Over the past 30 years, leading companies have implemented Integrated Business Planning, originally known as Sales and Operations Planning. Early on, this process focused on balancing and synchronizing expected demand for products with the ability to deliver the products.
The process has now matured into aligning all company plans, including product development and finance, via Integrated Business Planning (IBP). Today, IBP is considered a “best practice” for managing a company and ensuring its strategies are executed effectively and efficiently.
The dynamic, forward-looking nature of IBP presents Finance organizations with a tremendous opportunity to play a key role in the company’s effort to deploy strategy. In successful IBP implementations, the Finance organization’s role evolves to supporting decisions about future plans and strategies through robust analysis and scenario planning.