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

Lawson Software Announces Partnership with Accruent

Lawson Software (Nasdaq: LWSN) today announced a partnership with Accruent Inc., a provider of real estate performance management (RPM) solutions. Under the agreement, Lawson and Accruent will offer customers a solution designed to help customers take innovative approaches to solve their real estate and facilities management challenges. The partnership will initially focus on retail organizations, but the two companies will also target other industries, including healthcare, financial services, and public sector organizations.

The solution, which can work with the Lawson S3 Enterprise Financial Management Suite, will help Lawson customers manage their real estate portfolios more strategically. This capability can ultimately help them manage real estate-related revenue and costs while helping to facilitate regulatory compliance. Real estate costs are among the most significant capital investments and operating expenses for many companies, which creates a growing need for technology solutions focused on real estate performance.

More than 340 of the world's largest companies, including 20 percent of the Fortune 500 and 40 percent of the Top 100 Retailers use the Accruent real estate solution. Lawson and Accruent currently have more than 30 joint customers.

"Our customers face a number of challenges managing their overall financials, including their real estate assets," said Colleen Holm, product manager for Lawson. "By working with Accruent, we can help our customers obtain a better understanding of the effectiveness of their capital investments in real estate - ultimately helping them turn real estate into a more strategic part of their broader financial strategy."

"Businesses recognize the direct link between real estate and bottom-line performance," said Mark Friedman, chief executive officer for Accruent. "By combining Lawson's enterprise software solutions and expertise with Accruent's focused solution for optimizing the real estate lifecycle, our shared customers will have access to innovative technology solutions to help them with real estate and facilities management."

About Lawson Software

Lawson Software provides software and service solutions to 4,000 customers in manufacturing, distribution, maintenance and service sector industries across 40 countries. Lawson's solutions include Enterprise Performance Management, Supply Chain Management, Enterprise Resource Planning, Customer Relationship Management, Manufacturing Resource Planning, Enterprise Asset Management and industry-tailored applications. Lawson solutions assist customers in simplifying their businesses or organizations by helping them streamline processes, reduce costs and enhance business or operational performance. Lawson is headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., and has offices around the world. Visit Lawson online at http://www.lawson.com/.

Source : Lawson Software