One in four finance, planning and analysis teams will adopt integrated business planning by 2027, new research says
STAMFORD, Conn., January 30, 2025–(BUSINESS WIRE)–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.
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