Budgeting Planning & Forecasting

Have you ever referenced a view in an IBM Planning Analytics workbench and then realized that you also want to look at the rules associated with the cube? You can do this by referencing the left side navigation to scroll through the list of cubes or using the option to show the cube in the data tree, opening the list of components, and then clicking on the rule to open it.

But did you know that there was a quicker way? The “Cube Rules” icon will open the rule as a new tab via a single click from your exploration.

Once opened, you can then move and resize your tabs to show both the view and the rule at the same time.  

This navigational approach saves you development time by performing multiple steps with a single click.

IBM Planning Analytics, which TM1 is the engine for, is full of new features and functionality. Not sure where to start? Our team here at Revelwood can help. Contact us for more information at info@revelwood.com. And stay tuned for more Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks weekly in our Knowledge Center and in upcoming newsletters!

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: VSTACK_HSTACK

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Slow-Performing Scripts

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Converting a Manual Process to TurboIntegrator Scripts

This post is the latest post in our new blog series: How We Solve Problems. Each blog post focuses on a real-world client experience where Revelwood was presented with a unique or thorny problem.  We’ll explain our approach to how we solved it.

Revelwood Client: An accounts receivable provider that offers collection and contact center services.  

Planning Environment: IBM Planning Analytics

Problem: This client had a very large model that led to slow-performing scripts and reports. Revelwood analyzed their model and determined that much of the data was associated with historical information that was no longer needed. This included multiple versions of plans dating back to 2015. 

How We Helped: Revelwood worked with our client to determine an asymmetrical approach to removing data (example: keep three years of budget data, one year of forecast data and remove all historical reforecast data) and reordering the dimensions in the model. These changes reduced the four largest cubes from 56% to 70% and removed more than 8.5GB of memory. This optimization led to faster reports calculated in seconds instead of minutes.

Do you have a challenge with your Planning Analytics environment? Let us tackle the problem!

Send us a quick email!

Have you ever created an IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) exploration and then wanted to look at data that was not in your original set? You can open the set editor and follow the applicable steps, or you can instead simply type the element you want to select.  The second option is done via the use of the “Enter Member” feature in PAW.

For example, if I had a view with a company dimension selector but only had the grand total element in my existing set then I would see the following clickable option:

However, if I know that my model contains a company element called 002 then I can input that directly by selecting “Enter member” within the context area:

You have the option to either enter a single element or a set:

• When you enter a member using the input box, the current set is ignored, and you can directly use any member. The set then changes to a single member set.
• If you are selecting a set using the input box, the named set you enter must exist. 

The system will utilize the alias that is currently defined in the existing set, even if you input the element differently. For example, if I input the element called 002 then the system will convert this to an alias called Oldies.

becomes…

This approach will speed up your analyses by allowing you to skip the subset editor and directly accessing a new data point.

IBM Planning Analytics, which TM1 is the engine for, is full of new features and functionality. Not sure where to start? Our team here at Revelwood can help. Contact us for more information at info@revelwood.com. And stay tuned for more Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks weekly in our Knowledge Center and in upcoming newsletters!

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Convert to Driver-Based Planning

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Excel’s WRAPCOLS Formula

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Fixing Repetitive Scripts

This is the latest post in our blog series on how we solve problems. Each blog post focuses on a real-world client experience where Revelwood was presented with a unique or thorny problem.  We’ll explain our approach to how we solved it.

Revelwood Client: A private university with campuses throughout New York and New Jersey.  

Planning Environment: IBM Planning Analytics

Problem: The university was planning revenue using an Excel-based spreadsheet. The spreadsheet contained many repetitive sheets, had very complex formulas and had some erroneous calculations built into the file.

How We Helped: Revelwood reviewed their existing model and helped convert it into a driver-based planning approach that used a combination of headcounts with various lookup tables. The model accommodated various review sources such as tuition and other fees, while also calculating contra accounts such as tuition and bad debt. Users planned by semester. We converted the results into calendar months, taking into consideration both calendar years and school years. This simplified approach allowed the client to easily load and update data into the model and then make modifications for what-if analyses.

Do you have a challenge with your Planning Analytics environment? Let us tackle the problem! Send us a quick email!

This post is the latest post in our new blog series: How We Solve Problems. Each blog post focuses on a real-world client experience where Revelwood was presented with a unique or thorny problem.  We’ll explain our approach to how we solved it.

Revelwood Client: A financial services company specializing in retirement and life insurance.

Planning Environment: IBM Planning Analytics

Problem: A review of their existing TurboIntegrator scripts found that many of their processes used pre-built source views. Each view differed only slightly. For example, one view would define subsets in approximately eight dimensions and focus on a single time period, while a second view would contain the same subsets and focus on a different time period. This approach led to more than 50 repetitive scripts that were run via chores.

How We Helped: We changed the approach to create a source view in the prolog. This allowed a single script to be run over and over via parameters that were defined during each iteration. This resulted in faster maintenance since changes only had to be coded once.  It also ensured that changes to public views and subsets would not impact these scripts.

Do you have a challenge with your Planning Analytics environment? Let us tackle the problem! Send us a quick email!

Have you ever been in a situation where you have stacked dimensions in your view and only want to expand one section of it? In legacy Perspectives, an expansion of one area equates to an expansion of all areas. IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW), version 87, introduced functionality that allows you to expand just one piece at a time.

Here is an example of a simple view that shows Actual Finance expenses by Company.

By default, an expansion of the Finance department would show an expansion for all three companies.

A new icon has been added that will allow you to determine how you want to expand and collapse the elements within your view.  

When clicked, you will have two options: Symmetrical and Asymmetrical.  

If we change the approach to Asymmetrical and then expand the departments within company 2, only a subset of the full view is expanded.

This approach will allow you to tighten your analysis and let your users focus on a subsection of your view while still easily having the ability to see the big picture.

IBM Planning Analytics, which TM1 is the engine for, is full of new features and functionality. Not sure where to start? Our team here at Revelwood can help. Contact us for more information at info@revelwood.com. And stay tuned for more Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks weekly in our Knowledge Center and in upcoming newsletters!

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW “Spacers”

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Excel’s ROUND Function

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Excel Switch Function

Have you ever generated an IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) exploration and struggled to read the values in the grid? For example, how easy is it to define the travel cost for department 55 in the screenshot below?

A few years ago, I wrote a blog post about solving this in Excel by using formulas to shade every other row. This approach is built into PAW via an option called “Zebra strips.” You can enable this option within the Custom properties of an exploration:

Once enabled, PAW will lightly shade every other row to allow you to quickly navigate through your exploration. Using the example from earlier, it is now much easier to define the travel cost for department 55.

IBM Planning Analytics, which TM1 is the engine for, is full of new features and functionality. Not sure where to start? Our team here at Revelwood can help. Contact us for more information at info@revelwood.com. And stay tuned for more Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks weekly in our Knowledge Center and in upcoming newsletters!

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW “Spacers”

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Excel’s ROUND Function

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Excel Switch Function