IBM Planning Analytics

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Export Data

January 14, 2025 by Lee Lazarow

While IBM Planning Analytics is an excellent database that allows you to easily slice and dice your data, there may be situations where you want to export data from the model. Maybe you want to share information with someone who uses different software or maybe you want to use your data in another tool? PAW version 99 introduced the ability to export a data set from the PAW interface.

To export data, right-click on a cube within a modeling workbench, select the option to Import/Export and then select the option to Export Data.

Once selected, you will be prompted to define the name of the .csv file that will be created. You then can define the data to be exported by using an existing view and/or by defining the dimension details. For each dimension, you can define a hierarchy to use, a subset to use, or an element to use.

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You also have the ability to define filters for your numeric and string data (example: only show values greater than or equal to 100) and the ability to skip consolidated values, rule calculated values, and zero/blank values.

Revelwood is an IBM Gold Business Partner with 25+ years of experience designing, developing, implementing and maintaining IBM Planning Analytics environments. Revelwood has helped clients in all sizes across all industries optimize and grow their use of Planning Analytics. Revelwood’s Planning Analytics team consists of experienced PA experts, including a multi-year IBM Champion.

Stay up to date with PA – sign up for our weekly Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and join our IBM Planning Analytics All-Stars group on LinkedIn.

A Resolution You Should Actually Keep: Upgrade Your IBM Planning Analytics Environment

January 7, 2025 by Revelwood

Did you know that almost 80% of all New Year’s resolutions are associated with health? As an IBM Planning Analytics user, it’s important to also think about your system’s health! This is why you should put “upgrading Planning Analytics” on your list of resolutions. Here’s why …

IBM recently announced some changing timelines to the forthcoming deprecation of Planning Analytics 2.0.9.x. For background, read our blog post, IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Upcoming Changes to Planning Analytics, or watch our on-demand webinar, Understanding the Migration from Legacy TM1 to Planning Analytics.

Key Updates

IBM is extending the general support period for Planning Analytics 2.0.9.x until October 31, 2025.
Users can purchase extended support from IBM for an additional year through October 31, 2026.
Planning Analytics 2.1.x is now supported until April 30, 2027.

Implications for Users

Staying on unsupported versions can expose organizations to security vulnerabilities, lack of technical support and missed opportunities for leveraging new functionalities. You should assess your current Planning Analytics environment and develop a roadmap for upgrading to supported versions.

Recommended Actions

1. Evaluate Current Usage: Understand how your organization uses Planning Analytics and identify any customizations or dependencies that may affect the upgrade process.
2. Plan the Upgrade: Develop a comprehensive plan that includes timelines, resource allocation and testing phases to ensure a smooth transition.
3. Engage with Revelwood: We can help you access support resources and documentation to assist with the upgrade process and address any challenges that come up.

By proactively addressing these end-of-support dates, organizations can maintain the integrity of their financial planning systems and continue to benefit from IBM’s advancements in Planning Analytics.Need help?

Send a quick note to: info@revelwood.com.

Emery: Thanks. I’m responsible for overseeing and expanding our Client Success team. Our goals are to optimize the client experience by expanding our service offerings and driving product adoption. We want to make sure our clients get the full benefits they expect from their investments in technology for the Office of Finance.

Currently our clients receive complimentary training, free system performance tune-ups, access to open Q&A sessions and exclusive content. We plan on expanding our offerings. At Revelwood we say – and we mean it – that we have our clients’ backs. Our Client Success team will put even more processes and thought around how we do that.

Q: What have you been doing in between your time with us?

Emery: I’ve focused on client success. I’ve had the opportunity to work with startups that were headquartered outside of the U.S. This has given me an interesting perspective on how to work with organizations of all sizes to partner for success. Success not just in selling software, but in actually working toward long-term relationships with our clients. As one Revelwoodian recently said, “We don’t just deliver [an implementation] and run away. In fact, we do the opposite of that.

Q: Why did you decide to return to Revelwood?

Emery: Revelwood has nearly quadrupled in size since I left in 2014. There’s a significant amount of growth in the financial planning software market and related technologies for the Office of Finance. Revelwood has the right people and the right experience to capitalize on this fast-growing market.

Revelwood also has a client base of raving fans. That’s a great starting point for my goals for the Client Success team. We’re not just a service provider, we are a vested advocate that helps them achieve their goals for transforming the Office of Finance.

And, they are great people!

Learn more about Emery – read the press release and connect with him on LinkedIn.

Meet Dino Daddona, Revelwood’s New Vice President of Sales, Americas

December 18, 2024 by Revelwood

Dino Daddona was recently named Revelwood’s vice president of sales, Americas. We sat down with him to learn more about his thoughts on Revelwood.

Q: Why did you choose to join Revelwood?

Dino: The majority of my career has been in roles selling to the Office of Finance. So it was functionally a good fit. More importantly, though, Revelwood is in a unique position in the market. The company is on a rapid growth trajectory and has a legacy of success helping clients transform financial performance and operations. That makes Revelwood a rare find.

Many Revelwoodians have been with the company for many years. That is a sign of a great company. It is a testament to the quality of the leadership, the commitment to individuals’ success and its commitment to the company’s Core Values.

Q: What do you see as Revelwood’s opportunity in the market?

Dino: There is a massive opportunity to help companies transform their Office of Finance. According to Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Financial Planning Software, “Organizations are increasingly seeking efficient, agile planning and management to respond to market changes.” Frankly, nearly every organization now faces “market changes” on a regular basis. This means that companies – and they are many of them – that still use spreadsheets for budgeting and planning need to modernize their finance operations now.

