IBM Cognos 8 Planning
eBook - ePub

IBM Cognos 8 Planning

  1. 424 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

IBM Cognos 8 Planning

About this book

In Detail

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.

p>A step-by-step, practical guide to designing, building, and deploying planning models with useful tips to avoid common model building pitfalls

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 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.

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Information

Publisher
Packt Publishing
Year
2009
eBook ISBN
9781847196842
Edition
1
Topic
Computer Science
Subtopic
Information Technology
Index
Computer Science

IBM Cognos 8 Planning

Ned Riaz

Jason Edwards

Rich Babaran

Table of Contents

IBM Cognos 8 Planning
Credits
About the Authors
Acknowledgment
About the Reviewers
Preface
What this book covers
What you need for this book
Who this book is for
Conventions
Reader feedback
Customer support
Downloading the example code for the book
Errata
Piracy
Questions
1. Planning with IBM Cognos
Planning in a dynamic business environment
Common problems with the planning process
Disconnect between operating reality and financial plan
Confrontational versus collaborative
Cycle times
Ownership and accountability
Spreadsheet-based planning
Lack of control
Spreadsheet error
Lack of transparency
Consolidation and version control
How technology enables planning best practices
Introducing IBM Cognos Planning
Corporate Performance Management
Benefits of IBM Cognos Planning
Summary
2. Getting to know IBM Cognos Tools
Scenario
IBM Cognos Planning — Analyst
Panda Garden Scenario
IBM Cognos Planning — Contributor
Contributor administration
Panda Garden scenario
Contributor client
Panda Garden scenario
IBM Cognos Excel add-in for Analyst and Contributor
IBM Cognos Metric Designer and Metric Studio
Metric Designer
Metric Studio
Panda Garden scenario
IBM Cognos Reporting Studios
Panda Garden scenario
IBM Cognos Framework Manager
Panda Garden scenario
IBM Cognos Event Studio
Panda Garden Scenario
IBM Cognos Connection web portal
Summary
3. Understanding the Model Development Process
The process
Considerations for building an Analyst planning model
Planning functional models
Planning cycles and horizons
Planning approaches
Designing the model template in Analyst
Flowcharting the model structure
The concept of multi dimensionality
Understanding dimensions, datastore, and data flow
Determining dimensions: D-List
Building the datastore: D-Cubes
Controlling data flow: D-Links
What makes an optimal model?
Principles of model building
Efficiency
Performance
Maintenance
Building the Contributor application
Entering and reviewing plans in the Contributor Web user interface
Publishing and reporting planning data
Maintaining the planning models
Example: ABC Company
Summary
4. Understanding the Analyst Environment
Getting familiar with Analyst
Using Analyst shortcuts
Accessing Analyst objects
Navigating within Analyst
The building blocks of an Analyst model
Analyst objects
D-List
D-Cube
D-Link
Allocation Table (A-Table)
File Map
Saved Format
Saved Selection
Macro
Organizing objects by using libraries
Creating a library
Deleting a library
Considerations for creating libraries
Types of libraries
Common library
Model library
Staging library
Archive library
Basic administration tools
Maintain Libraries and Users
Rebuild the index file
Refresh references
Validate D-Lists
Locate ODBC sources
Locate Built-in Functions
Configuring Analyst
Changing the path to the Filesys.ini
Changing the maximum workspace
Changing keyboard layout
Changing the number of undos and redos
Summary
5. Defining Data Structures: D-List
Overview of D-List
Creating the D-List
Manually typing the D-List Items
Importing D-List items from an ASCII file
Importing the D-List items from a File Map
Importing the D-List items from an ODBC source
Importing the D-List items from data in a D-Cube
Importing the D-List Items from another D-List
Setting the import parameters
Modifying the import parameters
Updating the D-List
Updating D-List item names from a data source
Adding new items to a D-List
Deleting D-List items
Reordering D-List Items
Implementing D-List changes
Non-permissible characters in a D-List
Item ID (IID) in a D-List
Entering formulas in a D-List
How formulas are written
Using the Paste function when writing formulas
Writing conditional statements
Conflicts in calculation
Using the D-List priority option
Built-in functions
Inserting a BiF into a D-List Item
Configuring a Timescale D-List
Formatting D-List items
Numeric format
Date format
Dates in formulas
Text format
D-List format
Using D-List formatted items in calculations
Calc option
Categorizing D-Lists
The e.List
Summary
6. Storing Planning Data: D-Cube
Overview of the D-Cube
Creating a D-Cube
Order of dimensions
Size considerations
Working with the D-Cube
Opening a full view of the D-Cube
Opening a selection of the D-Cube
Viewing different slices of the D-Cube
Saving a selection
Opening the saved selection
Modifying the saved selection
Restructuring dimensions of a D-Cube
Adding a dimension
Deleting a dimension
Substituting a dimension
Reordering D-Cube dimensions
Formatting data using the D-Cube Format
Numeric
Date format
Text format
D-List format
Format priority
Exporting data from the D-Cube
Export
Groups
Single vs. multiple columns
Format
Header/Footer
Zeros
Show Det/Tot
Breakback
Breakback on hierarchies
...

Table of contents

  1. IBM Cognos 8 Planning

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