--- title: With the end in sight for SAP APO - what’s next? description: Now that the finality of SAP APO is a real prospect, many companies are thinking about what to do next. In this blog, rather than providing advice about specific solutions such as Kinaxis, Anaplan, O9, SAP IBP or other options from the Gartner Magic Quadrant, I highlight four considerations that you should bear in mind. image: https://articles.involvation.com/hubfs/download.jfif --- - [English](https://articles.involvation.com/with-the-end-in-sight-for-sap-apo-whats-next) - [Nederlands](https://articles.involvation.com/nl/einde-van-sap-apo-in-zicht-wat-nu) [![logo involvation](https://articles.involvation.com/hs-fs/hubfs/logo_Involvation_payoff_en.png?width=234&height=48&name=logo_Involvation_payoff_en.png "logo involvation")](https://www.involvation.com/) - [Consultancy & Implementation](https://www.involvation.com/consultancy-implementation/) - [Supply Chain Network Design](https://www.involvation.com/nl/advies-realisatie/sc-network-design/) - [S&OP/IBP](https://info.involvation.com/sales-and-operations-planning) - [Supply Chain Resilience](https://info.involvation.com/supply-chain-resilience) - [Resilience Quickscan](https://info.involvation.com/resilience-quickscan-how-resilient-is-your-supply-chain) - [Forecasting & Inventory Management](https://www.involvation.com/consultancy-implementation/forecasting-inventory-management/) - [Production & Process management](https://www.involvation.com/consultancy-implementation/production-control/) - [Learning & Development](https://www.involvation.com/learning-development-2/) - [The Value Chain Academy](https://www.involvation.com/learning-development-2/the-value-chain-academy/) - [Serious gaming](https://www.involvation.com/learning-development-2/serious-gaming/) - [Our training approach](https://www.involvation.com/learning-development-2/approach/) - [Our areas of training](https://www.involvation.com/learning-development-2/our-areas-training/) - [Interim Management](https://www.involvation.com/interim-management/) - [For Interim Managers](https://www.involvation.com/interim-management/voor-interim-managers/) - [For Clients](https://www.involvation.com/interim-management/voor-opdrachtgevers/) - [Our assignments](https://www.involvation.com/our-assignments/) - Per area - [Supply Chain Strategy & Design](https://www.involvation.com/our-assignments/sc-strategy-redesign/) - [S&OP/IBP](https://www.involvation.com/our-assignments/sop/) - [Forecasting & Inventory Management](https://www.involvation.com/our-assignments/stock-control/) - [Production & Process management](https://www.involvation.com/our-assignments/production-control/) - [Learning & Development](https://www.involvation.com/our-assignments/learning-development/) - [Interim Management](https://www.involvation.com/our-assignments/interim-management/) - [Demand Driven SCM](https://www.involvation.com/our-assignments/demand-driven-scm/) - Per industry - [Mechanical engineering](https://www.involvation.com/our-assignments/mechanical-engineering/) - [Construction](https://www.involvation.com/our-assignments/construction/) - [High tech & automotive](https://www.involvation.com/our-assignments/high-tech-automotive/) - [Energy & Utilities](https://www.involvation.com/energy-utilities/) - [Chemicals](https://www.involvation.com/chemicals/) - [Pharma & life sciences](https://www.involvation.com/pharma-life-sciences/) - [Agri business](https://www.involvation.com/agri-business/) - [Consumer products & retail](https://www.involvation.com/consumer-products-retail/) - [Customer stories](https://articles.involvation.com/tag/customer-stories) - [About us](https://www.involvation.com/about-us/) - [Who we are](https://www.involvation.com/about-us/who-we-are/) - [How we work](https://www.involvation.com/about-us/how-we-work/) - [Partner team](https://www.involvation.com/about-us/partnerteam/) - [Job Vacancies](https://www.involvation.com/about-us/job-vacancies/) - [Contact](https://www.involvation.com/about-us/contact) - [Publications](https://articles.involvation.com) - [Articles](https://articles.involvation.com) - [Downloads](https://info.involvation.com/download-overview) - [Events](https://info.involvation.com/event-overview) # With the end in sight for SAP APO - what’s next? ![](https://articles.involvation.com/hubfs/download.jfif) Now that the finality of SAP APO is a real prospect, many companies are thinking about what to do next. In this blog, rather than providing advice about specific solutions such as Kinaxis, Anaplan, O9, SAP IBP or other options from the Gartner Magic Quadrant, I highlight four considerations that you should bear in mind. ## 1. Changing consumer preferences Consumer needs change over time. Speed, transparency, responsiveness and sustainability are becoming increasingly important. How does this affect what is required of the planning system? Consider, for example, **granularity** (from category level to store level and vice versa), **integrality** (horizontal, i.e. across silos) and **planning flexibility** (multiple planning cycles).Consumer needs change over time, impacting the requirements of the planning system. Consider granularity, integrality, and planning flexibility. ![Afbeelding APO 2](https://articles.involvation.