Item: IBM Planning Analytics
Rating: 9
Author: James Downey

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

IBM Planning Analytics is used for financial performance management activities related to planning and reporting Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, Cashflow, and KPIs.

Pros and Cons

Data exploration
Data aggregation
Data visualization
Driver based planning
What-if scenario modeling
multi-dimensional modeling
Hierarchies and consolidations
Foreign currency

Debugging code
High availability
Mobility

Return on Investment

Improved monthly financial close process
Improved financial performance of business units
Improved the accessibility of financial data

Scenario Planning and What-If Analysis

A rolling six-month forecast is critical to our professional services part of the business. At the same time, a rolling twelve-month forecast is equally important for our software part of the business. IBM Planning Analytics models are developed to allow end-users like me to plan and complete what-if scenario's using historical trend data that are combined driver-based models to plan multiple periods (months or years) ahead.

Alternatives Considered

Oracle Hyperion Enterprise Performance Management

Why IBM Planning Analytics when compared to Oracle Hyperion: Better excel integration Less data movement and duplication Better cloud offering More aforeable licensing

Key Insights

Do you think IBM Planning Analytics delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with IBM Planning Analytics's feature set?

Yes

Did IBM Planning Analytics live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of IBM Planning Analytics go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy IBM Planning Analytics again?

Yes

Support Rating

Over the past two to three years, IBM has really leveled up its support for Planning Analytics on Cloud customers, with the turnaround and response times on tickets greatly improved.

Usability

The drag-and-drop feature of IBM Planning Analytics Workspace enables me to build reports and dashboards quickly. It is also intuitive to use and requires limited training. Big fan of Worksapce.

Other Software Used

Salesforce Essentials, Kantata Cloud, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Microsoft Power BI

Likelihood to Recommend

IBM Planning Analytics is particularly well suited to the following: Financial management planning and forecasting of the Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, and Cashflow Complex Allocation models that require sequential processing across hundreds of thousands of dimensional elements Detailed Workforce and Revenue Planning Predictive forecasting to seed future year plan periods. IBM Planning Analytics is not well suited to the following use cases: A transactional data store (e.g., it is not an ERP). Storage of images and video files.

IBM Planning Analytics for Contemporary Finance Professionals

Overall Satisfaction with IBM Planning Analytics