What is our primary use case?
My main use case for IBM Planning Analytics is for various activities such as analysis, analyzing data to make decisions, planning tasks, and collaborating with dependent teams. Before IBM Planning Analytics, we were using the Workday Adaptive Planning tool, but we always faced difficulties in setting it up and using it. It was particularly difficult to use, especially for the latest tech service. Later, we moved to IBM Planning Analytics, which we mainly used to handle the data analysis use case. My work involves creating dashboards from the existing business data and presenting them during our daily scrum meetings with various stakeholders, as well as making the right decisions based on data analysis and insights. With IBM Planning Analytics, dashboard creation and other exporting options come in handy.
In addition to my main use case, I also use IBM Planning Analytics for financial planning, forecasting, and reporting, and it has been very useful across different departments, especially when we need real-time insights. We also integrated time series forecasting with Watson Studio, which helps with better predictions.
What is most valuable?
IBM Planning Analytics helps with collaboration between teams by allowing us to gather data from various departments, analyze it, and collaborate on the data to make data-driven decisions between different departments easily. As I mentioned previously, I mainly use IBM Planning Analytics to visualize the existing data to generate meaningful report dashboards and use it during stakeholder meetings to arrive at the right decision.
The best features IBM Planning Analytics offers include budgeting, forecasting, and what-if scenario analysis. The scenario modeling feature in IBM Planning Analytics is probably the most robust planning and forecasting solution we use, especially for what-if scenarios, where we are able to forecast using Watson Studio, which helps in better prediction. I really appreciate the Excel integration in IBM Planning Analytics because it keeps things familiar and adds more power.
What needs improvement?
IBM Planning Analytics does not work offline, which makes it difficult for me and my team to work or gather required data when we do not have an internet connection.
The mobile version of IBM Planning Analytics has fewer features compared to the PC version, which is a problem when an executive has to analyze a complicated situation on the go or while working remotely.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using IBM Planning Analytics for the past seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
IBM Planning Analytics is very stable, and I have not noticed any downtime or lagging. The performance of IBM Planning Analytics has always been fast and reliable for my needs, even when dealing with huge volumes of data.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of IBM Planning Analytics is very high, and we are able to work with huge amounts of data with flexibility.
How are customer service and support?
The customer support for IBM Planning Analytics is very responsive and supportive 24/7, and they provide feedback in less time.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I previously used Microsoft Access. The reason I switched from Microsoft Access to IBM Planning Analytics is because when dealing with large data and wanting speed and flexibility, IBM Planning Analytics offers that capability. Microsoft Access has limitations when dealing with huge volumes of data.
I also switched from Microsoft Access to IBM Planning Analytics because it has helped us reduce manual work and make better decisions quickly. IBM also listens to feedback and improves the products, which I appreciate.
How was the initial setup?
The learning curve for my team was smooth, and it took a few days to one week to learn every feature of IBM Planning Analytics. It was easy to learn.
What about the implementation team?
IBM Planning Analytics has been quick regarding technical implementation and onboarding with the cloud version. We experienced smooth onboarding for any tech service and have been able to save a lot of time, especially because it is very easy to use. We cut down on manual budgeting and forecasting work, which saved us between 50 to 70% of our time. Our decision-making improved significantly because the real-time data and automation saved a considerable amount of time. It only took us about three months to create custom models that really fit our needs, which represented quick implementation and quicker return on investments.
What was our ROI?
Over the past few years that I have been using IBM Planning Analytics, I have made big improvements in how I plan and analyze finances. Since using this tool, I can now make decisions faster, even when there is just a small change in the data. It helps a lot with creating reports straight from raw data, which saves me so much time.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for IBM Planning Analytics is that the price is relatively competitive, and the setup was straightforward and easy.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing IBM Planning Analytics, I evaluated other options, such as AD Logic.
What other advice do I have?
Regarding the user interface of IBM Planning Analytics, it is very user-friendly, which makes the experience very smooth. The integration capabilities of IBM Planning Analytics with other business systems or data sources are strong, especially with Simulus.
We are able to integrate IBM Planning Analytics with Watson Studio, and it helps with better prediction and forecasting, allowing us to make data-driven decisions. We have also been able to integrate it with Excel, which keeps things familiar and adds more power.
I would describe the security features of IBM Planning Analytics as very robust, and they keep all our data secure.
My advice to others looking into using IBM Planning Analytics is that if you are dealing with large data and want speed and flexibility, then IBM Planning Analytics is for you, because it has helped us reduce manual work and make better decisions quickly. IBM also listens to feedback and improves the product, which I really appreciate. I would rate this product a 9 out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.