BARC: Enterprise Performance Management research note
BARC research: A New Paradigm for Enterprise Performance Management Unifying business planning, consolidation, reporting and AI for true agility in dynamic markets Download dokumentetA New Paradigm for Enterprise
Performance Management
Unifying business planning, consolidation,
reporting and AI for true agility in dynamic
markets
Authors: Robert Tischler, Dr. Christian Fuchs
Publication: October 31, 2025
Research sponsored by:
_
Performance Management
Unifying business planning, consolidation,
reporting and AI for true agility in dynamic
markets
Authors: Robert Tischler, Dr. Christian Fuchs
Publication: October 31, 2025
Research sponsored by:
_
2A New Paradigm for Enterprise Performance Management – © BARC GmbH 2025
Table of contents
Management summary ............................................................................................................................................. 3
The PDCA playbook ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Striking with artificial intelligence................................................................................................................................................................ 3
Ready for kick-off ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Time for a new paradigm when your EPM stops delivering............................................................................ 4
You don’t win a title just by sticking to your plan ................................................................................................................................4
In the best teams, players interact more .................................................................................................................................................. 5
What is EPM and where are the gaps in software support? ............................................................................................................. 5
Modern EPM: Evolution or revolution for your business? ............................................................................... 7
The Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle and EPM .................................................................................................................................................... 8
Plan: Improve efficiency and integration for better insights ............................................................................................................ 8
Do: Trigger and orchestrate the execution of plans ............................................................................................................................ 9
Check: Continuously monitor and analyze performance ................................................................................................................. 10
Act: Implement corrective actions and improve...................................................................................................................................11
The end-to-end platform for your complete EPM ............................................................................................ 11
3 shades of AI shape the future of EPM .............................................................................................................. 12
Conclusion: The future of EPM – agility, integration and intelligence ........................................................14
About BARC ................................................................................................................................................................. 15
About SAP .................................................................................................................................................................... 16
Table of contents
Management summary ............................................................................................................................................. 3
The PDCA playbook ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Striking with artificial intelligence................................................................................................................................................................ 3
Ready for kick-off ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Time for a new paradigm when your EPM stops delivering............................................................................ 4
You don’t win a title just by sticking to your plan ................................................................................................................................4
In the best teams, players interact more .................................................................................................................................................. 5
What is EPM and where are the gaps in software support? ............................................................................................................. 5
Modern EPM: Evolution or revolution for your business? ............................................................................... 7
The Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle and EPM .................................................................................................................................................... 8
Plan: Improve efficiency and integration for better insights ............................................................................................................ 8
Do: Trigger and orchestrate the execution of plans ............................................................................................................................ 9
Check: Continuously monitor and analyze performance ................................................................................................................. 10
Act: Implement corrective actions and improve...................................................................................................................................11
The end-to-end platform for your complete EPM ............................................................................................ 11
3 shades of AI shape the future of EPM .............................................................................................................. 12
Conclusion: The future of EPM – agility, integration and intelligence ........................................................14
About BARC ................................................................................................................................................................. 15
About SAP .................................................................................................................................................................... 16
3A New Paradigm for Enterprise Performance Management – © BARC GmbH 2025
Management summary
Picture this: It’s the 85 th minute of the Champions League final and your team is down by a goal. The
coach makes a bold move, he drops the holding midfielder and adds a second striker, shifting from a
conservative formation to an attacking formation. Suddenly, the pitch opens up. Your winger cuts in-
side and the equalizer flies in!
Relying on rigid annual plans in business is like sticking to a single formation in football. When the
market changes, you need to adapt fast or risk losing ground. This research note shows how a modern
enterprise performance management (EPM) platform allows you to change tactics on the fly, turning
data into insights with the precision and speed of a well-timed substitution.
The PDCA playbook
The Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle is your tactical playbook for more agile EPM:
• The “Plan” stage establishes driver-based targets and breaks them down into operational sub-
plans, such as sales quotas, production schedules and headcount forecasts.
