Planning & Forecasting

New Video Demo – Creating Dashboards in IBM Planning Analytics

September 18, 2019 by Lisa Minneci Leave a Comment

In the third video of our series Creating a Cube in IBM Planning Analytics, Revelwood’s FP&A Technology Director, Lee Lazarow, demonstrates how to create a dashboard in IBM Planning Analytics. Watch this short video demo to learn how to create a dashboard from the sales cube built in the second video, using both a drag and drop methodology and Planning Analytics’ built-in wizard.

In this video, Lee demonstrates the results of sales commissions in the dashboard, as well as how to:

Change views
Create simplistic views of data for quick analysis
Visualize a set of numbers
Build different types of charts
Merge separate sets of data

Lee also demonstrates Planning Analytics’ built-in intelligence that shows which charts are best for your particular data.

Did you miss the first two videos in this series? Watch Creating Dimensions Planning Analytics and Creating a Cube in Planning Analytics.

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel and follow our playlist to watch the entire series How to Create a Cube in IBM Planning Analytics.

FP&A Done Right: Beware of Budgeting – Part II

August 9, 2019 by Brian Combs Leave a Comment

How is your budget/budget prep coming along? Have you set aside time to rethink your process? In that last installment of FP&A Done Right, we started our enumeration of the problems with traditional budgeting. Before I discuss several more, here is a reminder of the last few problems:

Time consuming and costly
Quickly irrelevant and outdated
Financial process largely disconnected from specific drivers

Let me highlight more now and then we will move towards some alternative approaches.

Principled upon negotiating/gamesmanship

I can still remember my first visit to Corporate to review (or as I soon learned, to defend) our annual budget. Back then, I was fresh off my MBA and I had landed a job at one of our Region offices. We had just spent months building a plan from the lowest level, capturing input and feedback from every location manager and painstakingly describing every variance to the penny. We were ready. This was a done deal. Boy was I naïve. We were escorted into a nice room with a large table. Around the table I could see the president of our division and the heads of every major functional area ready to discuss our plan. Game on! My controller and I didn’t even get a chance to pull out most of the backup schedules we had created. He spent his time trying to negotiate fewer expense reductions and less revenue while I was busy taking notes on all the “savings” and “initiatives” the team had just found for us during the review. Great news. Thanks for the assist. I learned my lesson that day. After that, I knew that I had to pad my expenses and sandbag my revenue. They knew we did it too which is why they had us take a 5-10% cut in expenses as soon as we walked in the door. That is a difficult game to stop playing and, in the end, no one wins. Yet, many of us continue to play.

Triggers Unnecessary Spending

Since our budget numbers are frequently tied to prior year spend rather than being based on needs (a zero-based budgeting approach), we feel the need to spend money just so we have the same amount available to us next year. This is crazy, but I still see it today. We should be creating an environment where our front-line managers are rewarded for being fiscally conservative, not penalized. If you find a way to save money this year, we should be analyzing what you did so we can replicate it with your peers rather than giving you a hard time next year since you now have a large YoY increase.

Creates an inflexible performance contract

This is a big one as it impacts your managers directly in their bank accounts. This is especially true when incentives are tied to performance against the annual business plan. Once my budget was completed, I knew I would spend the rest of the year running actuals vs budget reports so we could determine what our bonus would be. If you remember from the first part of this blog, almost two-thirds of budgets are outdated between 4-6 months into the plan. If that’s the case, why are we using that number to determine the bonus for our managers? I want to reward my managers for changing course if they see something that is in the way of them achieving their goals. Compensate them based on what is occurring now, not what you thought was going to happen 12 months ago. When we focus on an inflexible budget number, we begin to manage to that number. Don’t fall in to that trap.

Drives Wrong Behavior

It doesn’t take long before you know roughly where the year will pan out vs the budget. You know fairly quickly whether it is attainable or a long shot. Since compensation is tied to the budget, it tends to drive the wrong behavior. You should expect your managers to do what is in their best interest. It is your job to ensure that by doing so, the company gains as well. If I am in the back half of the year and I already know I can’t achieve my annual budget numbers, where is the incentive for me to continue to find cost savings and improve my processes. I might as well give up on trying to get better this year because I won’t reach my bonus threshold anyway. Right? Maybe I’ll push off a cost savings initiative until next year. Or I’ll try that new revenue generating idea at the start of next year. The same is true if you have already maxed your bonus for the year. Why continue to do better? Save some of that goodness for next year. You need to make sure that the company goals are aligned with the individual goals. A budget can create a false sense of security and it may be holding the organization back from achieving its true potential.

It’s often easier to ‘see’ a problem when someone else describes it. My hope is that while reading this, you took some time to compare and contrast these issues with your methodology and approach to the budget. Does anything look familiar to you? If so, perhaps it is time to make a change. Please reach out and share your stories with me. In my next blog, we’ll discuss some alternatives to these problems that you can begin using immediately. Happy budgeting!

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Troubleshooting Planning Analytics for Excel

June 11, 2019 by Revelwood Leave a Comment

Did you know there are some easy approaches to troubleshooting IBM Planning Analytics for Excel (PAx)?

Given that PAx is an Excel add-in, sometimes things go wrong. Do you know the basic steps to take when a user says that PAx isn’t working for them?

We at Revelwood have often seen two primary issues that appear at our clients:

The “IBM Planning Analytics” ribbon doesn’t show up
A user can connect in, but they cannot see anything in the task pane

So, let’s take a look at how to solve either of these two primary issues.

Issue 1 – The IBM Planning Analytics ribbon doesn’t show up

In our experience, this is almost always an issue of one of the three add-ins not showing up properly. PAx depends on 3 add-ins within excel. If you open “File”, “Options”, “Add-ins” in Excel, you should see the following list:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Troubleshooting PAx

Chances are that at least one of these three add-ins are missing. At the bottom of this window is a “Manage” option. If you are missing either of the “IBM Cognos Office…” items, you’ll want to select “Excel Add-ins” from the drop down. If you are missing “IBM Framework for Office”, you’ll want to select “COM Add-ins” from the dropdown.

IBM Cognos Office Reporting BI Addin (Excel Add-ins)
- C:\Program Files (x86)\ibm\cognos\IBM for Microsoft Office\CognosOfficeBI.xll
IBM Cognos Office Reporting TM1 Addin (Excel Add-ins)
- C:\Program Files (x86)\ibm\cognos\IBM for Microsoft Office\CognosOfficeTM1.xll
IBM Framework for Office (COM Add-ins)
- C:\Program Files (x86)\ibm\cognos\IBM for Microsoft Office\CognosOfficeShim12.dll

NOTE: If you are running 64 bit, then those will all start with “C:\Program Files\” instead.

Issue 2 – Nothing is showing up in the task pane in Planning Analytics for Excel

Troubleshooting PAx - IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks

This usually happens when a client is far behind on the monthly PAx and Planning Analytics Workspace updates, and there have been some sizable Windows updates since your last update. If you are not applying updates at least once a quarter, make sure to get in touch with us to see if we can help in staying up to date!

Thankfully, the quick band-aid fix for this is quite simple. Excel comes with the ability to turn on “Optimize for Compatibility” for Excel 2016 and newer. To do this, click “File” and then “Options” and look at the beginning of the “General” section. If you have “When using multiple displays” under “User Interface Options”, select “Optimize for compatibility”.

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!

Did you know Revelwood offers a Customer Care program? Learn more.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: The Planning Analytics Workspace Rule Editor, Part 1

May 28, 2019 by Revelwood Leave a Comment

This is a guest post from Shane Bethea.

Did you know that most TM1/Planning Analytics development can now be done in Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW)? PAW has a lot of development capabilities and allows modelers to do most development that would have previously been done in Perspectives. In addition, PAW has new development capabilities that are not available in Perspectives.

There are six modeling widgets available in a PAW book.

Dimension editor
Cube creator
Rule editor
Process editor
Chore editor
Settings editor

This post will focus on the PAW Rule editor. The Rule editor looks very similar to the Advanced Rule editor in prior versions of TM1. It has easy to read, color coded formatting and code sections can be separated into collapsible regions.

