Cognos TM1

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Code Char

August 3, 2021 by Lee Lazarow Leave a Comment

Have you ever written a TurboIntegrator script and wanted to check the first character of a value to see if it was a number or a letter? Have you ever needed to insert a single or double quote into a string without “breaking” your code? Have you ever wanted to easily convert a lower case letter into an upper case letter? All of this can be done by referencing the ASCII code associated with the character.

ASCII is an abbreviation for American Standard Code for Information Interchange and is used as a standard for electronic communication. ASCII codes represent text for computers. Every key on your keyboard has a defined code number. Tables associated with these codes can be found via a simple Internet search.

There are two functions in IBM Planning Analytics / TM1 that allow you to reference the ASCII code:

CHAR returns the character associated with a numeric ASCII code. For example, CHAR(76) returns a capital L.

CODE returns the numeric ASCII code associated with a character. For example, CODE(‘Lee’, 1) returns 67 since the first character is a capital L.

These functions can be used in conjunction with other functions and logic to perform various tasks:

If the first character of a value has an ASCII code in the range of 48-57, then the value is a number.
If the first character of a value does not have an ASCII code in the range of 48-57, 65-90, or 97-122 then the value is not a number or a letter.
ASCII code 39 is a single quote and ASCII code 34 is a double quote.
All capital and lowercase codes have the same ASCII code value difference, so you can add or subtract 32 to convert between uppercase and lowercase.

These functions allow you to check and manipulate data without having to ignore the rules of TurboIntegrator coding.

IBM Planning Analytics, powered by TM1, is full of new features and functionality. Need advice? Our team here at Revelwood can help. Contact us for more information at info@revelwood.com. We post new Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks weekly in our Knowledge Center and in newsletters.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Depreciation

July 27, 2021 by Lee Lazarow Leave a Comment

P&L planning models consist of a variety of inputs, including revenue planning and various forms of expense planning. In addition to these standards, we are often asked to develop other planning components. One of these components entails a depreciation process, which leads to the question: what is depreciation?

Depreciation is defined as “a reduction in the value of an asset due to wear and tear or obsolescence.” In business terms, this typically entails a calculation to determine your current asset’s value.

There are various methods to calculate depreciation, all of which are taught in an Accounting 101 class. Most organizations, however, use a simple approach called “straight line” that spreads the reduction evenly over the course of a pre-defined asset life.

There are typically four components to a depreciation process:

Asset value – the original cost of the asset
Asset life – how long will it take for the asset to stop reducing its value
Salvage value – the amount you expect the asset to be worth at the end of the asset’s life (e.g., a resale value)
In service date – the time that you begin depreciating the asset, which is not always the same time as the purchase date

The calculation is relatively simple: subtract the salvage value from the asset value to determine the amount to be depreciated, then divide that amount by the asset life. Remember to ensure that the asset life uses the same level of time periods as your model … months, quarters, or years.

Once the depreciation calculation is performed you can easily view the original asset amount, the total allocated amount, and the current asset value. Want to learn more about depreciation details or recommended best practices? Contact us and we’ll help you.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Accessing Books

June 8, 2021 by Dillon Rossman Leave a Comment

Did you know that there are now two ways to access books in IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW)?

Previously, you could access books via the “Shared”, “Personal”, and “Users” folders in the bottom section of the home page.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Accessing Books

This option still exists but it looks a little different. As of PAW update 57, these folders are now located within the toolbar on the left of the home page. Simply select the folder you would like to access and a new pane containing its contents will be displayed.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips: Accessing Books

IBM Planning Analytics Tricks: Accessing Books

The new option is via the “Reports and Analysis” tile. Click on the tile and it will launch the new “Reports and Analysis” page. From here you can see any shared or personal books, as well as anything favorited or recently used.

Accessing Books in IBM Planning Analytics Workspace

Learn How To Access Books in IBM Planning Analytics

This new approach gives users multiple ways to quickly access books: via the new toolbar or via “Reports and Analysis” (where more detailed information and options are available).

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Axis Labels

May 18, 2021 by Lee Lazarow Leave a Comment

Have you ever created a chart in IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) and wanted to change the angle which the labels appear? PAW version 57 has introduced a setting which allows you to control the labels in much greater detail.

This is done by using the Item Axis Label Orientation setting within the chart properties.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Axis Labels

The results of each setting will look as follows:

Horizontal

Vertical

Rotate

Stagger

This new setting gives you more control of the appearance of your chart and can be used to further improve your user experience.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Feeding Using Cube Values

May 11, 2021 by Nina Inverso Leave a Comment

Feeders are one of the best ways to maximize the performance of rules. Essentially, feeders define where to perform calculations to better handle sparsity in a cube.

