Planning is a critical business function that involves multiple stakeholders, iterations, and approvals. SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) provides powerful planning capabilities that not only support collaborative budgeting, forecasting, and resource allocation but also enable automation of planning processes through workflows. Automating workflows in SAC enhances efficiency, reduces errors, and accelerates the entire planning cycle.
This article explores how SAC workflows streamline planning processes and best practices for implementing them.
Planning workflows in SAC are structured sequences of steps that guide planning activities through multiple stages, involving different users with defined roles and responsibilities. Workflows automate notifications, task assignments, status tracking, and approvals to ensure that planning activities follow a controlled and auditable path.
Manual planning processes are often time-consuming, error-prone, and lack transparency. Automating planning workflows brings several advantages:
Workflows consist of multiple steps representing planning phases, such as data entry, review, validation, and approval. Each step can have assigned users or groups responsible for task completion.
At each step, tasks are assigned to relevant planners or approvers. SAC automatically sends email or in-app notifications to alert users of pending tasks.
Workflow statuses track progress (e.g., Not Started, In Progress, Completed, Approved, Rejected) and provide visibility to stakeholders.
Users can add comments at each step to clarify assumptions or provide feedback, promoting transparent communication.
Workflows are tightly integrated with SAC planning models, allowing users to lock data during approval stages, preventing unauthorized changes.
Map out your planning cycle phases, roles involved, approval requirements, and timelines.
Using SAC’s workflow designer, create workflow steps aligned with your process. Assign responsible users or teams to each step.
Set up notifications to prompt users when their input or approval is needed. Customize reminder frequencies.
To maintain data integrity, configure data locks for stages requiring approvals or reviews.
Conduct pilot runs with select users to validate flow, notifications, and status tracking.
Launch workflows to all users and monitor progress via SAC’s workflow status dashboards.
Workflows for planning in SAP Analytics Cloud bring discipline, transparency, and speed to critical business processes. Automating planning workflows minimizes manual effort, enhances collaboration, and enforces governance, enabling organizations to react faster to changing market conditions with confidence.
By designing clear workflows and leveraging SAC’s integrated planning capabilities, companies can transform their planning cycles into agile, efficient, and audit-ready processes.