To open the Rule editor, right click a cube and choose Edit business rules.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Planning Analytics Workspace Rule Editor

In the Rule editor, you will notice two drop down selectors in the upper left corner of the window. These drop downs allow you to select the database and the cube that is being modified. This allows you to switch from cube to cube, which reduces the dependence on the navigation tree.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Understanding the PAW rule editor

In the upper right corner, you can select the Function drop down to insert rule functions and get brief definitions of rule functions.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Learning the PAW rule editor

Use the Settings drop down in the upper right corner to enable line wrapping, show/hide shortcut keys, and change font.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: How to use the PAW rule editor

This is a quick overview of the basic functionality of the Rule editor widget in Planning Analytics Workspace. Stay tuned for more entries covering the other features modeling widgets.

Learn more about IBM Planning Analytics Workspace. Read these blog posts with IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Creating Buttons in Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW)

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: The Collect Feature in Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW)

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Creating a Simple Dashboard in Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW)

Get the most out of IBM Planning Analytics. Learn how we can help you through our Customer Care program.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Snap Commands – Spelling

May 21, 2019 by Lee Lazarow Leave a Comment

Did you know IBM Planning Analytics’ snap commands can serve as a spellcheck for you?

In today’s Twitter and text based world, misspellings (or abbreviations, as some people call them) have become a way of life. It’s virtually impossible to make it through a day without seeing a reference to “ur”, “imho” or some other form of abbreviation.

For those of you who use these abbreviations regularly, you will be happy to know that IBM Planning Analytics has your back! PA’s snap commands allow you to use natural language wording to perform simple tasks. It allows you type phrases such as “sort May 2016” and “hide Jun 2016”. It also allows you to abbreviate these commands as “so May 2016” and “hi jun 2016”.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Snap Commands - Spelling

And for those of you who struggle with spelling, PA has your back yet again! The snap commands will help fix any spelling mistakes.

In a situation where there is only one possible option, the snap command will correct your typo. Here is an example where “trave” is obviously a typo for “travel”.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Understanding snap commands and spelling

In a situation where there are multiple options, the snap command will let you select which option should be the proper correction. Here is an example where “trvel” can reference an account called travel or refer to something associated with a level.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Spelling with Snap Commands

I’m happy to stand on my soap box and complain about the lack of grammer and speeling [sic] in today’s world, but I also understand that it’s sometimes much easier to let Planning Analytics help minimize my worries.

Learn more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Creating Selectors in Planning Analytics Workspace

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Creating Buttons in Planning Analytics Workspace

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Synchronizing Selectors in Planning Analytics Workspace

Need more guidance? Take a look at our IBM Planning Analytics Training services and our Customer Care Program.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Snap Commands – Sorting

May 14, 2019 by Lee Lazarow Leave a Comment

Did you know IBM Planning Analytics has snap commands that allow you to use natural language wording to perform simple tasks? One example of this entails the use of sorting data within a view.

We can start with a simple view that shows operating expenses by quarter.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Snap Commands

We can sort this by simply typing “sort Q1 2016” into the snap command window.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Understanding Snap Commands

By default, the sort command sorts the values in ascending order. We can sort data in descending order by adding “descending”, “des”, or “de” in front of the time period.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: How to use snap commands

In addition to defining the order, the sort command allows for parameters that define row vs. column sorting and allow you to break the hierarchy when sorting.

Once we have completed our analysis, we can reset the view and clear all sorting by typing “sort -x”.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Learn how to use snap commands

There are many different ways to sort your data and Planning Analytics’ snap commands allow you to use them in your analyses.

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!

Learn more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Creating Selectors in Planning Analytics Workspace

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Creating Buttons in Planning Analytics Workspace

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Synchronizing Selectors in Planning Analytics Workspace

Need more guidance? Take a look at our IBM Planning Analytics Training services and our Customer Care Program.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Template Styles

May 7, 2019 by Lee Lazarow Leave a Comment

Many of you know that Planning Analytics Workspace books allow you utilize templates, but did you know there is a difference between the options that show a solid frame vs. the options that show a dotted frame?

