Replacing BPC: how planning moves to SAP Analytics Cloud

Why the migration is due now

For BPC 10.1 on BW 7.5, mainstream maintenance ends at the end of 2027; extended maintenance is available until 2030 [1]. For BPC 2021, the end date depends on the BW/4HANA release it runs on [2]. How long your version is maintained is shown in SAP's Product Availability Matrix.

For planning, SAP names SAP Analytics Cloud as the target product; for consolidation, a different one [3]. If you run both in BPC, you are therefore planning two migrations, and their sequence belongs at the very start of your considerations.

What cannot simply be carried over

A BPC model has grown over years. It contains three things that take effort in a migration.

• The calculation logic. In BPC, allocations, roll-forwards and copy runs live in BPC's own script logic. In SAP Analytics Cloud, data actions with advanced formulas take over this job. We rebuild the logic there rather than translating it line by line, and use the opportunity to drop steps that are no longer needed.
• The input reports. Many planners work in BPC via Excel. SAP Analytics Cloud also supports Excel as an input channel, with authorisations and validation rules taken from the model. The users help decide which input forms stay in Excel and which move to the web interface.
• The process. In many BPC landscapes, deadlines and approvals are handled by email and lists. In SAP Analytics Cloud, the planning calendar assigns the tasks, and data locking freezes the approved version.

How we approach a migration

1. Inventory

Which planning processes run in BPC, with which dimensions, which logic and how many participants? Which of them are still used? This often reveals that nobody needs certain reports and runs any more. Those are not migrated.

2. Target design

One data model for plan and actuals, agreed with the business department. Plus the question of where the data will reside in future: in SAP Analytics Cloud itself or, for large volumes, in SAP Datasphere.

3. One area first

We do not migrate everything at once. One planning area goes first, such as cost planning, and runs in parallel with BPC for one cycle. Only once the figures match does the next one follow.

4. History and decommissioning

Comparative figures from previous years are migrated to the extent they are needed for plan and forecast. BPC is only switched off once the last area has completed a cycle without falling back on it.

Where migrations usually get stuck

Rarely on the technology. More often because nobody remembers exactly why an allocation calculates the way it does, or because the business department is only consulted at acceptance. That is why, with us, controlling sits at the table from the start, and the logic is walked through once with the people responsible before it is rebuilt.

What the finished planning looks like in the system is shown on the SAP Analytics Cloud page. The end-of-maintenance dates are covered in the article End of maintenance 2027.