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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Excel DATE Function Updated

August 17, 2021 by Lee Lazarow Leave a Comment

Some of you may remember an Excel feature that I posted about last year which explained how the DATE function will convert invalid dates into real ones. For example, DATE(2020,7,35) will be converted to August 4, 2020 since there are not 35 days in July.

Here is where the fun begins!

This week includes the 20^th day of the month of August
August is the 8^th month of this year, which is also the 20^th month of last year
Last year was 2020

Put this all together and we have a special event happening this week …

On August 20, 2021,

the resulting date will be 20/20/2020

And if we take it a step further …

At 8:20p and 20 seconds on 8/20/2021,

the resulting time will be 20:20:20 on 20/20/20

This is why we love Excel!

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!

What Does Revelwood Do?

August 12, 2021 by Lisa Minneci Leave a Comment

When you think of consumer companies, you might only think of them in terms of their flagship product or service. Coca-Cola sells soft drinks. McDonald’s sells hamburgers. Uber provides ride shares for people. Those companies actually do more than just what they are known for: Coca-Cola also offers Dasani, VitaminWater, Honest Kids, Gold Peak iced tea and more. McDonald’s is also known for its Filet-O-Fish and has now entered the competitive fried chicken market. In addition to offering ride shares, Uber’s services include food and goods delivery.

Many Revelwood clients think of us as their partner of choice to design and implement Office of Finance solutions based on IBM Planning Analytics and Workday Adaptive Planning. Like those consumer brands I mentioned, we do much more than that. We’ve recently added BlackLine to our best-of-breed portfolio and are looking forward to adding more world-class solutions for the Office of Finance.

We also deliver Customer Care solutions for managing and maintaining your Office of Finance systems.

Hear what our CEO, Ken Wolf, has to say about what Revelwood does and how we are enabling organizations to disrupt their companies, industries and the world.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Scatter Chart vs Bubble Chart

July 20, 2021 by Lee Lazarow Leave a Comment

A scatter chart is used to show relationships within your data. This type of chart is great to see patterns and groupings over a large set of values. A bubble chart is also used to show relationships and it also great to see patterns. So what is the difference between the two types of charts?

A scatter chart is used to show the correlation of two data sets that have different ranges of values. The IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) example below shows the correlation of revenue and gross profit.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Scatter vs Bubble

The values associated with gross profit range from approx. 50,000 to 250,000. The values associated with revenue range from approx. 350,000 to 850,000. The scatter chart allows you to put these two different data sets onto the same chart and therefore see patterns. In this case, we see a positive correlation between larger revenue and larger profit … thereby telling us that our indirect costs are somewhat symmetrical to our direct costs.

But what if we also want to know how the number of units impacts these numbers? This cannot be done on a simple two dimensional chart, but it can be done by adjusting the size of the dots within the chart. This adjustment approach is the purpose of a PAW bubble chart.

Here is the same set of data with the inclusion of units:

In both situations you can see the correlation in the data by looking at the patterns. However, the bubble chart also gives you information on the units by adjusting the size of the dots. This gives us another positive correlation between larger unit sales and larger revenue … thereby telling us that we may have the opportunity to introduce regional pricing.

As you can see, the type of chart makes a difference when reviewing your data. So how do you decide which chart to use? The simple answer is to ask yourself how many details do you want to see at once? Are you looking for two correlations or more? As long as your picture answers that question, you can never go wrong!

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: Pie Chart Sizing

June 22, 2021 by Lee Lazarow Leave a Comment

Did you know that IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) allows you to “split” your pie chart widget to define how much of the space is allocated to the legend and how much of the space is allocated to the chart?

While in edit mode, you can view and modify the split by moving your mouse over the widget. You will then see a bar appear that can be used to resize the split.

Here is an example of a chart with a legend:

Pie Chart Sizing in IBM Planning Analytics

Here is the same chart with my mouse hovering in the legend area of the widget:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips: Pie Chart Sizing

And here is the result of dragging the bar up:

IBM Planning Analytics Tricks: Pie Chart Sizing

You can see that the chart is now larger since less area was allocated to the legend.

Interested in learning more about charts and graphs in IBM Planning Analytics Workspace? Watch our webinar, “Best Practices When Using IBM Planning Analytics Workspace Charts.”

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Planning Analytics Workspace Tab Icons

June 15, 2021 by Lee Lazarow Leave a Comment

Have you ever created an IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) book and wanted to include images within each tab? PAW version 57 introduced settings that allow you to control details about the tabs. Some of these settings allow you to insert icons into the tab name. This is done via two steps.

The first step is to define the icon you want to use. This setting is found within the Individual Tab Properties and is defined independently for each tab.

An icon can be used in addition to the text or it can be used as a replacement. Here are examples of tabs that show text-only, text-with-icon, and icon-only:

The second setting defines where the icons will be positioned in relation to the text. This setting is found within the Dashboard Properties and is defined once for the entire book.

Here is an example of a tab which uses red text, includes the light bulb icon (called “idea”) and has the icon located above the title:

These new settings give you more control of the tab details within your PAW books and can be used to further optimize your user experience.

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: PAW Tab Colors

June 1, 2021 by Lee Lazarow Leave a Comment

Have you ever created an IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) book and wanted to have more control over the look of the tabs? PAW version 57 introduced many settings that allow you to control formatting details about the tabs. These details include settings that define where the tabs appear on the screen and settings that define the colors associated with the tabs. These settings are found within the general area of the dashboard properties settings.

One setting defines where the tabs will be located on the page. Moving the tabs to the bottom will make your PAW book appear like a default excel workbook.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Tab Colors

Another group of settings define the colors associated with the tabs. There are three different settings to define the colors. Title color will define the color of the text within each tab, selected bar color will define the color of the line under the active tab, and fill color will define the background color of the tabs.

In addition, there are settings which allow you to override the “all tab” settings. These settings allow you to make a single tab use different coloring.

These new settings give you more control of the appearance of your PAW books and can be used to further customize your user experience.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Making Assets Accessible to Applications and Plans

May 25, 2021 by Thanh Chau Leave a Comment

When creating Applications and Plans in IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW), PAW views, PAW books, and websheets can be assigned to guide each step of the business process. These objects are collectively called “Assets.”

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Making Assets Accessible to Applications and Plans

Although these objects are available from PAW books, they are not automatically available for use as assets in Applications and Plans. Only assets that are saved in the Shared folder are accessible by Applications and Plans. This is because Applications and Plans are designed to be collaborative, so the assets must be shared to be viewed by others.

This design ensures that only components which should be shared are included in collaborations and will ensure that any privately created assets are not accidentally shared.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Filter in IBM Planning Analytics Workspace

May 4, 2021 by Lee Lazarow Leave a Comment

Have you ever wanted to show the top values within an IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) exploration? This can be done by creating a filter within your view.

Assume we start with a view that shows 2019 operating expenses by department:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Filter in PAW

We can look at the top 5 by right clicking on the column and selecting the option for “Top or bottom filter.”

Once selected, we can define the parameters as Top, 5, and Members.

The resulting filter will show you the 5 departments with the largest operating expense costs.

This can also be reversed to show the lowest values such as profit centers with the smallest amount of revenue.

This approach will help you quickly sort your data to help analyze the information in your model.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Excel DATE Function Updated

Read more Excel tips from our IBM Planning Analytics team:

What Does Revelwood Do?

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Scatter Chart vs Bubble Chart

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Pie Chart Sizing

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Planning Analytics Workspace Tab Icons

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Accessing Books

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Tab Colors

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks posts:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Making Assets Accessible to Applications and Plans

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Filter in IBM Planning Analytics Workspace

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