Category: Plan & Forecast

  • Lessons from the discovery-driven planning approach

    Discovery-driven planning A few weeks ago I researched ideas for improving current planning and forecasting approaches. I stumbled upon a methodology that I had long forgotten. It is called ‘Discovery-driven planning’ and it was developed by Rita Gunther McGrath and Ian C. MacMillan. The idea was first published in the July 1995 issue of the Harvard Business…

  • TM1 – The swiss army knife for the finance department?

    IBM Cognos TM1 No doubt, IBM Cognos TM1 is a unique solution. I have never met so many loyal and enthusiastic long-term customers than for any other finance-related software solution. TM1 is special indeed. There is a lot to like: it is lightening fast (64-bit in memory), configuration does not require rocket-science, it supports Excel,…

  • IBM Vision 2012

    IBM Vision 2012 Greetings from Orlando. I left Munich Saturday morning to attend the IBM Vision 2012 conference. This three day event for finance & risk management professionals will be exciting. There are fantastic keynotes lined up as well as a ton of awesome break-out sessions. I am really looking forward to it. Keynotes The…

  • Why continuous forecasting is more enjoyable

    The case for continuous forecasting Time for a confession. I really hated forecasting back in my old job. Kind of crazy since I was working with clients on improving their planning, budgeting & forecasting processes. Yet, I absolutely hated doing my own forecast. What was wrong? First of all, the template was terrible. Way too…

  • The other side of Cognos Insight – A powerful planning client for TM1 (Guestpost)

    Cognos Insight and TM1 There is a lot of buzz about Cognos Insight. It is a great tool for analyzing and discovering data. There is also the ability to perform powerful what-if analysis through the use of write-back capabilities. But Cognos Insight is actually more than just a personal desktop analytics tool. You can use…

  • The reputation of business forecasting is not positive – Time for change!

    Business Forecasting The budgeting and business forecasting processes often have a poor reputation in many companies. Part of the issue is that the people involved in the process do not see a lot of value in it. Last year in November, two of my colleagues and I conducted a survey amongst 162 senior finance professionals…

  • The Cognos Blueprints are back – for Cognos Insight

    IBM Cognos Blueprints Have you heard of the Cognos Blueprints? They are pre-configured planing and forecasting templates. You can download them from the IBM Cognos Innovation Center website. Each blueprint comes with a fully functional set of model definition files, model and business best practices documentation. There are over 50 different Cognos Blueprints available for…

  • How to improve your forecasting templates through initiatives

    Forecasting  concerns Despite its tremendous importance, forecasting remains one of most disliked processes in many companies. Part of the problem are the forecasting templates themselves. They are extremely complex and cumbersome. Today, I want to look at a simple technique that can improve the usability of the forecasting templates while also increasing the ability to gain…

  • Spotlight on Forecast Accuracy

    Forecast accuracy in turbulent times Forecast accuracy is one of those measures many finance professionals think and talk about. Turbulent times require companies to produce reliable and solid forecasts. Accuracy is a useful measure that helps finance managers assess the quality of the process (to a certain degree!). In late 2011, my good colleagues Mark,…

  • Forecast Analysis – An Effective Dashboard

    FORECAST ANALYSIS Last week I argued that a detailed variance report is not very helpful before and during the forecasting and budgeting process. That post continues to be one of the most popular ones recently. But why not take the basic ideas a few steps forward and create a dedicated forecasting dashboard? A dashboard allows…