There are many ways to reference feeder elements. One of these ways is by using DB statements within the feeder. When creating feeders that use DB statements, be sure that all pointers to the elements within the DB statement reference a string value.

The following example states that the Forecast Year, defined in the Controls cube, is fed by Actuals.

[‘Actuals’] =>

DB(‘Finance’,

!Scenario,
!Company,
!Department,
!Account,
DB(‘Controls’, ‘Forecast Year’, ‘Value’),
!Measure);

If the inner DB statement (the one referencing the Controls cube) pulls a number instead of a string, then the Feeder will not work. We can avoid this issue by ensuring that the element called “Value” has been set to a String.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Feeding Using Cube Values

IBM Planning Analytics Named Gartner Peer Insights Customer Choice for 2021

April 15, 2021 by Lisa Minneci Leave a Comment

IBM Planning Analytics was named a Gartner Peer Insights Customer Choice for Cloud Financial Planning and Analysis. The solution received an overall peer rating of 4.6 on a scale of 5, with 68% of votes giving the product 5 stars. 92% of customers are willing to recommend IBM Planning Analytics.

The report, which you can view here, provides IBM Planning Analytics’ customers assessments on a number of product capabilities, customer experience, and service and support. IBM Planning Analytics earned scores between 4.3 and 4.7.

It also includes quotes from current customers relying on IBM Planning Analytics for planning, forecasting and report. For example:

Great Experience with the Cloud-Based Version of a Product I Knew Before as TM1

“This product is not only good in analyzing and displaying data, [but] also to collect ad-hoc data … I like the cloud version of this product; [it] makes global deployment extremely easy … The analytical part that this product offers should not be underestimated.”

Outstanding and Resourceful Financial Planning Application

“The determination of what [the] future holds relies on the planning part of the organization … IBM Planning Analytics is a product that fully focuses on the way financial activities get done … IBM Planning Analytics is a well-connected tool.”

A Planning and Analytics Solution that Enhances Efficiency

“IBM Planning Analytics is a great tool that helps us to make the best decisions for our business. The outcomes we get after making such kind of decisions are incredible. IBM Planning Analytics has superior features and is accurate to use.”

Read the full report on IBM Planning Analytics at Gartner Peer Insights.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Database Administration

April 13, 2021 by Dillon Rossman Leave a Comment

Did you know that database administration page has been updated in IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW)?

In previous versions of PAW you would click on a database and it would present detailed information as seen below.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Database Administration

With the “Database Settings” button you could update configuration settings and set performance thresholds and alerts.

In PAW version 57 or later, this information can all be accessed from one page:

You can see various performance metrics on the “Details” tab
You can set thresholds and alerts on the “Alerts” tab
Thread information can be found on the “Threads” tab”
Configuration settings can be updated within the “Configuration” tab.

You are also able to easily switch between databases.

The updated layout of the database administration page allows you to manage all your databases in a single page which contains everything you need.

What’s the Total Economic Impact of IBM Planning Analytics?

February 24, 2020 by Lisa Minneci Leave a Comment

When potential clients are evaluating IBM Planning Analytics as a budgeting, planning and reporting solution, they often ask us for its ROI. It’s not a simple question to answer. Every organization’s business situation, and needs are unique to them. The corresponding implementation is as well. As a result, there’s really no universal ROI for any given software solution.

A Forrester report helps provides some related information for businesses looking at Planning Analytics. IBM and Forrester recently came out with The Total Economic Impact™ of IBM Planning Analytics. The analyst firm used its Total Economic Impact (TEI) framework and methodology for the report, which serves “to provide a complete picture of the total economic impact of purchase decisions.” The findings are based on interviews with four customers with significant experience with IBM Planning Analytics, and with IBM executive and Forrester analysts.

The Total Economic Impact of IBM Planning Analytics

Based on the report, the total economic impact of Planning Analytics include:

63% less time spent to complete the annual budgeting cycle
80% faster processing planning data
70% fewer labor hours required to complete forecasting cycles

Learn more about the key findings in the report and the benefits of Planning Analytics.

Read additional analyst reports that cover IBM Planning Analytics:

Revelwood Partners Adaptive Insights and IBM Earn High Ratings in BPM Partners’ BPM Pulse Survey

Excel Users Embrace IBM Planning Analytics

Independent Survey Ranks IBM Planning Analytics Against Competing Products

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Code Char

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Depreciation

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Accessing Books

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Axis Labels

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Feeding Using Cube Values

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Database Administration

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

What’s the Total Economic Impact of IBM Planning Analytics?

Read additional analyst reports that cover IBM Planning Analytics:

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