SAP recently announced that it has been named a major player in IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Enterprise Performance Management Analytic Applications 2018 Vendor Assessment (Doc #US43847618, June 2018).
The report examined both quantitative and qualitative enterprise performance management (EPM) cross-industry application characteristics, specifically as they relate to strategy and planning tasks commonly associated with an organization’s finance function. It examined the EPM application’s planning, budgeting and forecasting functions to ensure the products and vendors met criteria needed for the vendor to qualify as a major player.
“SAP has invested very strategically in developing its analytics cloud application,” said Chandana Gopal, Research Management, Business Analytics, IDC. “It’s ahead of most competitors in embedding predictive analytics capabilities into its EPM product. Reference customers that had invested in the full stack – SAP S/4HANA, the SAP Analytics Cloud solution and SAP Digital Boardroom – confirmed that the platform helps them get the benefit of having an integrated decision support system. This in turn helps them plan and forecast with greater accuracy and in a timely manner and helps analysts get better insights.”
Key findings of IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Enterprise Performance Management Analytic Applications 2018 Vendor Assessment include:
- The EPM market is poised for growth due to the early adoption of advanced analytics, machine learning and natural language features processing.
- Buyers emphasized ease of use and administration as the most important requirement for EPM solutions. They named strategic planning, visibility, governance and collaboration as top benefits the applications provide.
- According to the report, “SAP Analytics Cloud can also be used stand-alone by non-SAP ERP customers that are looking for a high-performance collaborative business planning solution that combines planning and analysis capabilities in one solution.”