The performance ideas blog

Category: Finance

  • 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…

  • Please welcome IBM Cognos TM1 10.1

    IBM Cognos TM1 10.1 There is a lot of exciting stuff happening in the Business Analytics area. Last week, I wrote about the release of the personal analytics tool Cognos Insight. But there is more. Along with Cognos Insight, IBM also released the latest version of TM1. And let me tell you, IBM Cognos TM1…

  • 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…

  • Better Forecasting And Budgeting Starts With Analysis – IBM Cognos 10 in Action

    FORECAST ANALYSIS Much has been written about developing better forecasting and budgeting templates or improving the overall process. But to my surprise there is hardly any focus on the role of analysis. I have seen many organizations where managers ‘survive’ the forecasting and budgeting cycle without ever spending time performing meaningful analysis of their data.…

  • Budgeting – Your Northern Star (Guest Post)

    A budget plants an iron rod of confidence and accountability into the spine of your business. I recently blogged about Six Ideas for Setting Successful Budgets: Budgeting begins with assessing the current business environment Leave your optimism at the curb Budgeting must be driven by strategy Connect the dots A careless budget will cause more…

  • Annual Budgeting – Our favorite season?

    BUDGETING Yes, it’s that time of the year. The time that is often filled with pain and fear. No, I am not talking about Halloween but about the corporate budgeting process. Much has been written about the annual budget. And most of the written stuff is not positive. Jack Welch alone has provided us with…

  • Open Pages and the convergence of Performance Management

    Part 2 of guest posts by Erwin Boeren Last year IBM acquired OpenPages as a strategic move into the area of Governance, Risk and Compliance. The latest announcement to acquire Algorithmics (quantative risk management) shows the serious commitment of IBM in the GRC market. GRC software will integrate into the IBM Business Analytics brand – the…

  • Rolling Forecasts Keep on Rolling

    Am I surprised? Yes. Maybe I shouldn’t. Our rolling forecasts events were popular in the past, but they keep getting more and more popular. ROLLING FORECASTS TODAY Rolling Forecasts are indeed an important topic. And why wouldn’t they? Business and life in general is turbulent these days. No doubt about that. Just think about all…