IT Planning is a Lifesaver for Identifying Budget Reductions
Updated June 26, 2024
IT Planning is a Lifesaver for Identifying Budget Reductions
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Software Version
ApptioOne
Modules Used
- Planning and Budgeting (formerly IT Planning)
Overall Satisfaction with IBM Apptio
Our organization utilizes ApptioOne, specifically the IT Planning forecasting and budgeting module, to build our $300M+ budget from the bottom up. The module makes it easy to identify line items that should not be included in the budget, as well as items that can be highlighted as potential cost-saving initiatives. We successfully managed a 10% budget cut ($30M+) by using IT Planning, which wouldn't have been possible without the use of the module.
Pros
- Bottoms-up budget approach
- Numerous views of data/line items to highlight potential duplicates in budgeted items
- Fully fleshed out labor roster that seamlessly rolls up into the total budget/forecast
Cons
- Filters are sometimes "sticky" and do not reset, causing the user to continually repeat clearing filters
- The ability to add a "vacancy factor" for different roles or account codes within the labor
- Headcount is not necessarily correct on the KPIs. The system aggregates open positions by months left in the year, which makes the actual headcount much higher than shown
- The relationship between IT and finance has grown considerably since the adoption of IT Planning
- Our company was successfully able to navigate a $30M+ budget target reduction through the use of IT Planning
- Leadership now has access to the most up-to-date data almost immediately, as opposed to waiting days for an answer to a specific question
Our company is moving towards a rolling forecasting and budgeting model that IT Planning is already built for. We are able to roll our finalized budgets seamlessly into forecasts based on the most recent knowledge. We can accurately depict a forecast for ROY or the subsequent year with more clarity than was available during the budget cycle.
- Cloudability
- Targetprocess
We do not use Cloudability or Targetprocess in our environment. We use Data & Insights, focusing on Apptio BI and Insights. We are still early in the process of setting those modules up so that we can get the most value out of them. We are excited to see what type of use cases we are able to establish.
I have not used any other products that are similar to IBM Apptio.
Do you think IBM Apptio delivers good value for the price?
Yes
Are you happy with IBM Apptio's feature set?
Yes
Did IBM Apptio live up to sales and marketing promises?
Yes
Did implementation of IBM Apptio go as expected?
Yes
Would you buy IBM Apptio again?
Yes
Using IBM Apptio
50 - The main users of Apptio within our organization are the monthly forecasting users and the annual budget owners. There is also another segment of users that mainly utilize our main finance dashboard to review monthly expenses and variances to budget. Another subset of users use the project demand dashboard to see project spend and forecasted project spend versus budget.
4 - Our organization has four main people that support our IBM Apptio instance. One user has a TBMA certification and focuses mostly on the finance side, using Planning on a daily basis. We also have 3 people with CTBME certifications, 2 analysts and 1 director. We all have over 5 years of experience with the platform and have worked through the Apptio Education programs.
- Monthly Forecasting
- Annual Budgeting
- Monthly Variance Analysis
- Weekly Project Spend Analysis
- We've created a project actuals + forecast report that shows all past and planned spend for projects by area and VP
- We were able to implement Planning into other corporate areas including Human Resources and Corporate Security
- We plan to implement a showback to better educate business partners on how much IT costs
- We want to overhaul the way our company charges/shows Enterprise Shared Services (ESS) to the revenue generating business areas
Comments
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