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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Excel Focus Cell

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As you all know, Excel performs subtle formatting when you click on a cell to graphically show you both the row and column of your cell. For example, if I click on cell B3 then Excel will highlight the headers in column B and row 3 to look different from the others.

This approach is great when you want to quickly reference a specific cell.  But what about situations where you want to see other values in the same column or the same row?  This is easy to do when you are looking at a small 3×3 grid, but as your spreadsheet grows this may become more difficult.

To make it easier to quickly reference other related cells, Excel offers a formatting approach called Focus Cell.  This setting is found within the View ribbon.

When Focus Cell is enabled, the entire row and column are highlighted.  This formatting approach makes it easy to quickly look up-and-down or left-and-right throughout the entire spreadsheet.  Here is the same view of cell B3 when Focus Cell is enabled.

This feature will help you quickly navigate your large spreadsheets when performing steps such as reconciliation and formula comparisons.

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Default Settings

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Picklists

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: The Hidden Structure of 1/7: A Mathematical Perspective

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What Happens When IBM Uses Its Own Tech to Transform Finance

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As a global technology and consulting powerhouse, IBM faced a familiar yet daunting challenge: it had more than 500 distinct financial systems, isolated data silos and inefficient manual workflows that hampered planning, forecasting, and decision-making. IBM recognized the need for a transformative solution and  developed its Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) platform — powered by Cognos Analytics and enhanced with IBM Planning Analytics — supercharged with AI capabilities. 

The AI-Powered Planning Platform

In 2019, IBM integrated Planning Analytics into EPM to streamline forecasting and enhance modeling workflows. It also embedded AI-driven forecasting to boost accuracy, automate repetitive tasks and consolidate over 500 tools into one interactive, self-service digital environment. 

By 2021, Planning Analytics had become the core engine of IBM’s “touchless” approach to forecasting — an AI-first methodology delivering real-time forecasts with minimal manual intervention. 

Impressive Results & Business Impact

IBM’s deployment achieved notable outcomes:

  • ~95% fewer FP&A tools since 2010, shrinking from 500+ to under 20
  • ~40% increase in FP&A productivity since 2020
  • Management of 140,000+ data points monthly for forecasting and planning
  • ~95% forecast accuracy, using watsonx.ai alongside Planning Analytics 
  • USD 200M+ in annual business value generated by AI-driven automation since 2023 
  • More than 30,000 employees are empowered via self-service, AI-fueled dashboards 

Beyond Finance: Workforce Planning

IBM Consulting took Planning Analytics even further in 2021 through its SCORE solution, which was deployed across 160,000+ consultants. SCORE integrated financial, strategic and workforce planning, enabling:

  • Strategic hiring, deployment modeling, and regional alignment
  • Higher contract gross profit (where just 0.1% CGP improvement adds USD 16M annually) 
  • Unified planning cycles, real-time scenario modeling and smarter sourcing reviews
  • Agile, insight-rich decision-making baked into workforce strategy ibm.com

Data-Driven, AI-First Enterprise Planning

IBM’s journey underscores several guiding principles:

  1. 1. Consolidation of fragmented systems into a unified EPM platform
  2. 2. Automation of forecasting through AI—eliminating hours of manual effort
  3. 3. Self-service access, enabling users at scale (30K+) to access real-time insights
  4. 4. Scalable impact across finance and workforce, delivering measurable ROI

The result? A “touchless” planning framework delivering real-time visibility, predictive accuracy and strategic agility. It transformed planning from a static process into a proactive, data-driven engine powering business decisions.

IBM’s internal use of Planning Analytics showcases how enterprises can leverage AI and unified platforms to:

  • Slash tool clutter and reduce manual effort
  • Achieve precision in forecasting
  • Empower thousands with real-time dashboards
  • Generate substantial financial gains
  • Scale across global functions — from financial planning to workforce strategy

It stands as a model blueprint for CIOs, CFOs and data leaders aiming to evolve traditional planning into intelligent, automated, and outcome-focused systems.

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Picklists

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You may have read our previous blog posts about creating picklists in IBM Planning Analytics and using them in the Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) interface.

PAW version 101 introduced the ability to easily create picklists from a view. This is done by simply selecting one or more cells (note that the selected cells must be the same type – string or numeric), right-clicking, and selecting the option to Set picklist.

Once selected, a screen will appear that allows you to define the picklist type: static or hierarchy:

  • A static picklist is a hard-coded list of cells that you can define independent of the existing model. This is done by clicking on the option to Add Values to a list.
  • A hierarchy picklist allows you to reference an existing dimension to define the selections. The dimension can reference all elements in the dimension or an existing subset within the dimension.

Once defined, a picklist icon will appear within the defined cells so users can easily select their input values.

This approach provides an easy-to-use, wizard-based approach to creating picklists in your PAW environment.

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.

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Attributes Types

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Rule Auto Complete Display

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Settings – File Upload Action Button

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IBM Planning Analytics Recognized in 2025 TrustRadius Top Rated Awards

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IBM Planning Analytics has been recognized by TrustRadius in its 2025 Top Rated Awards, earning distinctions in multiple categories including:

  • Workforce Analytics
  • Corporate Performance Management (CPM)
  • Budgeting & Forecasting
  • Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)

These awards reflect strong user feedback across a range of use cases and industry needs.

Why TrustRadius Matters

The TrustRadius Top Rated Awards are based entirely on user reviews. To qualify, products must meet three criteria:

  1. 1. Have at least 10 new verified reviews in the past year
  2. 2. Have a TrustRadius score of 7.5 or higher (out of 10)
  3. 3. Have a minimum level of category traffic on TrustRadius

This makes the recognition particularly meaningful for software buyers looking for real-world perspectives from fellow user

What Users Are Saying

Reviews on TrustRadius point to IBM Planning Analytics’ strengths in planning, reporting, and financial close processes. The platform earned high marks across several key areas:

  • Budgeting, Planning & Forecasting: 9.0 rating
  • Analytics & Reporting: 9.1 rating

These ratings place Planning Analytics above the category average in each area.

