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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: New Parameters for TurboIntegrator

February 13, 2018 by Alex Needham Leave a Comment

Did you know you can create a temporary VIEW or SUBSET Turbo Integrator function in IBM Planning Analytics? Here’s why you may need to, and how to do so.

IBM has gone to great lengths to ensure that the transition to Planning Analytics is a seamless process and has added some new functionality to help make your system more efficient.

Two commonly used TurboIntegrator (TI) functions are SUBSETCREATE and VIEWCREATE. These processes are used to create a new component in your process, but they sometimes can cause an issue. If you create a new subset or view in the prolog but then have the process fail with the DATA tab then the process will end without removing the new components. This is most likely because VIEWDESTROY and SUBSETDESTROY are most likely within the Epilog.

There are ways to code around this in the existing version of TM1, but Planning Analytics now offers the ability to create a temporary VIEW or SUBSET as of version 10.2.2 FP4. This is done by adding a flag at the end of the command.

So now, the coding for the two CREATE commands can look like this:

New Turbo Integrator parameters in IBM Planning Analytics

The “1” at the end of each of these is an optional flag. By using this approach, the previously mentioned error is a problem of the past.

IBM Planning Analytics 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!

New Subscription-based Pricing for Revelwood’s TM1 & IBM Planning Analytics Help Desk

January 25, 2018 by John Pra Sisto Leave a Comment

Most of us have workdays that force us to choose between spending time on tasks that are urgent versus tasks that are vital. As a TM1 or IBM Planning Analytics administrator, that may mean having to answer urgent (or, really not-so-urgent) general user support questions when you would much rather spend your time designing a new model to for that major corporate strategic initiative. Or building the business case on why you should migrate from TM1 to Planning Analytics now, before your Finance team starts to do its 2019 budgeting and planning and hits a wall.

We understand your challenges and we’re here to help. You can turn to our new Help Desk and send those urgent (and not-so-urgent) issues our way, while you make the best use of your time. Revelwood’s TM1/Planning Analytics Help Desk can help you diagnose, troubleshoot and solve bugs and other issues related to your entire TM1/Planning Analytics environment. We can also work with you on all of your customizations and configurations. You can even have your users contact us directly. But that’s not all — our new Help Desk is a subscription-based service offering. You pay one monthly fee, which gives you unlimited access to our help desk team. Now, not only can you put a set budget in place for your TM1/Planning Analytics support needs, but you can also turn to us for help without worrying about the cost to you!

Revelwood Help Desk Admin Support Plan

This is a Level II plan, where you provide Level I support to your end users, while we provide Admin support to authorized individuals that you designate. You and your authorized individuals will funnel questions and issues from your end users first, enabling your team to prioritize issues and rely on our team where you feel we are needed the most.

Revelwood Help Desk End-User Support Plan

This is a Level I plan where Revelwood will serve as Level I support for your end-users who use TM1/Planning Analytics on a regular basis. We can answer whatever questions they have, freeing you up to focus on higher-value tasks. This plan also includes Level II support.

Let us take the “headaches” off your to-do list so you can focus on the vital projects on your list. We can partner with you to help ensure your TM1/Planning Analytics environment is up and running smoothly. Both plans are available as a subscription service, giving you peace of mind from a budget perspective and a support perspective!

Send an email to John Pra Sisto to find out more.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: The Ranked Report

January 23, 2018 by Nina Inverso Leave a Comment

Did you know IBM Planning Analytics for Microsoft Excel (PAx) provides several tools to view, maintain, and report on your Planning Analytics data? Dynamic Reports, one of the PAx reporting tools, allows you to create flexible reports with personalized formatting. An example of this is a ranked report, which will display and sort the top set of rows. To do this, simply insert a TM1RPTFILTER formula into a cell on the Excel worksheet containing the Dynamic Report.

The TM1RPTFILTER formula has five parameters that can be used to customize the filter:

ReportView – A reference to the cell containing the TM1RPTVIEW formula that applies to the Dynamic Report
Tuple – A string specifying the member of the column dimension to which the filter applies
FilterFunction – A string from the following list that describes the set of data to be displayed:

TOPCOUNT
BOTTOMCOUNT
TOPPERCENT
BOTTOMPERCENT
TOPSUM
BOTTOMSUM

FilterValue – The number of rows to be displayed
SortOrder – A string from the following list that describes the way in which the data should be sorted:
- asc – Ascending
- desc – Descending
- nbasc – Ascending without breaking the hierarchy
- nbdesc – Descending without breaking the hierarchy

The following is an example of a ranking function using TM1RPTFILTER. This report would display the top 20 rows, ranked by December’s data, in descending order.

=TM1RPTFILTER(RptView, “[Month].[Dec]”, “TOPCOUNT”, 20, “desc”)

This concept can easily be applied it to a variety of models to quickly and effectively report on the rankings within a data set.

For more information, refer to the IBM Planning Analytics 2.0.0 documentation or the TM1RPTFILTER documentation.

Are you ready for your Finance Transformation?

January 19, 2018 by Brian Combs Leave a Comment

Are you ready for a new FP&A solution?

Have you been thinking about replacing your current management reporting and forecasting/planning solution? Maybe you have outgrown your current system? Perhaps you are snickering now because you are still just using Excel and you’re thinking, “What system?” Maybe you are just tired of Excel and all of its limitations? What if I told you there was a way to enhance your current systems and processes (whether in Excel or some other tool) that allows you to be more nimble, collaborative, secure, and responsive to senior management’s requests?

Perhaps you have decided that you will look at a new system once you have a chance to wrap your head around all of your global processes and work to standardize them? Daunting. I know because I have been there. I was the global implementation lead for a new FP&A solution at a Fortune 300 company. I remember how embarrassing it was sometimes when someone else inherited “my” spreadsheets! I understand the potential pitfalls and speed bumps along the way because I have hit many of them! In short, I have been in your shoes.

There are many reasons to start down the path of transforming your FP&A processes and systems. If any of these scenarios fit you, it may be time for you to start your journey:

You have disparate systems and processes across business units, geographies and corporate functions
There is a lack of standardization and/or automation of technology and process
You lack integrated functionality within legacy applications across your organization
There is a lack of data governance and control
You have limited reporting capabilities (for example, Excel schedules are used to standardize outputs)
There are no real-time, collaborative tools
You lack engagement and/or internal resources

In addition to these all-too-common scenarios in the Office of Finance, sometimes the most important reason to start the transformation is simply that your FP&A process is not always aligned to Finance’s vision and purpose.

When I was in your shoes, my organization was rolling out a multi-million-dollar ERP and Planning/Reporting system within a three-year time frame. I was tasked with creating the global strategy for the new forecasting and management reporting tool. This included directing the overall implementation and driving process standardization across multiple teams, including corporate and field operations, and all back office support functions.

I’d like you to take advantage of my expertise. Please give me a call or send me an email at bcombs@revelwood.com for your Finance Transformation Services consult today!

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Using MDX to Compare Dimension Hierarchies

January 16, 2018 by Revelwood Leave a Comment

This is a guest post by Revelwood’s Shane Bethea.

Did you know you can use MDX to compare dimension hierarchies? IBM Cognos TM1 dimensions often have multiple hierarchies that should all roll up to the same total. Said another way, these separate hierarchies should all contain the same set of n-level elements below them. For example, a customer dimension may have a hierarchy for rolling up the ‘All Customers – by Type’ and another for ‘All Customers – by Region.’ A TI process can be used to maintain the elements in the dimension and these two hierarchies, but sometimes the two hierarchies may become out of sync. MDX can be used to see if both hierarchies contain the exact same number of n-level customers and, if the two hierarchies are out of sync, identify the elements causing the problem.

In our example above, let’s say that a customer was added to the dimension within the ‘by Type’ hierarchy but not within the ‘by Region’ hierarchy. If two separate reports were written to pull the total revenue for all customers then the reports would show inconsistent values. This is because the ‘by Type’ hierarchy would have one more customer than the ‘by Region’ hierarchy.

Using MDX to Compare Dimension Hierarchies

To quickly figure out where the difference lies between the two hierarchies, an MDX statement can be used to compare the n-level elements within the two hierarchies.

Learn how to use MDX to compare dimension hierarchies

The MDX statement above uses the ‘EXCEPT’ function and will yield the difference between the ‘All Customer – by Type’ hierarchy and the ‘All Customer – by Region’ hierarchy. The result of the MDX statement is the one n-level element that is missing from the ‘by Region’ hierarchy. From here, you can investigate why the element was added to one hierarchy and not the other.

You can use MDX to compare dimension hierarchies

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!

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Displaying Data in Maps

January 3, 2018 by Lee Lazarow Leave a Comment

Did you know you can easily visualize data with IBM Planning Analytics Workspace? IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) allows you to visualize your data using a variety of charts and graphs, including the ability to display your results via a map. The only requirement for mapping is to ensure that your geography dimension includes recognizable place names. IBM defines “recognizable” to include items such as countries, states and provinces and offers a list of acceptable items on their website.

You can create a map in PAW with three easy steps:

1. Ensure that your dimension type is defined as geography within the }DimensionAttributes cube.

Easily visualize data with IBM Planning Analytics Workspac

2. Create a view in PAW with either your rows or columns displaying the geography dimension.

Use IBM Planning Analytics to easily display data as maps.

3. Set your visualization type to be a map.

Visualize data with IBM Planning Analytics Workspace

The resulting display will appear as a map:

Use IBM Planning Analytics Workspace to display data in a map.

Planning Analytics will re-analyze the data set each time you refresh the values. If at least 80% of the row or column members are recognized as geographic map values then PAW will re-create the map. This will allow you to quickly shift between worldwide, nationwide and regional maps by simply changing and suppressing the values you want to display.

Turn Forecasting into a Competitive Advantage

January 2, 2018 by Lisa Minneci Leave a Comment

Have you thought about how to turn financial forecasting into a competitive advantage? In today’s disruptive, high-stakes economy, maximizing any and every competitive advantage can mean the difference between just surviving versus thriving. And if you did turn your standard forecasting activities into a competitive advantage, what would that mean for you and your team in the Office of Finance?

A new report from the Financial Executives Research Foundation (FERF) makes a strong argument for how and why forecasting can become a much more strategic activity for your organization. According to FERF, “More effective forecasting and a deeper understanding of how markets are likely to evolve can provide competitive advantage by improving a company’s agility and its ability to enhance products, target customers more effectively or gain other operational insights.”

Here are some examples of how you can turn forecasting into a competitive advantage:

Use demand planning to anticipate the likely effects of variables such as marketing campaigns, market conditions in a given region, price discounts and more.
Generate stronger insights from a greater volume and variety of data to replace gut instinct and ensure more confidence in the numbers and advice coming from the Office of Finance
Develop insights into how markets are likely to evolve in order to enhance product offerings and target customers more effectively
Use scenario modeling to explore potential outcomes and identify the activities that have the greatest effect on your business
Analyze accounts receivable to create profiles that rank customers in the likelihood of them paying invoices promptly
Apply point-of-sale data to optimize inventory levels to adjust purchases from suppliers

As the report states, “the growing use of analytics to enhance forecasting represents the latest development in the increasing recognition that an organization’s data has evolved from a byproduct of its interactions with customers and stakeholders into a powerful source of organizational value.”

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Converting Reports to PAx

December 19, 2017 by Revelwood Leave a Comment

This is a guest blog post by Revelwood’s Nicole Frigo.

Did you know you can easily convert existing Perspective reports to IBM Planning Analytics for Excel (PAx)? Converting reports and upgrading action buttons require just a few simple steps when transitioning to PAx. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Open PAx and connect into your Planning Analytics environment

Learn how to convert Perspective reports to PAx

2. Once connected, select Options on the Planning Analytics ribbon and select Upgrade Action Buttons

Easily convert existing Perspective reports to PAx

3. You will have the option to create a backup and select a location for the backup. You will also be prompted to select a location for conversion logs. It is important to note the once converted, action buttons will no longer work in Perspectives so it is highly recommended to both create a backup and to define a log directory.

Once the directories are selected, click OK. You will then be prompted to navigate to the file location. Select the file(s) to be upgraded and click Upgrade.

4. After converting, you will need to publish the new workbook so others have access. To do this, the workbook must be saved first as a Macro Enabled Workbook or .xlsm

5. Once saved, you can publish workbooks back up to the server by selecting Publish on the Planning Analytics ribbon

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Custom landing pages for TM1 Web

December 12, 2017 by Revelwood Leave a Comment

This is a guest blog post by Revelwood’s Susan Musselman.

Did you know you can not only set up a landing page for IBM Cognos TM1 Web, but you can also set up custom landing pages for different groups of users? Here’s a quick step-by-step guide to do this.

The landing page for users is set up in the }ClientSettings cube:

Learn how to set up custom landing pages in TM11 we

In the above example, George Washington will see the Main Portal when he logs in and Al Capone will see Portal-2. There are 3 easy steps to set this up:

Create elements in the Control Cube and populate control cube to define the path of the portal pages: the }ClientSettings cube:

Setting up custom landing pages in TM1 Web

Create a WebPortal attribute in the }Client dimension and populate for your users:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Custom Landing Pages in TM1 Web

Create a rule in the }ClientSettings cube to determine which websheet to use for each }Client based on the attribute in the }ElementAttributes_}Clients cube:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: New Parameters for TurboIntegrator

Read more blog posts on IBM Planning Analytics:

New Subscription-based Pricing for Revelwood’s TM1 & IBM Planning Analytics Help Desk

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: The Ranked Report

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks blog posts:

Are you ready for your Finance Transformation?

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Using MDX to Compare Dimension Hierarchies

This is a guest post by Revelwood’s Shane Bethea.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Displaying Data in Maps

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

Turn Forecasting into a Competitive Advantage

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Converting Reports to PAx

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks blog posts:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Custom landing pages for TM1 Web

Read more blog posts with Tips & Tricks for IBM Planning Analytics:

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This is a guest post by Revelwood’s Shane Bethea.

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