The evolution of service oriented architecture has enabled significant opportunities for companies to expand their existing solutions without making large-scale upgrades and re-implementations. However, these solutions tend to be more suitable only for larger companies rather than mid-sized ones due to the initial investment needed to enable these solutions.
The S&OP process should be complemented by a strong root cause analysis and execution framework that ensures that the S&OP plan is continuously tracked with respect to the financial goals set forth by the company. In other words, the S&OP lifecycle should precede the financial reporting lifecycle of a company and should be in lock-step.