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I use the solution in my company for our company's budgeting process; IBM Planning Analytics is used every year to manage different scenarios based on the needs of the users. The finance managers in our company use the product to change 90 percent of the budget processes and cash flows, along with some forecasting purposes.
The local authentication part is difficult to manage in the product, making it an area where improvements are required.
I have been using IBM Planning Analytics for six years. My company has a partnership with IBM.
The product's stability is good.
The scalability is very useful. Previously, in my company, we used IBM Cognos and IBM Accelerator, but presently, we use IBM Planning Analytics, which is a very useful tool compared with the past products we used.
I am satisfied with IBM's support. I rate the technical support an eight out of ten.
Positive
The product is easy to deploy. The configuration of the authentication part with the tool is difficult. When I tried to integrate IBM Planning Analytics with LDAP, the configuration changed, so the config file changed. The integrations and certain syncs are sometimes difficult to match and authenticate.
The licensing part of the product is good. Every year, there is a need to renew the license. My company also uses multiple functionalities offered under IBM Cognos Analytics for ETL-related purposes. Compared to the regular licenses offered, the licensing model of IBM Planning Analytics is good. Compared with the other tools in the market, IBM Planning Analytics is a bit expensive.
The product has improved our company's forecasting accuracy since it serves as a very useful tool for our sales and controller teams as they easily get to enter the inputs using views in TM1, which gets loaded into our main database. If there are sales team members in different parts of the world, like in Hong Kong and Singapore, they may prefer to use IBM Planning Analytics, which is easy to use when compared to the Excel tool.
Speaking about planning analytics and data analysis, I would say that our company used to use IBM Cognos Analytics for reporting, where we used to use Cognos Dynamic Cubes so that users can easily use its drag and drop features while getting to see the data for which the users had to wait for two to three minutes prior to its use. In our company, tons of data are loaded into the memory, and users can use Cognos Dynamic Cubes to analyze data and understand it.
The AI capabilities of IBM have benefited our planning strategy as they are very useful for business. The tool allows the easy creation of dashboard reports using AI capabilities. No technical knowledge is required for business use cases.
It is possible to integrate the product in scenarios where some new integrations are available. I remember that my company used Azure Data Factory to connect Azure, Oracle, and IBM WebSphere Application Server.
When it comes to IBM Planning Analytics, it is complex to integrate it with LDAP and or any other authentication tool offered by Microsoft. In our company, some users like to integrate IBM Planning Analytics with the common LDAP or Microsoft AD, which we currently use for all our applications. The authentication part is difficult to configure with IBM Planning Analytics.
The maintenance of the product is easy. My company has scheduled maintenance on the product every week, especially during forecast times, so that memories automatically lapse and users can freely access their servers.
The use of the tool has had an impact on collaboration within our company's planning team since everyone knows how to easily access the data and publish the results.
I recommend the product to those who plan to use it.
I rate the tool a nine out of ten.
As a company grows and expands into multiple regions with different currencies, the level of complexity increases. At that point, Oracle Planning and Budgeting Cloud becomes a better solution. Based on a company's revenue and size, there is a threshold where they need to transition to a better tool to handle the increased complexity.
The tool improves the organizational budgeting process in several ways. One significant aspect is the extensionable functionality it offers. To illustrate, consider a scenario where a company has factories in Mexico producing Volkswagen and Kentucky producing Ford.
When employees in Mexico input their budget and forecasts, they only see the relevant products and processes applicable to their location. Similarly, employees in Kentucky have access to data pertinent to their operations. This functionality streamlines the user interface experience by dynamically filtering information based on relevance. It eliminates the need for users to sift through irrelevant options, akin to the inconvenience of scrolling through a lengthy dropdown menu to select a state when a simple text entry could suffice. Having that capability essentially means that the system recognizes your location, like being in New York, and automatically presents relevant information.
I think it's pretty powerful for where they are right now. It fits the bill for people seeking a solution for planning and budgeting. And it probably fits the bill better than most products out there. One of the nice things about it is its power and versatility. Anything you can do in a spreadsheet, you can do in this product. It has all the power of a spreadsheet and fixes issues like security, data integrity, and the standard errors in spreadsheets. So, taking away the drawbacks of Excel and replacing them with good features is a fantastic capability they have. Most people who get these products previously created all their budgets and forecasts in Excel. The fact that it's the next step in evolution speaks volumes about their development.
The tool incorporates AI functions encompassing budgeting, forecasting, and transactions at the macro and micro levels. On the other hand, OneStream seems more focused on reporting, planning, and budgeting functionalities. Oracle Planning and Budgeting Cloud's approach seems more holistic, leveraging its ERP products, while OneStream focuses more on specific functionalities relevant to its product offerings.
The tool's interface is outdated. However, OneStream is easier to navigate.
The tool's customer service is fairly good. Outsourcing to India has taken some time to get up to speed, but they are now well-trained. Additionally, they have domestic senior resources, allowing for quick escalation of complex issues.
However, they can also concentrate on enhancing the process. This means that even though you may start with basic support, you can be escalated to higher levels with better solutions or more quickly, which I believe they have accomplished.
Positive
Every company is unique, with different growth strategies and trajectories. Some companies focus on acquisitions to grow rapidly, while others prefer organic growth, expanding into new markets gradually. It depends on the company's specific growth goals and how they plan to achieve them. For example, a company aiming to grow from $100 million to $1 billion in revenue in two years will require different strategies than one aiming to increase from $100 million to $200 million in the next year.
I rate the product a nine out of ten.
