Data & AnalyticsDigital Transformation & Cloud ERPFinancials & GRCCase Study

Customer Case Study: Modernising Financial Planning at Sydney Water

Thu, 19 Nov 2026 · 2:55 PM – 3:35 PMLevel 5 - Room 5.4
Naga Chalasani

Naga Chalasani

Planning & Analytics Lead · Sydney Water

Naga is the Planning & Analytics Lead at Sydney Water, where he leads the delivery of enterprise planning, analytics and financial performance solutions using SAP technologies. With more than 20 years' experience in SAP finance, planning and analytics, he specialises in helping organisations modernise planning processes, improve financial insight and deliver trusted data for better decision-making. A highly experienced SAP practitioner, Naga has led implementations and upgrades across SAP S/4HANA, SAP Analytics Cloud, SAP BW/4HANA and Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC). His expertise spans financial planning, reporting and analytics, with broad experience across enterprise SAP landscapes and a strong track record of delivering innovative solutions in complex environments.

Rajesh Shanbhag

Rajesh Shanbhag

Team Lead Digital Products & Delivery · Sydney Water

Rajesh is the SAP Delivery Team Lead at Sydney Water, with more than 25 years' experience delivering SAP solutions and leading large-scale business transformation initiatives. He has extensive experience implementing, optimising and supporting SAP S/4HANA, helping organisations modernise business processes, improve user experience and maximise the value of their SAP investments. At Sydney Water, Rajesh leads the delivery of SAP technology initiatives that drive innovation across the organisation, including SAP Analytics Cloud and SAP S/4HANA. He works closely with business and technology stakeholders to develop strategic roadmaps, champion new capabilities and deliver practical outcomes that improve planning, decision-making and operational performance. Throughout his career, he has led global SAP transformation programs and built a reputation as a trusted advisor with a collaborative, customer-focused approach.

The session

About this session

Sydney Water is modernising its financial planning landscape to support a growing customer base, increasing capital investment and faster business decision-making. Rather than simply replacing legacy planning tools, the organisation has embarked on a finance-led transformation to unify planning across OPEX, CAPEX and financial statements using SAP Analytics Cloud Seamless Planning.

Delivered through a collaborative partnership between Finance and Digital, the program is taking an iterative, in-house approach, replacing a fragmented planning landscape spanning SAP BPC, S/4HANA, non-SAP systems and spreadsheets. Along the way, the team is introducing a Self-Service Data Model, embedding analytics-focused business roles, and exploring the predictive and AI capabilities of SAP Analytics Cloud to improve planning, adoption and decision-making.

This session offers a timely look at Sydney Water's transformation as the team approaches its October 2026 go-live, sharing the business drivers behind the program, the realities of delivering a major planning initiative in-house, and the lessons learned along the way. Whether you're considering the move from SAP BPC, reducing reliance on spreadsheets, or exploring how AI can support modern financial planning, you'll gain practical insights from a team actively navigating the journey.

What You'll Learn

  • How Sydney Water is modernising financial planning across OPEX, CAPEX and financial statements using SAP Analytics Cloud Seamless Planning.
  • How Finance and Digital partnered to deliver an iterative, in-house transformation, including lessons learned from moving beyond SAP BPC, spreadsheets and traditional implementation models.
  • How predictive analytics and AI can support modern financial planning, and key considerations for organisations looking to build a more agile, scalable and business-led planning capability.
Data & AnalyticsDigital Transformation & Cloud ERPFinancials & GRC

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