Don’t Replace APO – Rethink Supply Chain Planning

SAP Advanced Planner and Optimizer (APO) has been marked for end of life (EOL). For many, that raises an urgent question: what comes next?
 But that’s the wrong question to be asking. 

The end of APO isn’t just a signal to upgrade your software stack. It’s an opportunity to rethink how your organization plans altogether. 

For over two decades, APO served as the default backbone of supply chain planning. It brought structure but also rigidity. Its module-based architecture created silos. Its batch-driven processes slowed down decisions. And in today’s reality of continuous disruption and real-time volatility, APO has become a liability more than a legacy. 

Yet simply replacing it with another monolithic tool—or worse, a cobbled-together cloud suite—risks recreating the very constraints companies are trying to escape. 

The Problem Isn’t Just APO. It’s How We’ve Been Planning. 

Traditional planning tools, including most APO “successors,” still carry the same assumptions: 

• That demand, supply, and finance can be planned in isolation 

• That processes should follow rigid cycles 

• That planners must trade off control for integration 

But today’s business environment demands more: 

• Faster decision-making, across shorter and more volatile horizons 

• Stronger alignment between strategic goals and operational plans 

• Greater resilience, powered by real-time simulation and intelligent automation 

And most of all: a unified, adaptable planning process—not another disconnected product suite. 

Integrated Business Planning (IBP) Is a Process—Not a Product 

Many vendors are selling IBP as a software module. But true Integrated Business Planning isn’t something you buy. It’s something you build—with the right architecture, the right culture, and the right capabilities. 

At Board, we believe IBP should connect decisions across: 

• Demand Planning — informed by lifecycle, segmentation, and signals 

• Supply Planning — grounded in constraint-based logic, replenishment strategies, and cost-to-serve 

• S&OP — aligning financials and capacity in real time, not in reconciliation cycles 

With Board, these don’t sit in separate tools or planning layers. They exist in one unified platform, powered by an intelligent, configurable engine that supports both operational precision and strategic insight.

Why Board? Because You Don’t Just Need a Replacement. You Need a Rethink. 

Unlike many solutions that simply shift legacy processes to the cloud, Board empowers transformation. Our Unified Supply Chain Planning solution (SCP) brings together continuous planning, real-time simulation, and native financial alignment—so planners don’t just forecast, they orchestrate. 

Here’s why our approach is different: 

What the End of APO Really Means 

The sunset of APO is the first domino to fall. But the goal isn’t to replace a module with a shinier module. It’s to replace fragmented, reactive, siloed planning with a new model—one that’s intelligent, adaptive, and aligned to outcomes. 

Maxmize your SAP investment 

We understand that SAP is and will remain a critical part of many organizations’ technology landscape. That’s why Board is built to integrate, not replace. Through the Board SAP Connector (by Theobald), over 150 SAP customers already extract, model, and interact with live SAP data inside Board. 

This SAP-certified connector enables users to pull data from any SAP/ERP or SQL/BW object—including APO tables—into the Board platform, without writing code. Users can configure, preview, and automate data extracts directly within Board, supporting both high-volume and incremental loads. 

This allows customers to continuously leverage existing SAP investments while evolving their planning capabilities in a more agile, business-led way. Whether it’s APO, ECC, or S/4HANA, Board brings SAP data into an integrated planning experience—fast, secure, and scalable. 
Read more 

Where to Start 

You don’t need a massive transformation on day one. Most of our customers begin with a focused use case—like scenario-based supply planning or margin-aware S&OP with the option to scale further if need through the board platform. Let’s reframe your planning future. 

If you’re navigating the sunset of APO or evaluating next-gen planning platforms, now is the time to explore a smarter path forward. Talk to our experts about how Board delivers true IBP—without the complexity.