Insights

The best technology for sales planning and operations forecasting

Planning and budgeting software for business
Enterprise software solutions for planning and financial analysis and corporate consolidation typically require robust and scalable technologies to ensure optimal performance and reliability.
Some of the technologies commonly used for such solutions include:

Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS): business management software often runs on RDBMS such as Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, and IBM DB2 to store and manage large amounts of structured data.

In-Memory technology: In-memory computing technology is becoming increasingly popular for financial analysis and planning (FA&P) and sales and operational planning (S&OP) software as it enables real-time analytics. Here you can read why it is rather good solution for business.

Cloud technology: Cloud technology has become a popular option for enterprise-level software solutions due to its scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness. Company can store a large amount of data and every employee with specific right can have an access to it without unsafe data exchange via email of corporate servers.

Virtualization: Virtualization technology allows multiple operating systems to run on a single physical machine, which can help reduce hardware costs and increase resource utilization. However, we hardly can name it the most efficient technology. Users of this solution always face with a problem of data transfer from one operating system to another, because in spite working on one hard ware it is different machines.

Business Intelligence and Analytics: S&OP and FA&P software for business management requires a powerful and flexible reporting and analytics capabilities to enable effective decision-making. Business intelligence and analytics tools are used to analyze and visualize large volumes of data from multiple sources, identify trends, and forecast demand.

Data Integration and efficient Metadata Management: software for financial and operational planning and also budgeting software must be able to integrate data from various sources, including sales, operations, and finance, to provide a complete picture of the organization's performance. Data integration and management tools are used to extract, transform, and load (ETL) data from multiple sources and create a single source of truth.

Forecasting and Modeling tools: Accurate forecasting and modeling features in business performance software are essential for effective planning and forecasting operational and financial metrics. Statistical modeling, simulation, and predictive analytics tools are used to forecast demand, plan inventory, and optimize production capacity.

Collaboration and Workflow Management: Business planning and budgeting involves cross-functional collaboration and communication. Collaboration and workflow management tools are used to enable effective communication and collaboration between sales, operations, and finance teams.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: Advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning are increasingly being used in S&OP and FA&P software to provide intelligent forecasting, predictive analytics, and automated decision-making.

Read here how we implemented all of these features in Spreadym, a platform for financial planning and budgeting.