Workday Adaptive Planning is one of the best financial planning solutions on the market. Revelwood is the leading Workday Adaptive Planning partner in the Americas. Additionally, Revelwood has decades of experience (and awards to prove it!) partnering with IBM. We’ve also received awards from our partner BlackLine.

We are perfectly positioned for exponential growth in the market.

Q: What will you be doing in this new role?

Dino: I’m Revelwood’s first vice president of sales, Americas. I oversee our Sales and Pre-sales teams. These teams are a mix of Revelwood veterans and new team members, some of whom are just entering the workplace. Having a diverse team means that we can leverage both experience and new ideas.

My role also includes strengthening relationships with our partners. Our partnerships are not just traditional technology “Barney hugs.” We invest in training and certifications from our partners. We’re not generalists – we are experts in technology for the Office of Finance. It’s important that our partners understand how committed we are to mutual success.Learn more about Dino.

Read the press release and check him out on LinkedIn.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Export Dim Structure

December 17, 2024 by Lee Lazarow

Have you ever wanted to export a dimensional structure to an ASCII based text file in IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW)? PAW version 99 introduced the ability to export a dimension with a single click.

To export a dimension, right-click on the dimension name within a modeling workbench and select the option to Export members.

Once selected, you will be prompted to define which hierarchy to export and the name of the csv file that will be created. The resulting file will contain the following information for each element:

Name
Parent (root elements will have a blank parent field)
Type
Weight
All defined attribute names and values (the attribute name will be prefixed with ATTR_N or ATTR_S to define the attribute as numeric or string)

Here is a snippet of an export file that shows a header record, a consolidated element, and two children:

“Member”,”Parent”,”Type”,”Weight”,ATTR_S_Manager”,”ATTR_S_Currency”

“Total Company”,””,”Consolidated”,”0″,”Total”,””

“001”,”Total Company”,”Numeric”,”1″,”John Smith”,”USD”

“002”,”Total Company”,”Numeric”,”1″,”Jane Doe”,”USD”

This feature will allow you to export your dimensional structures to files that can be used for reporting, auditing, and other areas where you need to display your structural information.

Stay up to date with PA – sign up for our weekly Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and join our IBM Planning Analytics All-Stars group on LinkedIn.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Selector Menu

December 10, 2024 by Lee Lazarow

You may already know that you can create a selector widget in IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) by simply dragging a context dimension outside your existing view. Once synchronized, this approach provides an easy way to create independent selectors that can be used with your existing PAW data pulls.

But what do you do in a situation when you have already hidden your exploration overview or converted your exploration into a chart? One approach is to reset the visualization into a fully expanded exploration, drag the dimension, and re-format the visualization. But did you know that an easier way exists?

PAW version 99 introduced an option to add a selector directly from the data tree (e.g., the left pane). This can be accessed by simply right-clicking on a dimension in the tree. Once selected, there will be two options: add selector tile and add selector list.

There are three types of tiles: single tile, multiple tiles, and range selection tile. There are three types of lists: single list, multiple lists and multiple selection list.

Once created, the properties area will allow you to define appearance aspects such as colors, fonts, and header information.

This approach will allow you to create easy-to-use selectors without having to undo any existing formatting that has been created.

Stay up to date with PA – sign up for our weekly Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and join our IBM Planning Analytics All-Stars group on LinkedIn.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Thumb Cell Formatting

December 3, 2024 by Lee Lazarow

Have you ever created an exploration in IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) and noticed the arrows at the beginning of your rows and columns? These are called thumb cells and are used as the equivalent of a “select all” button. For example, if I click on the down arrow at the top of my rows, then all elements in the rows will be highlighted.

Below is an example of a view with two thumb cells: a row thumb that I clicked on (note the arrow pointing down) and a column thumb that I did not click on (note the arrow pointing right).

Sometimes a thumb cell is great since it allows you to reference all of the elements in your exploration, but sometimes you may not want to see these additional gray boxes on the screen. PAW version 99 introduced formatting options to modify the appearance of the thumb cells.

Within the format manager, you can modify the thumb options in both the column header and row header settings.

Below is the same view with the row thumbs not showing and the column thumbs not showing the icon. You can see that that there is no longer a gray box above the rows and there is no longer an arrow icon to the left of the columns.

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These formatting settings will allow you to customize the appearance of an exploration and, if preferred, eliminate boxes that may confuse your end users.

Stay up to date with PA – sign up for our weekly Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and join our IBM Planning Analytics All-Stars group on LinkedIn.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Exploration Icons

November 26, 2024 by Lee Lazarow

Have you ever been in a situation where you wanted your users to reference an exploration or chart on your IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) page, but you didn’t want to give them full access to make changes? You can do this by editing the toolbar to include or exclude icons.

This setting is found within the Properties area within the Custom, Toolbar section. Here is a sample of the options for an exploration:

Not all icons are configurable (for example, the zero suppression icon will always be available to users), but each item in the list uses a simple on/off trigger to determine if the icons should appear for end users.

Here is an example with the “Edit MDX” icon enabled:

And here is an example with the “Edit MDX” icon disabled:

As you can see, disabled icons will completely disappear from the list.

This approach provides an easy way to simplify the ribbon for your end users.

Stay up to date with PA – sign up for our weekly Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and join our IBM Planning Analytics All-Stars group on LinkedIn.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Export Data

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: