A Diversified Downstream Energy Company, Combined Analytics, Planning Automation & Forecasting in A Single Cloud-based Solution

Overview

A leading downstream energy company operating across refining, logistics, convenience stores, asphalt, and renewables embarked on a financial transformation journey to enhance efficiency and decision-making. With a complex IT landscape and manual financial processes, the company partnered with Applexus to transition from spreadsheet-driven FP&A to SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) Planning while aligning its enterprise data strategy with SAP Datasphere and an Azure Databricks-powered Enterprise Data Platform (EDP).

Challenges

• Labor-Intensive Financial Consolidation - Significant manual effort was required to compile and process financial statements.
• Inconsistent Data & Reconciliation Issues - Disparities across multiple systems led to challenges in data accuracy and trust.
• Fragmented Planning & Analysis - Disconnected financial planning processes limited efficiency and cross-functional collaboration.
• Excessive Time Spent on Data Preparation - Analysts devoted more effort to data gathering rather than strategic analysis.
• Delayed Financial Visibility - Limited real-time insights into costs, revenue, cash flow, and margins resulted in inefficiencies and increased business risk.

Major benefits realized by our client

• 95% Faster Versioning & Approval - Reduced manual intervention in financial planning and reporting.
• 40% Reduction in Reporting Time - Improved access to real-time financial insights.
• Eliminated Spreadsheets - Transitioned to a structured, cloud-based planning system for greater accuracy.
• Stronger Cost & Revenue Insights - Enabled self-service analytics and predictive planning for proactive decision-making.

How We Did It

• Transition to SAC Planning - Replaced manual, spreadsheet-driven financial planning with SAP Analytics Cloud, creating a structured and scalable FP&A process.
• Enterprise Data Strategy Alignment – Integrated SAP Datasphere and Azure Databricks to unify financial data, ensuring consistency and real-time analytics.
• Centralized Planning & Forecasting – Combined financial data across headcount, expenses, gross margin, and P&L into a single, collaborative planning environment.
• Future-Ready Architecture – Established a scalable, AI-ready platform by migrating SAP BW to SAP Datasphere, integrating seamlessly with Databricks for advanced analytics and automation.