Creating a new PAW book is as easy as clicking the “New” button and then selecting how you want to define the book. One way to do this is to utilize a pre-built template which defines the layout of how the sheet is broken into sections.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Template Styles

After clicking “book from template”, you will see a series of options that allow you to define the layout.

One option is called the Freeform option. This option is depicted by having a sold line surrounding the window. This area consists of one large area that allows you to place objects anywhere on the page. Objects within a free-form layout will always keep their size regardless of the screen size. This means that as you change your view, you may see extra white space along the edges or may not see all of the components of your page without scrolling.
The other options all have a dotted line surrounding the sections within the sheet. Not only do these sections use a “snap to fit” approach, but they are also designed to resize both the size and position to fit the space. This approach will ensure that you don’t have extra white space and don’t have to scroll to see everything.

Understanding Planning Analytics Workspace Template Styles

If you have users with different screen fonts (1440×900, 1280×800, etc.) or different screen types (PC monitor, tablet, etc.) then the ability to resize can be used to ensure that all important components remain on your screen. Keep this in mind.

Learn more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Creating Selectors in Planning Analytics Workspace

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Creating Buttons in Planning Analytics Workspace

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Synchronizing Selectors in Planning Analytics Workspace

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Calculations

April 30, 2019 by Lee Lazarow Leave a Comment

Did you know IBM Planning Analytics offers more than one way to add calculations to your data?

The great thing about using Planning Analytics within Excel is that you can add additional calculations to your data set to help you further analyze your data. Did you know that you can also do this within PAW explorations?

Use the following steps to create a new calculation:

Select one or more elements within your exploration. The elements can be from either the row or column axis.
Right click on a selected element
Choose the option to “create calculation”.

Planning analytics will then provide you with a set of pre-built calculations to choose from. The calculations available vary according to the number of members selected.

If you select one element, you will have options such as absolute value and percentage of total:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Calculations

If you select two elements, you will have options such as variance amount and percentage change:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Using PAW Calculations

If you select three or more elements, you will have options such as average amount and maximum value:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Working with PAW Calculations

Once created, you have the option to rename or remove any calculations within your exploration.

Learn more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Creating Selectors in Planning Analytics Workspace

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Creating Buttons in Planning Analytics Workspace

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Synchronizing Selectors in Planning Analytics Workspace

Need more guidance? Take a look at our IBM Planning Analytics Training services and our Customer Care Program.

Your Favorite TM1 Features Did Not Go Away

April 29, 2019 by Revelwood Leave a Comment

This is a guest blog post from Revelwood’s Shane Bethea.

TM1 customers worldwide are upgrading and migrating to IBM Planning Analytics. Regardless of where you are in your upgrade or migration process, there’s a very important point you should know: you will not lose Perspectives or TM1Web when you upgrade or migrate.

IBM Planning Analytics comes with new interfaces, features and functionality that can eventually replace Perspectives and TM1Web. These are Planning Analytics for Excel (PAx) and Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW). While these are new and deliver many benefits, understand that you do not need to leave behind your beloved Perspectives or TM1Web.

You should look at your upgrade or migration path as you would any other software enhancement process. Evaluate what is currently working for your organization and what is not. Develop a plan for what needs to be improved upon and when those improvements are best implemented. That roadmap should give you guidelines on what is best for your organization: staying with Perspectives and/or TM1Web, upgrading/migrating in the long term, or starting an upgrade/migration process in the short term. What is most vital is understanding what will work best for your organization and why.

All IBM Planning Analytics users are licensed to use PAW in Development to use, learn and understand the new features and capabilities. Customers usually install the PAW server in the Development environment and begin experimenting with PAx and PAW to decide if, how and when they want to move forward with the new interfaces and features.

Love Perspectives and TM1Web? Don’t worry – they are still there!

Need more guidance? Take a look at our IBM Planning Analytics Training services and our Customer Care Program.

New Video Demo – Creating Dashboards in IBM Planning Analytics