• “Do” executes these plans by orchestrating tasks across ERP, CRM and other systems. This step
is similar to a coach directing players to press or hold their position.
• “Check” uses real-time dashboards and consolidated results to monitor outcomes, much like
reviewing possession and pass maps at halftime.
• Finally, “Act” applies corrective measures, such as shifting resources or adjusting scenarios, so
your organization can stay agile and prepared for what’s next.
Striking with artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are the strikers of your EPM squad. ML models
analyze historical and external data to quickly produce baseline forecasts and confidence bands.
This frees up analysts to focus on strategy rather than spreadsheets. Generative AI (GenAI) enables
managers to ask plain-language questions, such as “What happens if we cut prices by 5% in Q4?”,
and instantly receive relevant results and charts. As AI agents evolve, they will help to automate rou-
tine updates and trigger alerts, just as co-trainers take over part of the training to improve on specific
areas without constant supervision.
Ready for kick-off
An EPM platform that unifies planning, execution, monitoring and adjustment is like a championship-
winning squad – it performs as one, exceeding the sum of its parts. The following sections explain
this new paradigm and how integrated data foundations, AI-driven insights and the PDCA cycle work
together to help your organization adapt, achieve success and stand out in today’s challenging busi-
ness arena. Turn the page for the full game plan and get to know your squad that will help you deliver
more powerful EPM.
Management summary
Picture this: It’s the 85 th minute of the Champions League final and your team is down by a goal. The
coach makes a bold move, he drops the holding midfielder and adds a second striker, shifting from a
conservative formation to an attacking formation. Suddenly, the pitch opens up. Your winger cuts in-
side and the equalizer flies in!
Relying on rigid annual plans in business is like sticking to a single formation in football. When the
market changes, you need to adapt fast or risk losing ground. This research note shows how a modern
enterprise performance management (EPM) platform allows you to change tactics on the fly, turning
data into insights with the precision and speed of a well-timed substitution.
The PDCA playbook
The Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle is your tactical playbook for more agile EPM:
• The “Plan” stage establishes driver-based targets and breaks them down into operational sub-
plans, such as sales quotas, production schedules and headcount forecasts.
• “Do” executes these plans by orchestrating tasks across ERP, CRM and other systems. This step
is similar to a coach directing players to press or hold their position.
• “Check” uses real-time dashboards and consolidated results to monitor outcomes, much like
reviewing possession and pass maps at halftime.
• Finally, “Act” applies corrective measures, such as shifting resources or adjusting scenarios, so
your organization can stay agile and prepared for what’s next.
Striking with artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are the strikers of your EPM squad. ML models
analyze historical and external data to quickly produce baseline forecasts and confidence bands.
This frees up analysts to focus on strategy rather than spreadsheets. Generative AI (GenAI) enables
managers to ask plain-language questions, such as “What happens if we cut prices by 5% in Q4?”,
and instantly receive relevant results and charts. As AI agents evolve, they will help to automate rou-
tine updates and trigger alerts, just as co-trainers take over part of the training to improve on specific
areas without constant supervision.
Ready for kick-off
An EPM platform that unifies planning, execution, monitoring and adjustment is like a championship-
winning squad – it performs as one, exceeding the sum of its parts. The following sections explain
this new paradigm and how integrated data foundations, AI-driven insights and the PDCA cycle work
together to help your organization adapt, achieve success and stand out in today’s challenging busi-
ness arena. Turn the page for the full game plan and get to know your squad that will help you deliver
more powerful EPM.
4A New Paradigm for Enterprise Performance Management – © BARC GmbH 2025
Time for a new paradigm when your
EPM stops delivering
You don’t win a title just by sticking to your plan
Imagine sitting on your couch together with friends, watching your favorite football team play in the
Champions League final – the ultimate climax of the season. The entire season has been building up
to this moment for the team. They have the best players on the field, who work together seamlessly
to form a formidable squad. The coach and his staff have prepared them perfectly for what to expect
from the opposing team. They have the ideal plan to win the final and the capability to execute it. They
are well trained and eager to win the trophy. However, when the opposing team enters the pitch with
an unexpected formation and follows a different strategy of letting your team play ball-possession
football until launching swift and devastating counterattacks instead of dominating the game, you
already have a bad feeling.
Now, back to business: Imagine how painful it would be to see your beloved team operate like so
many organizations – maybe even the one you work for. First, they would continue operating as
planned. Then, it would take them a long time to adjust the plan, reallocate and communicate what
needs to be done. By then, they would already be trailing 0-3.
In a volatile and uncertain world, quick feedback
and adjustments are essential for continuous im-
provement, and the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)
cycle, also known as the Deming cycle, promises
to deliver this. Following this cycle regularly and
at short time intervals is essential for providing
valuable guidance to your organization’s man-
agement.
The PDCA cycle involves planning by setting tar-
gets and allocating resources, executing planned
actions, checking the results to see what works
and what doesn’t, and acting accordingly by ap-
plying corrective measures. It is a four-stage, it-
erative process for continuous improvement and
problem-solving. Its iterative nature makes the
steering cycle a highly dynamic process.
Many companies lack the capability to quickly run through the PDCA cycle, even though it’s obvious
that their current approach is not working. This has a devastating effect on corporate performance.
They lack a key ingredient necessary to speed up their PDCA cycle execution: a powerful, tightly inte-
grated enterprise performance management (EPM) solution.
Many of the solutions in use today were implemented 10 or more years ago, when different require-
ments and use cases were the focus. Back then, markets and the political environment were more
stable and predictable than they are today. However, requirements are changing faster than ever due
to market and environment volatility. These profound changes require businesses to constantly adapt.
Consequently, approaches with long lead cycles and inflexible solutions are outdated. These ap-
proaches are completely obsolete now due to the constant external shocks that profoundly impact
the markets and are impossible to reliably predict, requiring constant adaptation.
Figure 1: The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle
Time for a new paradigm when your
EPM stops delivering
You don’t win a title just by sticking to your plan
Imagine sitting on your couch together with friends, watching your favorite football team play in the
Champions League final – the ultimate climax of the season. The entire season has been building up
to this moment for the team. They have the best players on the field, who work together seamlessly
to form a formidable squad. The coach and his staff have prepared them perfectly for what to expect
from the opposing team. They have the ideal plan to win the final and the capability to execute it. They
are well trained and eager to win the trophy. However, when the opposing team enters the pitch with
an unexpected formation and follows a different strategy of letting your team play ball-possession
football until launching swift and devastating counterattacks instead of dominating the game, you
already have a bad feeling.
Now, back to business: Imagine how painful it would be to see your beloved team operate like so
many organizations – maybe even the one you work for. First, they would continue operating as
planned. Then, it would take them a long time to adjust the plan, reallocate and communicate what
needs to be done. By then, they would already be trailing 0-3.
In a volatile and uncertain world, quick feedback
and adjustments are essential for continuous im-
provement, and the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)
cycle, also known as the Deming cycle, promises
to deliver this. Following this cycle regularly and
at short time intervals is essential for providing
valuable guidance to your organization’s man-
agement.
The PDCA cycle involves planning by setting tar-
gets and allocating resources, executing planned
actions, checking the results to see what works
and what doesn’t, and acting accordingly by ap-
plying corrective measures. It is a four-stage, it-
erative process for continuous improvement and
problem-solving. Its iterative nature makes the
steering cycle a highly dynamic process.
Many companies lack the capability to quickly run through the PDCA cycle, even though it’s obvious
that their current approach is not working. This has a devastating effect on corporate performance.
They lack a key ingredient necessary to speed up their PDCA cycle execution: a powerful, tightly inte-
grated enterprise performance management (EPM) solution.
Many of the solutions in use today were implemented 10 or more years ago, when different require-
ments and use cases were the focus. Back then, markets and the political environment were more
stable and predictable than they are today. However, requirements are changing faster than ever due
to market and environment volatility. These profound changes require businesses to constantly adapt.
