations, resulting in new requests logged, and the queue for IT continues to grow. Typically, the business has not been able to wait for the change to be rolled out, so it begins managing its information in a method it can control: the spreadsheet.

Of course, running a business on spreadsheets is a well-understood disaster, and leads to a situation that is bad for both the business and for IT. SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation solves this problem by putting the power of administration back into the hands of the business.

This concept is often a hard pill to swallow (at least initially) for IT as it can be a little scary to think of putting this much power into the hands of the business. However, with some reflection, most would agree that spreadsheets are a much worse option. With SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation, the system and data are still centralized, changes are audited, and IT is able to monitor changes without obstructing the process. It really is the best of both worlds. Of course, IT still plays a very important role in installations, performance tuning, monitoring, governance, initial implementation, configuring complex scenarios, and more. However, in many situations the business can now quickly implement its own changes without having to go through the same old routine.

SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation Releases

When SAP acquired OutlookSoft, the solution ran entirely on Microsoft’s BI platform. Since then, SAP has continued to invest in this product line, as well as develop a completely separate solution based on the SAP NetWeaver BW platform. Therefore, SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation is available as two different products:

• SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation, version for the Microsoft platform
  
  
• SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation, version for SAP NetWeaver

For the purposes of this article series, we focus on the version for SAP NetWeaver unless otherwise noted. Figure 2 describes the different releases that are available for each of these two products.

Figure 2

SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation releases

When SAP acquired OutlookSoft, the latest version of the company’s product was OutlookSoft 5. This product became SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation 5.1, version for the Microsoft platform. SAP has continued to invest in this product, and the 7.0 version was an evolutionary release from the 5.1 version. However, SAP had been working in parallel on a separate product for SAP NetWeaver. The first release of that product was also numbered 7.0. Going forward, as shown in Figure 2, SAP is investing in both releases. SAP plans 7.5 releases of both products in 2009.

The 7.0 release for the version for the Microsoft platform is the direct upgrade path from the 5.1 release. It is, in fact, a very straightforward upgrade. However, because the version for SAP NetWeaver is a different product, it is actually considered a migration path to move to this release. Although we won’t be covering the migration details in this introductory article, there are comprehensive migration tools available to move onto the version for SAP NetWeaver. Despite these being two completely separate products, they do look and feel very similar.

SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation Clients

The clients are the way in which the users access the SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation system. As mentioned, the clients between the version for the Microsoft platform and the version for SAP NetWeaver are very similar (although not identical when you get into the details), which is why the end user and administrator experience is so similar between the two products. Several different clients are available:

• Admin client: This is the client application that the system administrators use to create and change applications and dimensions, maintain users and their security, and other such tasks. The admin client presents these types of complex tasks in a straightforward manner, which empowers business users to administer the system themselves. That is, you create your InfoProviders (see the “Terminology” section later in the article) from the SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation Admin client, not in the back-end SAP NetWeaver BW system.
  
  
• Microsoft Office clients: End users primarily run SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation through the Microsoft Excel front end. However, you can also use it with Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint.
  
  
• Web: SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidationoffers a zero footprint (ZFP) option for users who don’t need all the functionality that Microsoft Excel provides. In some documents, the Web client is called a ZFP client or thin client. Thin clients don’t require end users to install any software to use them, which is similar to, for example, the way that the Web-based application Gmail (from Google) does not require any installed software to use it.

SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation Server Manager is a client application that runs on the server only. The technical system administrators configure system and connectivity details. In addition, in the version for SAP NetWeaver, you can also perform some configuration directly through the SAPGUI.

The Action Pane and Current View

You find the action pane across almost all the SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation clients. You can find the action pane along the right side of each of the clients. It contains a list of context-sensitive options. For example, when an end user is planning, the action pane may provide a list of options including saving the data, adding comments, drilling down, and so on. However, when administrators are in the Admin client, their action panes may contain other options, such as adding or deleting dimensions and modifying users and security.

Figure 3 shows the Action Pane on the right in the SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation client for Excel. The action pane appears consistently across the various clients, providing a consistent look and feel to the users no matter which client they are in, as well as minimizing training requirements and improving overall usability.

Figure 3

SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation client for Excel

Figure 3 also includes the current view, represented by CV near the top of the action pane. The purpose of the current view is to allow users to set the context in which they are working. For example, in Figure 3 I have my current view set to September 2007, actual data, all departments. In SAP NetWeaver BW terms, the current view is similar to the filters you set when you run a query.

However, there is a key difference. Once you set the values, the current view remains set for the user. For example, when you open or close reports in SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation, the system does not prompt you for any filter or variable values because they all come from the current view. In fact, you can set your current view without any reports open (as shown in Figure 3). Once you set your view, the next time you perform an activity (such as running a report or executing scripts or planning functions), your current view provides context for the region of data you’re working on.

If you want to change your current view, you simply click the value you want to change and the Member Selector screen appears. Here you can select the new value in much the same way that value help or F4 help in a typical SAP system works. The action pane remains with users no matter whether they are in Excel, the Web, or even the Admin client.

Although the current view section is not relevant to the Admin client, the current view otherwise appears throughout SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation in the action pane, ensuring a simple and consistent method for users to learn — no matter what activity they are performing. In addition to changing this context for the user, the current view also allows the users to change the AppSet and application on which they are working. To understand what this means, you need to know some of the SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation terminology.

Terminology

Figure 4 highlights a list of important terms, showing the SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation term on the left side, with the approximate equivalent term or object in SAP NetWeaver on the right side.

Figure 4

Basic terminology

Application: As you can see, an application is approximately equal to an InfoProvider in SAP NetWeaver BW. You define the structure of an application and load transactional data to an application in much the same way you would do for an InfoProvider in SAP NetWeaver BW as well. You might have an application for an entire business topic, such as a financial plan or a sales plan.

However, an application is both conceptually and technically more than an InfoProvider. In SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation, an application contains many other configurations, including business rules, script logic files, journals configuration, work status settings, reports, and input schedules. Technically, in the version for SAP NetWeaver, when you create an application, it creates multiple InfoProviders in SAP NetWeaver BW as well.

Dimension: Dimensions are like building blocks for applications and are similar to an InfoObject in SAP NetWeaver BW. To be more precise, they are equal to characteristics in SAP NetWeaver BW (i.e., dimensions cannot be key figures). Example dimensions include account, cost center, profit center, time, category, product, and plant. When you create a dimension in the Admin client, it creates an InfoObject in the back-end SAP NetWeaver BW system. As Figure 4 shows, dimensions also have a number of associated terms:

• Member: This is the equivalent to a characteristic value in SAP NetWeaver BW. Dimension members are the list of possible values for the given dimension. For example, in the time dimension, you might expect to see members such as 2008.JAN, 2008.FEB, and 2008.MAR. In the category dimension, you might see BUDGET, FCAST, and ACTUAL.
  
  
• Property: This is the equivalent to an attribute in SAP NetWeaver BW. Properties describe a property of the object. Examples of properties associated with a product might be color, weight, size, and product group. Examples of properties associated with a cost center might include cost center manager, company code, and currency. Properties supply additional information associated to the dimension.
  
  
• Hierarchy: Fortunately, a hierarchy in SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation is similar to a hierarchy in SAP NetWeaver BW. Technically, when you create a hierarchy in SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation, it creates a hierarchy on the back-end SAP NetWeaver BW system. A hierarchy is simply an ordered method of organizing dimensions into like groups. A simple example of a hierarchy can be seen for any item with a physical location (such as a store, plant, or office) because you can create a geographic hierarchy such as:
  • North America
    • United States
      • California
        • Palo Alto office
        • San Jose office
      • Colorado
        • Denver office
    • Canada
      • Ontario
        • Toronto office
• EvDescription: This stores the description of a dimension member within the product. EvDescription is simply a language-specific description of the dimension member. For example, in the time dimension, the member might be “2008.JAN” and the description would be “January 2008.” The EvDescription is stored in the long text of the underlying InfoObject in SAP NetWeaver BW.

Signed data: As you can see in Figure 4, signed data is approximately equivalent to key figures in SAP NetWeaver BW. However, all applications are technically built with a single key figure called signed data. That means for all applications in every SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation system only one key figure is used in the InfoCube.

Measure: A measure is somewhat equivalent to a calculated key figure in SAP NetWeaver BW. A measure in SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation is actually defined as a Multi-Dimensional Expression (MDX) statement, and enables a report to retrieve data and apply a calculation at the same time. There are three delivered measures: periodic, quarter to date (QTD), and year to date (YTD). That means a user can report by any of these three different measures without having to define any calculations in the system because the calculation has already been built in. You can create user-defined measures as well.

AppSet: Figure 4 does not show AppSet because there is not really an equivalent concept in SAP NetWeaver BW, but it is necessary to mention here as it is a fundamental concept. In SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation, all objects — such as applications, dimensions, reports, users, and teams (everything in the system) — are created under an AppSet. That means it is possible to have a single instance of SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation serve multiple purposes.

For example, if you have two completely separate business units that are basically independent of each other, they can both use the same instance of SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation, each with its own AppSet. This ensures that they can work autonomously from each other. When you log on to SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation, you always log on to a single AppSet.

Prakash Darji

Prakash Darji is currently director of product management in the Enterprise Performance Management area within SAP Business Objects. In his current role as a director of product management for the SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidations product, his responsibilities include inbound product management through working on the short- and longer-term roadmap for SAP's Planning Solutions, managing deliverables for multiple releases, as well as creating product specifications for innovative features and functions to differentiate against key competitors. His full bio is available at: www.linkedin.com/in/prakashdarji.

You may contact the author at prakash.darji@sap.com.

If you have comments about this article or publication, or would like to submit an article idea, please contact the editor.

Ryan Leask

Ryan Leask currently runs the SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation solution management team for SAP, based out of Palo Alto, CA. Prior to this position, he led the EPM solution architecture team with a main focus on the design of SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation 7.0, version for SAP NetWeaver. Ryan has also worked on SAP xApp Analytics, SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer, SAP NetWeaver BW, SAP SEM, ABAP, SAP CRM, analytics/data mining, and whatever else seemed interesting. He has also co-authored SAP xApp Analytics (SAP PRESS, 2006), written many articles, and presented at numerous conferences.

You may contact the author at ryan.leask@sap.com.

If you have comments about this article or publication, or would like to submit an article idea, please contact the editor.