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Today, Ventana Research announced the release of its publication with author Robert Kugel’s book, Integrated Business Planning: Reimagining Planning and Budgeting. Integrated business planning (IBP) is an approach that brings together operational and financial planning across an entire organization. Combining the two creates a business management tool that serves the needs of all executives and managers by focusing on supporting better decisions that improve organizational and individual performance while respecting financial constraints and objectives. As a result, the budget process is less complicated and more productive through integrated business planning, promoting better organizational performance. IBP is necessary to change budgeting and planning for the better, but overcoming organizational barriers to change where they exist is equally important.

Robert Kugel, CFA, has led the Office of Finance practice at Ventana Research for 20 years and manages the business research, focusing on the intersection of information technology and business applications. His expertise covers the focus areas of business planning; digital finance; ERP and continuous accounting; close, consolidate, and report; purchasing, sourcing, and payments; and revenue, lease, and tax accounting. Before joining Ventana Research, Robert was an equity research analyst at several firms including Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, and Drexel Burnham, and a consultant with McKinsey and Company. Robert was an Institutional Investor All-American Team member and on the Wall Street Journal All-Star list. He earned his BA in Economics/Finance at Hampshire College, an MBA in Finance/Accounting at Columbia University, and is a CFA charter holder.

The Office of Finance practice under Robert’s leadership is dedicated to the proposition that technology can enable an organization to make planning and budgeting a more useful tool, improving senior executives’ power to manage the business more intelligently. It can be a useful business performance management tool for line-of-business managers, not just finance. This book outlines the technological basics behind this ability, suggests a program for evolving the planning and budgeting process, and it provides guidance on buying and implementing software.

“Businesses have needed operational and financial agility to deal with events over the past three years,” shared author, Robert Kugel, SVP & Research Director, Ventana Research “Today’s environment may be uncertain, but it is not unpredictable. Financial planning and analysis groups must have the right tools to anticipate any scenario and immediately answer what-if questions in detail. Integrated Business Planning puts an end to ‘I’ll get back to you with that.’"

“The advent of planning over the decades still has significant room for improvement in every organization and this book sets the blueprint and methods for best practices and success,” said Mark Smith, CEO and Chief Research Officer of Ventana Research. “This book and Rob’s work for more than two decades in establishing the definition and education in integrated business planning brings together the technology to use in the most effective manner independent of any specific technology vendor. No matter if you are in finance, operations, or IT, and have planning as part of your career, you should consider reading this book.” 

The book, Integrated Business Planning: Reimagining Planning and Budgeting, is available for purchase on Amazon in Kindle or a paperback format. Please click here for more information.

About Ventana Research

Ventana Research is the most authoritative and respected market research and technology advisory services firm. We provide insight and expert guidance on mainstream and disruptive technologies through a unique set of research-based offerings including benchmark research and technology evaluation assessments, education workshops, and our research and advisory services, Ventana On-Demand. Our unparalleled understanding of the role of technology in optimizing business processes and performance and our best practices guidance are rooted in our rigorous research-based benchmarking of people, processes, information, and technology across business and IT (Information Technology) functions in every industry. This benchmark research, plus our market coverage and in-depth knowledge of hundreds of technology providers, means we can deliver education and expertise to our clients to increase the value they derive from technology investments while reducing time, cost, and risk.

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