Consequently, approaches with long lead cycles and inflexible solutions are outdated. These ap-
proaches are completely obsolete now due to the constant external shocks that profoundly impact
the markets and are impossible to reliably predict, requiring constant adaptation.
Figure 1: The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle
5A New Paradigm for Enterprise Performance Management – © BARC GmbH 2025
In the best teams, players interact more
Most EPM solutions do not cover the entire PDCA cycle. Often, the components of these solutions
are pieced together in a way that drastically reduces flexibility because adapting to inevitable changes
is risky and cumbersome. For example, corporate planning encompasses financial and operational
planning in many areas, including sales and human resources. It also involves breaking down plans
into the lowest granularity in the ERP for operationalization, such as SKUs and BOMs.
However, this integration with strategic planning and end-to-end integration of all relevant subplans
are often missing. Similarly, optimizing the results of a single legal entity or region may not benefit the
group’s profit. This is where a holistic view that considers tax and currency effects comes in handy. As
in football, it’s not individual players who win the trophy, it’s the best team. They must deliver an out-
standing performance overall. In EPM, tightly connected systems provide more benefits than isolated
standalone systems. Effective EPM needs to link together plan, do, check and act to shine from end to
end and really make an impact.
Today, few companies find the right amount of automation and integration to guarantee efficiency
and flexibility. The demand for both efficiency and flexibility is increasing to help companies keep up
with the competition in dynamic and unstable markets. At the same time, modern technology has
taken this concept to a whole new level by enabling the development and maintenance of scalable
solutions that were previously unattainable.
What is EPM and where are the gaps in software support?
For many companies, the rising complexity of their business environments, coupled with new possibili-
ties for addressing their most urgent EPM challenges and outdated technology in use, has reached a
tipping point. They have decided to fully commit to renewing their EPM solutions and plan to invest in
multiple areas to improve their performance management (see Figure 2). Deficiencies in planning, stat-
utory consolidation or reporting often drive this decision. But before we explore how companies solve
their problems and what you should possibly do, let’s first define EPM and identify the most critical
challenges.
Figure 2: Planned investments in software to improve EPM (source: BARC “The CFO Agenda 2025”, n=179)
In the best teams, players interact more
Most EPM solutions do not cover the entire PDCA cycle. Often, the components of these solutions
are pieced together in a way that drastically reduces flexibility because adapting to inevitable changes
is risky and cumbersome. For example, corporate planning encompasses financial and operational
planning in many areas, including sales and human resources. It also involves breaking down plans
into the lowest granularity in the ERP for operationalization, such as SKUs and BOMs.
However, this integration with strategic planning and end-to-end integration of all relevant subplans
are often missing. Similarly, optimizing the results of a single legal entity or region may not benefit the
group’s profit. This is where a holistic view that considers tax and currency effects comes in handy. As
in football, it’s not individual players who win the trophy, it’s the best team. They must deliver an out-
standing performance overall. In EPM, tightly connected systems provide more benefits than isolated
standalone systems. Effective EPM needs to link together plan, do, check and act to shine from end to
end and really make an impact.
Today, few companies find the right amount of automation and integration to guarantee efficiency
and flexibility. The demand for both efficiency and flexibility is increasing to help companies keep up
with the competition in dynamic and unstable markets. At the same time, modern technology has
taken this concept to a whole new level by enabling the development and maintenance of scalable
solutions that were previously unattainable.
What is EPM and where are the gaps in software support?
For many companies, the rising complexity of their business environments, coupled with new possibili-
ties for addressing their most urgent EPM challenges and outdated technology in use, has reached a
tipping point. They have decided to fully commit to renewing their EPM solutions and plan to invest in
multiple areas to improve their performance management (see Figure 2). Deficiencies in planning, stat-
utory consolidation or reporting often drive this decision. But before we explore how companies solve
their problems and what you should possibly do, let’s first define EPM and identify the most critical
challenges.
Figure 2: Planned investments in software to improve EPM (source: BARC “The CFO Agenda 2025”, n=179)