One in four finance, planning and analysis teams will adopt integrated business planning by 2027, new research says

A new research report from leading global technology research and advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III) says only one out of four finance, planning and analysis (FP&A) business units will adopt integrated business planning by 2027, despite its ability to help enterprises plan, budget, report and analyze faster and more accurately, while offering AI and reporting capabilities.

The ISG Business Planning Buyers Guides, produced by ISG Software Research, say the FP&A units that adopt the rapid, collaborative process known as integrated business planning, which uses a software platform to bring together operational and financial planning, will be a strategic asset to the enterprise.

“Transforming a finance department into a strategic asset relies on technology that enhances visibility and decision-making and focuses on future opportunities rather than past outcomes,” said Robert Kugel, CFA, executive director, Business Research, ISG Software Research. “Strategic finance organizations can provide actionable, data-driven insights to optimize performance. Ultimately, effective planning software bolsters organizational agility and enhances the value of planning and budgeting across all departments.”

Desktop spreadsheets remain the budgeting platform of choice for many enterprises, but the report notes they are prone to errors and often become overly complex and inflexible. Addressing these issues is time-consuming, which limits organizational agility.

Technology for managing data flows to and from source systems, including ERP, customer relationship management and supply chain management, has evolved rapidly. Application programming interfaces make it possible to automate data extraction, transformation and loading from multiple sources onto the planning platform, ensuring accurate, timely and consistent data is accessible to all participants in the planning process. While ISG Software Research says two-thirds of analysts spend too much time on data preparation and data review, this automation significantly reduces the time spent on manual data preparation.

For its 2024 Business Planning Buyers Guides, ISG evaluated software providers across four platform categories – Business Planning, Financial Planning, Revenue Planning and Workforce Planning – and produced a separate Buyers Guide for each. A total of 15 providers were assessed: Anaplan, Board, IBM, Infor, Insightsoftware, Jedox, OneStream, Oracle, Pigment, Planful, Prophix, SAP, Vena Solutions, Wolters Kluwer and Workday.

ISG Software Research designates the top three software providers as Leaders in each category. For the 2024 study, the leading providers in ranked order are:

Business Planning: OneStream, Oracle and Anaplan

Financial Planning: OneStream, Oracle and Anaplan

Revenue Planning: OneStream, Anaplan and Oracle

Workforce Planning: OneStream, Oracle and Anaplan

“For more than 15 years, integrated business planning has been the path for enterprises to follow to unify processes, meet management and operational requirements and achieve optimal outcomes,” said Mark Smith, partner, ISG Software Research. “Research ratings help enterprises assess and select software providers and products to help business, finance and operations work better together, so they can avoid the perils of spreadsheets and identify areas where AI can infuse intelligence into these applications.”

The ISG Business Planning Buyers Guides are the distillation of more than a year of market and product research efforts. The research is not sponsored nor influenced by software providers and is conducted solely to help enterprises optimize their business and IT software investments.

Visit this webpage to learn more about the ISG Business Planning Buyers Guides and read executive summaries of each of the four reports. The complete reports, including provider rankings across seven product and customer experience dimensions and detailed research findings on each provider, are available by contacting ISG Software Research.

About ISG Software Research

ISG Software Research provides authoritative coverage and analysis of the business and IT software industry. It distributes research and insights daily through its user community, and provides a portfolio of consulting, advisory, research and education services for enterprises, software and service providers, and investment firms. Its ISG Buyers Guides help enterprises evaluate and select software providers through tailored assessments powered by ISG’s proprietary methodology. Visit www.isg-research.net for more information and to sign up for free community membership.

About ISG

ISG (Information Services Group) (Nasdaq: III) is a leading global technology research and advisory firm. A trusted business partner to more than 900 clients, including more than 75 of the world’s top 100 enterprises, ISG is committed to helping corporations, public sector organizations, and service and technology providers achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm specializes in digital transformation services, including AI, cloud and data analytics; sourcing advisory; managed governance and risk services; network carrier services; strategy and operations design; change management; market intelligence and technology research and analysis. Founded in 2006, and based in Stamford, Conn., ISG employs 1,600 digital-ready professionals operating in more than 20 countries—a global team known for its innovative thinking, market influence, deep industry and technology expertise, and world-class research and analytical capabilities based on the industry’s most comprehensive marketplace data. For more information, visit www.isg-one.com.

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