Hints and Tips on Managing IBM Cognos Planning Models Effectively

Pat Bann / Paresh KeraiCognos Planning Consultants

COGNOS PLANNING OVERVIEW

• IBM Cognos Planning is an integrated solution for planning, budgeting, forecasting and modelling data

• Allows multidimensional OLAP planning, with consolidation, drill down and slice and dice of data

• Consists of three main components: Analyst, Manager & Contributor

• Both Analyst and Contributor have Excel Add-In functionality

COGNOS PLANNING COMPONENTS

• Analyst – for dynamic data modelling, effectively creating the structure of the budget, plan or forecast

• Contributor – deploy models via a web interface for data input and aggregation, involving potentially hundreds of users

• Manager – create dynamic flowcharts and interactive front-ends for maintenance and management of budget models

MODEL ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

• Models can be built and run in Analyst only - if in fact models are used and maintained by small number of centralised users, such as finance staff

• Models could also be built in Analyst and deployed in Contributor as a web application, allowing potentially hundreds of concurrent users to contribute to the forecasting process

PLANNING MANAGER

• Manager can be used to enter data into cubes• Provides easy access into dimensions which may need to be

changed - E.g. Timescales• Allows creation of Admin screens to group tasks by functional

areas• Can create interactive flowcharts, so that a Modeller can

understand the flows of data• Allows maintenance of Centralised Assumption Data (Like FX

Rates, GL Mappings Cubes, Profiles, etc)

PLANNING MANAGER ADVANCED TIPS

• Creation of Timescale Cubes to make timescale updates easier to maintain (rolling timescales)

• Use of TestData Built in Function for Data Validations• Creation of a Timestamp Cube to record when a Cube was

updated• Use of SliceUpdate Macro to update a cube a slice at a time

overcoming size issues when updating cubes