SAP BPC & IFRS 8 Operating Segments

Recently many company are focusing their attention on IFRS 8.
But, what represent IFRS 8?
IFRS 8 Operating Segments requires particular classes of entities (essentially those with publicly traded securities) to disclose information about their operating segments, products and services, the geographical areas in which they operate, and their major customers. Information is based on internal management reports, both in the identification of operating segments and measurement of disclosed segment information.

So, is your EPM software able to do that analysis or reporting? Of course it should be able; the most famous can do that in a easy way. One of the best solution is the new SAP BPC EPM 10 release.
Do you have any experience about that?

SAP E-Academy: the impossible made possible

What is SAP E-Academy?
E-Academies represent SAP Education's latest flexible learning program, offering comprehensive training in a convenient and cost effective manner. Each eAcademy is an e-learning bundle representing the content you would receive in an SAP Education classroom delivered academy curriculum. With eAcademies students are provided between one (1) and five (5) months of access to a self-paced learning environment enabling them to:

• Achieve expertise in specific SAP solution areas.
• Prepare for a certification exam.

Whether you are a consultant, implementation project team member, or center of expertise/excellence member, eAcademies will allow you to learn whenever and from wherever you want.

eAcademies Provide Superior Learning Value Through Multiple Deliverables

Depending on the eAcademy you register for you will have between one (1) and five (5) months of access to the following content and resources:

• Online Learning Content - The academy course content is delivered in an e-learning format consisting of presentation slides with audio commentary, system demonstration/practice simulations, slide notes, and mentor tips. This flexible format allows students to learn on their own and at their own pace and repeat lessons; if required; throughout the access period.
• SAP Training Systems - Hands-on experience with SAP systems is a key component of eAcademy training. Whether repeating a demonstration shown in the e-learning content, performing a hands-on exercise from the student manual, or just testing a process scenario from their own business experience; the student can use the live training systems to reinforce their learning lessons.
• Student Manuals - Each registered student will receive access to an electronic version of the academy course manual.
• Help Desk Support - eAcademies feature asynchronous help desk support throughout your learning access period, with all queries being answered within 24 hours Monday-Friday. Students get technical support for their learning environment as well as the use of FAQs and "Ask the Expert" features which are part of the content delivery infrastructure. On-line support is available via web conferencing, and scheduled expert instructor sessions.

Does your team need more training but the time runs low? Keep in mind SAP E-Academy and probably you will find the most affordable and complete training resource for your organization.

Available E-Academies

•     SAP eAcademy – Implementation and Modeling with SAP HANA 1.0
•     eAcademy SAP Business All-in-One Financials Specialization
•     eAcademy SAP Business All-in-One Logistics
•     SAP eAcademy ABAP Basics
•     SAP eAcademy ABAP Basics
•     SAP eAcademy - Business Intelligence with SAP BW 7.3 and SAP BI 4.0
•     SAP eAcademy SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation 7.5
•     SAP eAcademy SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse 7.0
•     SAP eAcademy ERP - Integration of Business Processes eacademy
•     SAP eAcademy Financials - Management Accounting
•     SAP eAcademy Financials - Management Accounting
•     SAP eAcademy Financials - Financial Accounting
•     SAP eAcademy Human Resources (HCM) - Management & Administration
•     SAP eAcademy Human Resources (HCM) - Management & Administration
•     SAP for Retail eAcademy
•     SAP eAcademy PLM - Plant Maintenance & Repair
•     SAP eAcademy SCM - Planning & Manufacturing
•     SAP eAcademy SCM - Procurement
•     SAP eAcademy SCM - Procurement
•     SAP eAcademy SCM - Order Fulfillment
•     SAP eAcademy SCM - Order Fulfillment
•     SAP eAcademy SUP 2.1 Mobile Application
•     SAP eAcademy - Sybase Unwired Platform 2.1 Administration

Of course, you can find more information on SAP website.

Is SAP HANA the next revolution of EPM market? Probably it is...

The EPM market is changing and the biggest vendor are creating new platform to improve service and quality served.
But, first of all, what is SAP HANA?

SAP HANA is SAP AG’s implementation of in-memory database technology. An in-memory database (IMDB; also main memory database system or MMDB or memory resident database) is a database management system that primarily relies on main memory for computer data storage. It is contrasted with database management systems which employ a disk storage mechanism. Main memory databases are faster than disk-optimized databases since the internal optimization algorithms are simpler and execute fewer CPU instructions. Accessing data in memory eliminates seek time when querying the data, which provides faster and more predictable performance than disk. So, according with Wikipedia, HANA DB takes advantage of the low cost of main memory (RAM), data processing abilities of multi-core processors and the fast data access of solid-state drives relative to traditional hard drives to deliver better performance of analytical and transactional applications. It offers a multi-engine query processing environment which allows it to support both relational data (with both row- and column-oriented physical representations in a hybrid engine) as well as graph and text processing for semi- and unstructured data management within the same system. HANA DB is 100% ACID compliant. Now, the newest version of SAP BPC (SAP BPC 10) can take the advantages of a SAP HANA DB. This means a lot of things as fast data access, speed, and many other feautures. Of course this kind of implementation can be done by big customers that have a really complex database environment. By the way SAP HANA will be the next generation of EPM implementation giving owr customer all the power needed. Here the architecture schema: 

The importance of the right training on EPM solutions

Many customers doesn't care about good training session. Many of them thing that the most important things will be always done by consultats (reports, data entry sheets, dimension, user concept). If this sentence is true, is also true that many company can considerarly reduce project costs by training themselfs in the better way.

Of course this can only be possible with the right training session and the right peoples.
Usually, in fact, many customers overestimate the ability to train other people and let things go.
At the end, the perfect project can only be concluded with a really usefull training session; i usually spend 5-10 days at all with my customer in order to be sure they have the control of the EPM solution.

The advantages for our clients are:
-cost reduction
-reporting speed
-self motivation
-better use of the solution

In fact i had always a good feedback from my clients also after years; this mean not only lose of some money (for me), but especially customer retention and somethimes new and big projects!

So, if you think that training is not so usefull, you are wrong!