How to create a SAP SuccessFactors budget (2026 Update)

Budget season always brings the same challenge for HR and People Analytics leaders:
how do you allocate investment in SAP SuccessFactors so that your people data actually delivers business value next year?

Whether your organisation is planning for 2026 or already looking ahead to 2027, one thing is clear - SuccessFactors analytics isn’t a “technology-only” cost centre anymore. To generate better decisions, higher adoption, and AI-ready insights, your budget must support the full ecosystem that turns data into real outcomes: tools, people, processes, governance, and capability.

That’s why we created our new webinar, "How to prepare your 2026 SAP SuccessFactors  analytics budget".

Why your SuccessFactors budget must evolve

SAP’s analytics landscape continues to move quickly. With SAP SuccessFactors Report Stories now the standard, SAP Analytics Cloud expanding in HR use cases, and SAP Business Data Cloud opening new opportunities for cross-functional insights, organisations are rethinking their investment priorities.

The budget conversation is no longer just: “What reporting tools do we need?”

It’s now: “What will it take for us to confidently use data to guide decisions across the HR lifecycle next year — and what do we need to fund to get there?”

Before you build your next budget, your team should be considering:

1. The core People Analytics costs every SAP SuccessFactors customer should be planning for

Most HR teams underestimate the investment required for data governance, configuration clean-up, change management, and analytics capability building. These foundational components are what turn reporting tools into real business impact.

2. How to balance SuccessFactors technology investment with adoption and enablement

Buying technology is easy. Ensuring people use it — and use it well — is where the value comes from. Your 2026/2027 budget should reflect the importance of training, support, stakeholder engagement, and analytical upskilling.

3. How new SAP technologies influence next year’s financial plan

From Report Stories enhancements to SAP Analytics Cloud scenarios and the emergence of People Intelligence in SAP Business Data Cloud, customers need to understand what to prioritise, what to defer, and what to prepare for now. Not everything requires investment immediately, but everything requires planning.

This is exactly what we cover in the webinar

Rather than outlining every budget category in this blog post, the webinar walks you step-by-step through a realistic, future-ready People Analytics budgeting approach — designed for SuccessFactors customers at any stage of maturity.

You’ll learn:

• The core budget areas every organisation should include for SuccessFactors analytics in 2026 and beyond

• How to balance technology, capability, and adoption spend

• How to build a credible, value-led business case that resonates with senior leadership

• What to prioritise for 2027 based on SAP’s evolving analytics ecosystem

If you want to build a credible, future-focused People Analytics budget, start now

High-performing People Analytics teams don’t rely on guesswork when planning annual investment. They forecast based on capability needs, system maturity, data readiness, and the outcomes leadership expects to see.

This webinar will help you do exactly that.

👉 Watch: How to Prepare Your 2026 SAP SuccessFactors Analytics Budget