IBM Planning Analytics Workspace

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Color Schemes in a Waterfall Chart

October 5, 2021 by Revelwood Leave a Comment

Did you know IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) allows you to change the color scheme in your waterfall charts? The goal of a waterfall chart is to show how an initial value is affected by the intermediate values – either positives or negatives – that result in a final value. Changing the color scheme enables you to make a report that is easily read by your end users.

Watch this short video from Revelwood’s FP&A Technology Director, Lee Lazarow, to see how easy it is to change the colors in your waterfall chart.

Viewers will see Lee demonstrate how a starting amount evolves into an ending amount. You’ll learn how changing colors makes it easy to see positives versus negatives. PAW provides a series of definitions that allow you to customize the colors that you want to appear on the waterfall chart.

Stay tuned for more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks videos. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get notified when we publish a new video.

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: Mekko Chart

September 21, 2021 by Lee Lazarow Leave a Comment

IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) offers many visualization options to allow you to show and analyze your data in creative ways. This includes standard chart types such as bar, line and pie. But it also includes some reports that are not always understood. One of these report types is a Mekko chart.

A Mekko chart (also sometimes called a Marimekko chart) is used to extend a stacked column chart by using the width of each column to show the overall importance of that section.

The following stacked bar chart shows Units by State by Item:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Mekko Chart

It’s easy to see that the total amount of units sold in NY is very large when compared to the total amount of units in ME. But what if we wanted to also visualize how much larger the total of NY is compared to the other columns? This is where a Mekko chart can help.

Here is the same set of data via a Mekko chart:

The Mekko chart still shows the breakdown of units by kit and it still shows the values for each column, but it adds a new metric by expanding the width of each column proportional to the overall percentage. In essence, this report is merging the concepts of a stacked column chart with the concepts of a pie chart.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Defining a Process Within Existing Chores

September 14, 2021 by Revelwood Leave a Comment

There are times when you need to change a process within an existing chore in IBM Planning Analytics. The challenge is to understand what chores will be impacted by a change in a process. You could edit or remove and process and then manually look at each chore to determine if it will be impacted. But who has the time for that?

IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) offers an easier way to check which chores are affected by a specific process.

Watch this IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks video and our FP&A Technology Director, Lee Lazarow, will show you how easy it is to use PAW to see all the chores that can be impacted by a change.

You will learn how to:

Select a process
See an option to show all the chores where the process is used
Determine if you want to edit the chore or remove the process from the chore

Check back soon for new videos in our IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks series. Want to be notified of new videos? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Explorations – Row & Column Headers

September 7, 2021 by Lee Lazarow Leave a Comment

Visualizations are used to provide an easy understanding of large data sets. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words. However, what happens when you want to see the intricate details of your numbers? This is where IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) explorations come into the picture.

There are many formatting options for your numbers, but what about the headers? Do you want to simply see a set of rows and columns or do you want the ability to expand into the details? Do you want to differentiate values at different levels or do you want to use consistent formatting? Do you want your row headers to be defined differently than your column headers?

PAW makes it easy to create your preferred approach via some simple settings. The settings are found within the Exploration features of the Custom area. Within the area, settings exist for each of the four settings.

IBM Planning Analytics - PAW Explorations

Here is an example of an exploration that differentiates accounts levels and allows for drilling down to the base level accounts but does not allow for any differentiation or drilling into the time periods.

This flexibility allows you to define both the look and usage of your explorations, thereby enhancing (and hopefully simplifying) the end user experience.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Lines vs Area for Multiple Elements

August 10, 2021 by Lee Lazarow Leave a Comment

A line chart is typically used to show values over time. This type of chart is great to see trends with your data. An area chart is also used to show values over time and is sometimes referenced as a line chart with the area below the line filled. While this is the case in IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) for a chart that contains a single line, it is not the case for a chart with multiple lines.

Here is a simple line chart in PAW and the related area chart:

In both situations, you can see the trend and you can also see the values.

Here are the same PAW charts with multiple lines (e.g., multiple companies):

In both situations you can again see the trends in the data by looking at the flows from left to right. However, you do not see the same values in the two reports. You can see this by looking at the labels on the Y-axis. The line chart is designed to show a set of independent values and therefore allows you to see the values for each company. The area chart is designed to show the accumulation of the values, which makes it hard to determine values for anything except for the bottom element.

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 what you are looking to see. Are you looking for separate values or accumulated values? 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: 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 Tips & Tricks: Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) Marker Shape

July 13, 2021 by Lee Lazarow Leave a Comment

A line chart can either be a simple line or it can include markers for each data point. Most people associate a marker as a simple dot, but did you know that IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) allows you to configure the shape of the markers?

This is done by enabling the property called “Show markers’ and then defining a value for the property called “Marker Shape.” Both of these settings are found within the Chart settings of the Visualization area.

IBM Planning Analytics Workspace Marker Space

In addition to a circle, PAW offers a variety of shapes that you can use on your chart.

IBM Planning Analytics Workspace Marker Shape

This flexibility allows you to customize your line charts and enhance your end user experience.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Chart Padding

June 29, 2021 by Lee Lazarow Leave a Comment

Did you know that IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) offers a feature calling “padding” which defines lines are separated within a chart? The concept of padding is the equivalent of defining white space in between the lines (e.g., no padding) or making the lines touch the lines above and below (e.g., padding).

The setting is located within the chat area of the visualization properties. It is defined as a binary option so you can choose to enable it or disable it.

Here is an example of the same chart via both options. The chart on the top has padding enabled (e.g., the option is not checked) and the chart on the bottom has padding disabled.

By defining whitespace around your charts, you make your data more readable.

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: Color Schemes in a Waterfall Chart

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Mekko Chart

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Defining a Process Within Existing Chores

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Explorations – Row & Column Headers

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Lines vs Area for Multiple Elements

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

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

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) Marker Shape

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Chart Padding

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Pie Chart Sizing

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

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