Our world is becoming more complex every year.

New technologies are giving us more possibilities and challenges, and they can impact the business rapidly. Recent history shows that politics, rules and regulations can change the environment we’re operating in drastically, shifting according to latest needs or whims. Any business can be affected by “collateral damage” of those changes. Companies are driven by a so many number of factors, both internal and external, some of which can be controlled and others cannot. It is impossible to foresee all of the potential outcomes, but through what-if modelling we can try to plan for different scenario’s and see what their impact is on our business.

For most organizations, the initial go-to planning tool is Excel. You can start small with something simple. But soon it grows with more demanding needs, sometimes in line with the company’s development itself. Excel is extremely flexible, as each cell in all of the workbooks can be calculated or entered, so it can deliver a wide range of functionalities. But this comes at a price, as Excel is not an enterprise-ready planning tool. Gathering data from different data sources, data mapping between different departments and systems, consolidation of input from multiple users, version control, formula errors, …. In a realistic day to day environment the combination of those issues can lead to something we call “Excel hell”.

We found that a functional database can be a good answer to tackling these challenges. Putting in place a robust calculation engine, while still leveraging the power of Excel and Excel-like functionalities on a larger scale. The functional database model goes beyond conventional databases by using a cell orientation like Excel, complete with instant recalculations in memory. IBM’s Planning Analytics (formerly TM1) is the most robust and mature functional database on the market that is geared towards interactive budgeting, forecasting and financial reporting for thousands of users, terabytes of data and deeply complex modelling to match business needs – enabling the concept of cubes in calculation models.

IBM’s Planning Analytics (PA) works in a cell-oriented way just like Excel. In the same way that any cell in an Excel workbook can be a function of any other cell in any other Excel workbook, in PA, any cell in any cube can be a function of any other cell in any cube. In this way, it is a natural evolutionary step after Excel – providing the intuitive power and flexibility of Excel and scaling it to an enterprise level.

Like Excel, Planning Analytics (PA) TM1 is valuable to business users because it allows them to combine multiple data sources along with user input to create the business models that underpin real business decision making.

IBM PLANNING ANALYTICS POWERED BY TM1FREEDOM UNDER THE GOVERNANCE OF LAW

UNDERSTANDING YOUR BUSINESS MEANS EMBRACING ITS COMPLEXITY

Each department in an organization has its specific and unique planning processes and requires different business knowledge to understand what drivers impact an operational or financial result. These drivers will also have a cross-function influence and limitation. Even the perfectly planned increase in sales will not give the expected impact on revenue if Manufacturing will not be able to produce or Supply Management to deliver. This is one of the main reasons the planning process requires the involvement of all departments to coordinate the integrated planning. Often underlying systems are disconnected or non-existent, which creates the need for data-mappings. Cost and revenues often need to be split, recharged or allocated. Some of the planning processes require complex mathematical calculations or even optimization algorithms. All of this results in a business complexity which is part of the day-to-day reality of running a business, and which requires a solid plan, support and management.

Attempts at cutting through complexity have 2 sides. On one hand, any simplification that can be made to processes that don’t result in lower efficiency or accuracy or customer satisfaction should be undertaken. However dumbing down a planning process, ignoring the reality that business is complicated is not the answer to a planning challenge. By not taking into account important drivers, we are creating a tunnel vision of our future. A solid planning solution should enable you to embrace your complexity and deal with the reality of your business processes.

IBM’s PA allows creating tailor-made models that address unique day-to-day complexity.

The heart of each model is the analytical engine that stores data in multidimensional cubes. Each cube or series of cubes represents a part of the business subprocess. Cubes are grouped into modules that cover different departments, functions or processes. Real-time calculations between the cubes show the immediate impact of factors and can steer in the result into another direction.

The heart of each model is the analytical engine that stores data in multidimensional cubes. Each cube or series of cubes represents a part of the business subprocess. Cubes are grouped into modules that cover different departments, functions or processes. Real-time calculations between the cubes show the immediate impact of factors and can steer in the result into another direction.

Web Mobile

Excel add-in

Tablet

Focused User Experience

ETL - Turbo Integrator

ERP,CRM,PPS,...