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog%20images/Afbeelding%20APO%202.jpg?width=282&height=140&name=Afbeelding%20APO%202.jpg) ## 2. Unique value Understand where the **unique value** lies in your supply chain and prioritize  functionality. Do you have to optimize multiple assets – such as factories, distribution centres or trucks – or is the focus on managing your finished goods inventory (and the associated risks)? It is essential to have a clear understanding of your business challenges as the basis for developing a roadmap with functionality-related priorities. ## 3. Data exchange and collaboration Consider how you will facilitate **data exchange and collaboration** with supply chain partners. Assess the complexity of your future supply chain footprint and think about how you want to manage your network of suppliers, factories, DCs and customers. Managing this manually, using older technology, had already become a challenge. In view of the increased data availability from external parties, those datasets must now also be made part of any future planning system. Moreover, many software vendors have integrated **collaborative features** into their solutions, so consider how these can fit into your existing communications landscape (e.g. portals). ![Afbeelding APO 4](https://articles.involvation.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog%20images/Afbeelding%20APO%204.jpg?width=304&height=166&name=Afbeelding%20APO%204.jpg) ## 4. Tech adoption Besides a number of **technological aspects** (e.g. security, cloud native, AI/ML supported), what mainly matters is the **adoption** of a solution. Therefore, to foster acceptance and adoption, it is becoming increasingly important that new solutions are **user-friendly** for planners. Check how intelligence in the system is converted into organizational insights, how easy it is to do cross-sectional analysis and exceptions management, how intuitive the solution is to use and how flexible it is to set up.    The new solution to replace SAP APO should last you at least five years, but a lot can change in that time. Therefore, remember to ‘look before you leap’. There are a multitude of possible solutions, so do your homework first to identify what is essential for your organization.   If you have any questions after reading this blog or if you would like to discuss further on this topic, please contact Victor Breugem, [v.breugem@involvation.com](mailto:v.breugem@involvation.com)   ![](https://articles.involvation.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Authors/Victor-Breugem.jpg?width=100&height=100&name=Victor-Breugem.jpg) [By Victor Breugem ![](https://articles.involvation.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Involvation_March2021/images/Capture.png)](mailto:v.breugem@involvation.com) ## Related items - [The Wheel of Five: Absorb variation with stock and time](https://articles.involvation.com/the-wheel-of-five-absorb-variation-with-stock-and-time) - [From museum to masterclass: What a total blackout teaches us about resilience](https://articles.involvation.com/what-power-outage-teaches-us-about-resilience) - [5 ways to manage complexity in your supply chain](https://articles.involvation.com/manage-complexity-in-supply-chain) Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler ![einstein](https://articles.involvation.com/hubfs/einstein.jpg) **Albert Einstein** ### Contact --- Emmalaan 5 3732 GM De Bilt T +31 30 - 2217766 E [info@involvation.com](mailto:info@involvation.com) ### Website --- - [Home](https://www.involvation.com/) - [Consultancy & Implementation](https://www.involvation.com/consultancy-implementation/) - [Learning & Development](https://www.involvation.com/learning-development-2/) - [Our assignments](https://www.involvation.com/our-assignments/) - [About us](https://www.involvation.com/about-us/) - [Publications](https://articles.involvation.com) - [Login](https://simcurve.involvation.nl/) ### Online games --- [Inventory Game](https://inventorygame.involvation.com/en) [Beer game](https://www.involvation.com/learning-development-2/serious-gaming/beer-game/) © 2026 Involvation  ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Victor Breugem", "url" : "https://articles.involvation.com/author/victor-breugem" }, "dateModified" : "2023-07-14T11:58:57.272Z", "datePublished" : "2023-07-13T15:28:25.000Z", "headline" : "With the end in sight for SAP APO - what’s next?", "image" : [ "https://articles.involvation.com/hubfs/download.jfif" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://articles.involvation.com/with-the-end-in-sight-for-sap-apo-whats-next", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://articles.involvation.com/hubfs/logo_Involvation_payoff_nl.png" }, "name" : "Involvation" } } ```