Business planning is no longer just about defining goals, identifying critical issues, and then mapping out strategies. In today's dynamic and highly competitive business environment, companies with complex business models want their abstract strategies turned into discrete, executable plans. They want information from the field to reach decision makers in real-time so that they can fine-tune their plans as events unfold. IBM Cognos 8 Planning offers just that.
This book provides you with everything you need to know for building planning models using IBM Cognos 8 Planning. After reading this book, you can begin your journey into model building bringing with you a perspective that comes from three of the most seasoned IBM Cognos Planning consultants in the business.
In this book, you will learn how to build planning models using IBM Cognos Planning's modeling tool, Analyst. We introduce you to key objects in Analyst that let you define, store, and move data. Then we show how you can deploy the model to hundreds or thousands of users using IBM Cognos Planning's web-based tool, Contributor. We demonstrate some of the things you can do as an administrator and as a user. Finally, we show the automation tools that you can use to maintain and support your models. As we go through this, we will share with you tips and tricks and insights from our experience with real implementations.
What you will learn from this book?
- Master the main phases of the model development process and the various considerations you need to think about before embarking on an IBM Cognos Planning project.
- Use Analyst objects to define, store, and move data and leverage powerful data integration tools to let you seamlessly update your models from various data sources.
- Automate common tasks in Analyst such as updating model structures and importing and exporting data by creating Analyst macros.
- Create and configure a Contributor application and deploy it on the Web so that the users can enter budget and forecast data.
- Load data into a Contributor application using different data import methods.
- Automate typical administration tasks in the Contributor Administration Console such as application configuration and the import and publishing of data by creating and scheduling contributor macros.
- Navigate the Contributor Web Client and use it to enter budget and forecast data.
- Apply security to Analyst models and Contributor applications.
- Integrate IBM Cognos Planning with IBM Cognos BI and make planning data available for BI reporting purposes.
Approach
This is a step-by-step, practical guide to designing, building, and deploying Planning models, with plenty of advice from three of the most seasoned Cognos Planning consultants having over 25 years of real-world, in-the-trench experience. We remove the technical clutter and jump right to the heart of the subject focusing only on what is important.
Who this book is written for?
Written for first-time developers wanting an introduction to IBM Cognos Planning, this book gives clear, easy-to-understand instructions on how to design, build, and deploy Planning models focusing only on the essential tools that you need to know. It is for anyone who wants to understand IBM Cognos Planning and make a transition to this tool from elsewhere.
About the Author
Jason Edwards
Jason Edwards is an IBM Cognos Planning solutions expert and partner of Agile Strategic Business Consulting. He has extensive experience in application design and development and has effectively implemented highly successful IBM Cognos Planning solutions for a variety of companies. Jason is certified in IBM Cognos Planning and holds a Bachelor's degree in accounting and finance. Jason can be contacted at jason.edwards@agilestrategic.com.
Ned Riaz
Ned Riaz is a Certified IBM Cognos Planning expert and principal partner at Agile Strategic Business Consulting, a consulting company that specializes in IBM Cognos Planning and Business Intelligence implementations.
Ned has obtained a B.S. degree in Accounting and Management Information Systems, and he passed the CPA (Certified Public Accountant) exam after finishing his degree. After finishing his education, Ned worked as an auditor, accountant, and finance director in many industries, such as banks, software reselling, and entertainment. He became involved in system development work in the late nineties, and deployed various medium-sized accounting and general ledger systems.
Rich Babaran
Rich Babaran has over 20 years of experience in financial modeling and analysis, corporate planning, performance measurement development, workflow modeling, and process improvement. He has spent the last 9 years helping Fortune 500 companies improve their planning processes using IBM Cognos Planning. In addition to architecting complete end-to-end solutions, Rich has helped turnaround critical implementations by applying innovative techniques learned to years of working in challenging environments. Rich has a degree in Management Economics at Ateneo de Manila University and an MBA at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Rich can be reached at rich.babaran@gmail.com