ODBC ODBC APIRDBMS,DWH,Flat�les

Cloud Appse.g. SFDC

IBM Planning Analytics OLAP Server

UNLIMITED PERFORMANCE

A planning process executed with a tool that is not fit the purpose is per definition limited. It can take a lot of time and effort to prepare, execute and consolidate the result. The planning process will need to be simplified to match the tools used and the time available to set them up. Planning Analytics is a system that helps to limit the manual effort to an absolute minimum in the maintenance part of the process. Users can focus on the most important part of the process – using their business knowledge to plan.

The system stores data in multidimensional structures, so users can review historical actual data or the previous budget/forecast versions in any available breakdown of the model (product, customer, account, cost center, etc.). This reference point will serve as a basis for the forward-looking planning process. Starting a new forecast can be started easily by selecting the actual reference months, and prefilling the future months with the latest forecast or budget data.

The nature of a multidimensional calculation engine results in data that automatically consolidate in hierarchies and can be analyzed in a drag and drop (pivot table like) style. PA puts the users in control of the calculation models and allocations that need to be applied. Define the relevant drivers and allocation keys and assess the impact of various scenarios on the results. Users can use personal sandboxes to privately see a result of different planning approaches. PA’s advanced calculation engine allows embedding any required complexity while calculating everything in memory in real-time.

KEEP CONTROL

The implementation of an Enterprise Planning Management class system with centralized logic allows reducing the risk of mistakes/error. When an organization reaches a certain level of complexity, through the number of people involved in the planning process or the complexity in data manipulations and calculations, the risk of making mistakes multiplies. Keeping the business/planning process in Excel becomes a risky business. Here is some of the example who learned the hard way - https://quadexcel.com/8-worst-spreadsheet-blunders-of-all-time/

Security and data sensitivity is another area of concern, by keeping control and governing the data. Planning Analytics can control the access to each object in the system: Application, Cubes, Dimensions, Dimension Elements. Moreover, PA provides even more extensive security by going a level deeper; cell-level security which is an intersection of each element in every dimension in the cube.

Planning analytics allows creating a controlled and governed environment, where calculation formulas are under control and all users have visibility over data with the right access. On the other hand, all data is gathered in one system simplifying control over the process.

COLLABORATION EMPOWER DIVERSITY

Planning Analytics Workspace — A web-based interface that allows creating input templates, workflow processes, ad-hoc analysis views/dashboards, and management reporting. Different views/dashboards are organized in workbooks. Workbooks can be created by users and shared with other users or complex workbooks can be managed centrally by blocking end-users to make any changes. This design covers different needs and allows customization to fit the business model.

Planning Analytics for Excel — An Excel-based user interface that allows users to interact with the system based on Pivot-Table-like reports. Data can be retrieved and saved to the system via Excel Add-in. This simply means entering data (planning) from Excel is as much as possible as consuming the data from the system for analysis/reporting purposes and applying all Excel functionalities. Reports created in Excel can retrieve data from the system or be saved as “snapshots” (similar to “paste as value”) that can be shared with users without having access to the planning and reporting system.

Different type of users need different insight from the information stored in the system to get the most out of the planning and reporting solution. Planning Analytics allows flexible design of the User Interface to match the differences in user requirements.

Regardless of which user interface (UI) users prefer (Web, Mobile, Excel) to interact with the tool, all functionalities like sandboxing, commenting, spreading using historical ratios, drill-down and up, slice and dice and many more remains available.

There are two main ways of user interaction in the Planning Analytics for planning.

ONE VERSION OF THE TRUTH

TEAM PROCESS PLAN VERSION OF THE TRUTH

Using Planning Analytics to perform Financial and Operational planning allows real-time business planning without usual delays. Planners involved in the process no longer need to reconcile data or check the most recent version of the plan. No more dozens of Excel files flying around, data consolidations and reconciliation delays and issues. When data entered by one department is used by another, changes are reflected immediately. Every contributor (planners, controller, etc.) and consumer (managers, directors, CFO) in the planning process can access the single source of the truth in any given time via Web, Mobile, and Excel-based interfaces.

A CONNECTED, TRUSTED AND OBJECTIVE SOURCE OF PLANNING AND REPORTING THAT ENABLES TIMELY AND EFFECTIVE BUSINESS DECISIONS TO DRIVE GROWTH AND PROFITABILITY.