Northern California Public Broadcasting Leverages SAP Solutions for Enterprise Performance Management

SAP Empowers CFOs with Innovative Solutions to Drive Performance and Manage Growth; Rapid Deployment of SAP Solutions Drives Increased Operational Efficiency and Reporting Accuracy for the Financial Planning Process

SAP AG today announced that Northern California Public Broadcasting, Inc. (NCPB), one of the nation’s leading public radio and television broadcasters, has successfully implemented the SAP® Business Planning and Consolidation application, a key component of the growing portfolio of SAP solutions for enterprise performance management. As NCPB undergoes significant business transformation, the broadcaster is using SAP solutions for enterprise performance management to better manage the company’s business plan, acquisition road map and growth strategy. Since deploying SAP solutions, NCPB has seen a significant increase in operational and financial reporting accuracy and efficiency, allowing more time for analysis and strategic planning. The NCPB deployment demonstrates continued momentum for SAP’s global strategy to transform and enhance corporate performance by putting innovative and user-friendly business and financial management solutions in the hands of CFOs.

NCPB owns and operates public radio and television stations across Northern California, making it one of the largest, most-watched public television and most-listened-to public radio broadcasters in the United States. In 2006, NCPB was in the process of merging with two regional broadcast stations and needed a robust performance management platform that could scale to support the company’s growth while addressing several core financial and operational functions in a highly customized and cost-effective manner.

NCPB required a solution that would decrease time spent reconciling data aggregated manually in Excel spreadsheets, re-engineer the arduous annual financial planning process by creating monthly forecasts, and increase the integrity and transparency of numbers across the business. After a competitive search, CFO Jeffery Nemy selected SAP solutions to improve financial performance and operational efficiencies across all station holdings and departments throughout the company, including finance, communications and human resources.

The initial implementation process for NCPB’s deployment took approximately 90 days to complete, with the first forecast presented to the Board’s Finance Committee less than five months after the project began.

“We were in the middle of a critical corporate transition and needed a holistic solution that could consolidate budgets of disparate departments and projects instantaneously, eliminate time-consuming reconciliations of interdepartmental charges, and automate and standardize documentation of assumptions and justifications for spending requests as well as provide account-level reporting across departmental and project boundaries,” said Nemy. “SAP solutions proved to be the best fit and since the initial implementation, we have successfully achieved several measurable benchmarks including elimination of the manual consolidation process, which has reduced our cycle time by up to six weeks. The entire NCPB leadership team is now equipped with direct online access to more timely and accurate information and a better way to view, measure and plan the strategic direction of the company — literally transforming the way we do business.”

Prior to the implementation of SAP solutions for enterprise performance management, the annual planning and consolidation process at NCPB took months to complete, which monopolized thousands of man hours and did not provide the level of visibility needed to support the company’s growth. After deploying the SAP solutions, NCPB completely replaced its annual financial planning processes with a rolling monthly forecast that projects not only the balance of the current fiscal year, but also the following 36 months. At the end of each month, actuals are uploaded into the system, thus overriding the previous forecast for that month. Variance reports are then prepared comparing actual results against both budget and previous forecasts. Automating the planning and consolidation process has resulted in a significant increase in efficiency for the overall financial planning process.

“SAP has been diligent in its commitment to deliver a world-class suite of software solutions that address the specific needs and business objectives of CFOs today,” said Sanjay Poonen, senior vice president and general manager of Enterprise Performance Management, Business Objects, an SAP company. “The success of customers like Northern California Public Broadcasting further validates our strategy to empower CFOs through delivery of the most comprehensive and innovative technology solutions. In addition, SAP was positioned in the leaders quadrant in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for CPM Suites, 20071.”

Source : SAP