SAP Makes Performance Management Move, Acquires OutlookSoft To Bolster CPM Product Line | AMR Research

SAP Makes Performance Management Move, Acquires OutlookSoft To Bolster CPM Product Line | AMR Research

SAP was largely silent on its broader corporate performance management (CPM) messaging at SAPPHIRE last month. Sure, it reinforced the strategy management it acquired from Pilot Software and inked a profitability management software reselling relationship with Acorn Systems, an independent cost management vendor making traction in a wide range of industries. But SAP didn’t say a lot about the other two pillars of CPM: business planning and financial consolidations. We poked and prodded, and were eventually told that news would be coming. We expected to hear more at the European SAPPHIRE in Vienna in mid May.

But big news can’t wait. SAP is acquiring OutlookSoft, an independent provider of planning and financial reporting for Global-2000-class enterprises based in Stamford, Connecticut. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. SAP expects it to close within the next 30 days, pending regulatory approval. OutlookSoft employees are expected to be incorporated into SAP’s infrastructure upon completion of the deal.

OutlookSoft is the future of both planning and financial consolidations

When thinking of OutlookSoft, we picture an image of a solid, highly usable, prediction-focused planning, budgeting, and forecasting (PBF) system. Customers, many of which are divisions of larger organizations, have built very responsive and flexible planning systems with the product. The consolidation tool is decent, but used more for budgeting and forecasting rollups and less for complex enterprise consolidations, which is what SAP customers will need and expect. Yet SAP has indicated this acquisition will be positioned as the go-forward products for both functional components.

SAP also clearly understands its existing financial consolidations product, BCS, will be a necessary part of its ongoing portfolio for highly complex, geographic-specific requirements. However, it’s banking a large swath of its target customers will consider the OutlookSoft consolidation tool for straightforward rollups and consolidations.

The existing product for planning, SAP’s Business Intelligence Integrated Planning (BIIP), will remain the modeling infrastructure for the future planning system, and OutlookSoft will be the new user interface for that product. An integration effort will need to happen between the two, with SAP needing to communicate integration plans across the complementary products.

Office of the CFO—it’s more than traditional CPM

Expect SAP to aggressively position its strong governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC) assets as part of its move to surround the CFO and distinguish it from other competitors. When Oracle acquired Hyperion (see “Oracle Buys Hyperion for $3.3B: BI/PM Market Consolidation Begins”), SAP clearly realized it had to act quickly to shore up its credentials for CPM. Lagging meant risking even more customers to the Hyperion/Oracle juggernaut or other best-in-class competitors that deliver specific products for the CFO. In fact, GRC and the office of the CFO were a major focus of SAP executives at SAPPHIRE, with hints about this deal and other developments in the works.

Reworking OutlookSoft for the SAP architecture

OutlookSoft’s products had been tied at the hip with Microsoft’s SQL Server architecture, specifically SQL Server Analysis Services’ (SSAS) multidimensional data store. But in its latest release, it expanded its options to Oracle. As this is integrated into the SAP stack, it will be tailored for the SAP BI architecture, including SAP Business Warehouse and eventually its high-performance appliance, Business Intelligence Accelerator (BIA). Whether these products maintain a heterogeneous backbone approach remains to be seen, but customers with existing tech stacks will likely be supported.

More analysis as the details emerge

At first take, the news is positive. SAP customers have been very vocal about the limited usability of its BI/PM products, and this acquisition is a move in the right direction. But the details of what will be available when and the detailed integration plans still need to be clarified. One thing is clear—the BI/PM race is on, with winning the office of the CFO a major objective.




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