CHAPTER 9Integrated Planning
“Planning” is as generic a term as “information management” or “integration,” conjuring a wide variety of presuppositions and connotations. As a result, this chapter introduces a specific definition of integrated planning:
The process of formulating courses of action by setting quantitative measures that embody goals and objectives through systematic methods on enterprise and interoperable standards.
This definition is not to be confused with the SAP BW Integrated Planning tool. To make the distinction between integrated planning as a process versus a tool, the former will be referred to as simply “integrated planning,” while the latter will be referred to as a coined acronym (SAP-IP) for this chapter.
The definition of integrated planning was crafted to position the SAP-IP tool itself. A further breakdown of the definition is provided after a historical context is given that explains why integrated planning is needed. This background and explanation should shed light as to how SAP-IP supports integrated planning.
In addition, the tool is further positioned vis-à-vis NetWeaver by introducing integrated planning design concepts from an Enterprise Architecture perspective before covering the technical functions and features of SAP-IP
In summary, the first part of this chapter is dedicated to providing conceptual context to integrated planning, and the second half provides more detailed coverage of the SAP-IP tool.
Integrated Planning Positioning ...
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