Reviewers noted its flexibility, ability to handle large datasets, and strong integration with AI technologies like IBM Watson. 

How This Fits in the Market

Planning Analytics is often evaluated alongside tools in analyst reports from Gartner, Forrester, and others. The TrustRadius recognition provides an additional lens—one that highlights how the platform performs in day-to-day use by real finance teams.

IBM Planning Analytics has more than 250 verified reviews on TrustRadius and consistently earn ratings about 9.0 in key areas. It stands out as a strong choice for organizations seeking to modernize their planning and performance management capabilities.

A Data-Driven Distinction

The TrustRadius Top Rated Awards are based on transparent, criteria-driven methodology. The awards reflect consistent satisfaction from a diverse group of users across industries and company sizes.

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: The Hidden Structure of 1/7: A Mathematical Perspective

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Today is July 1.  It’s the first day of the second half of the year and it’s also international chicken wing day. But for the purposes of today’s blog, none of that matters. What matters is that the reciprocal of 7/1 is 1/7, which leads to some fun with numbers!

The result of 1 divided by 7 is .142857. If you multiply that result by the integers 1 through 6 then you get the same resulting digits in the same sequence but in a different order …

142857 x 1 = 142857 

142857 x 2 = 285714 

142857 x 3 = 428571 

142857 x 4 = 571428 

142857 x 5 = 714285 

142857 x 6 = 857142 

What makes this even more special is that 142857 is also a Kaprekar number. This means that if you square the number and then separate that into 2 new numbers, you can add the 2 new numbers to come back to the initial number …

142857 x 142857 = 20408122449

Then take 20408 + 122449 and you will get the result of 142857!

So what’s the purpose of today’s blog?  It’s simply a reminder that MATH IS AWESOME!

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Attributes Types

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Do you know how to see attributes and attribute types in IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW)?  

While in the dimension editor, click on the tab that says Attributes.

The attributes will be presented to the right of the elements. But how do you know what type of attribute it is?

To see the attribute type click on the “gear” icon.  A context menu will present itself that allows you to click an option called “Attribute Type.”

A screenshot of a computer AI-generated content may be incorrect.

Once enabled, you will now see icons that tell you what type of attribute it is:

  • 123 means the attribute is numeric
  • abc means the attribute is text
  • The “person” icon means the attribute is an alias

This approach will help you easily define types when populating and using attributes.

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.

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Search with Descendants

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW – Navigation Approaches Using Action Buttons

IBM Planning Analytics Workspace Settings: DIM Editor Page Size

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Rule Auto Complete Display

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There are various ways to use the IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) rules auto-complete feature to help you create rules in your environment. For example: when referencing a specific element, you can simply type a left bracket and a single quote to see a list of selectable components. You can then click on an element to have it automatically populate into your rule.

When populated, the result will appear as a fully qualified member reference. The phrase “fully qualified” means that three parts will be defined:

  • Dimension
  • Hierarchy
  • Member Name

For example, if I have a hierarchy in the Account dimension called “GAAP_Reporting” then a fully qualified reference to account 100100 will appear as: 

[‘Account’:‘GAAP_Account’:‘100100’]

In a situation where no hierarchies are defined, the dimension name will be repeated.  For example, the same account with no hierarchies would appear as:

[‘Account’:‘Account’:‘100100’]

In situations where you are not using hierarchies, this may appear redundant … and potentially confusing to new developers. You can change the appearance of the account within your rule by modifying your settings.

If the full expression is not selected, the same account will appear as:

[‘Account’:‘100100’]

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.

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Search with Descendants

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW – Navigation Approaches Using Action Buttons

IBM Planning Analytics Workspace Settings: DIM Editor Page Size

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Settings – File Upload Action Button

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Have you ever written a TurboIntegrator (TI) script that used a manually uploaded file as a source? If so, this requires a two-step process: upload the file and then run the script. As long as you remember to follow both steps, the process will work great. But what if you forget to upload a new file?  (insert your own “misremember” joke here!).

IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) action buttons can resolve this situation for you by using the Allow File Upload setting within the Properties, Configure area.  

When this setting is enabled, a File Upload window will appear before the process is run.


By having the button prompt you for a file, it will be easier to ensure that the script is using the data that you need for the process.

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.

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Workspace Settings: DIM Editor Page Size

IBM Planning Analytics Workspace Settings – Dim Editor Index

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Application Websheet Folders

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Search with Descendants

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The IBM Planning Analytics subset editor includes various options to search a list of elements within a dimension. This includes the ability to search by name and attribute, search by referencing mathematical comparisons or text searches and search by one filter or multiple filters. 

But sometime challenges occur with your searches when the element you are looking for does not exist in the current list of available members. For example, a search for “taxes” might not appear if my current list of available members only contains the consolidated element called “Compensation.”

This situation requires users to expand their consolidation elements when looking for specific elements.

Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) version 101 has introduced a setting to eliminate this challenge, which allows you to define whether you want to search the current set only (the default option) or whether you want to include descendants in your search.

This approach works with both the Available Members search (e.g., the left side) and the Current Set search (e.g., the right side).

By changing the search approach, you no longer need to pre-expand your consolidations when looking for elements within a dimension. 

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.

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Workspace Settings: DIM Editor Page Size

IBM Planning Analytics Workspace Settings – Dim Editor Index

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Application Websheet Folders

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