P108: Leveraging Your Spreadsheets for Business Analytics Challenges Facing Business Leaders Unable to readily view and use their information Over-reliance on spreadsheets Need solutions to drive competitive advantage Need better integration of Business Intelligence and Performance Management Wanted: Better Insight Some Common Risks and Challenges Spreadsheets Failing there have been well-documented cases of errors and losses resulting from spreadsheet manipulation errors and accidents. Source: Gartner, August 2007 Disparate Systems Average finance organizations operate 11 finance systems per billion dollars of revenue. Source: Hackett Group, 2007 Business Risks 62 percent of enterprises encountered a major risk event 42 percent of these enterprises were not well prepared for the event. Source: IBM Global CFO Study 2008 CFO ControllerTax / Treasury FP & A IT What Product is this Quote About ? .it has lots of limitations..but it does lend itself to the solution of a broad class of problems where interactive operation and lots of flexibility are desired. Visicalc the first commercial spreadsheet Advertisement in BYTE Magazine Circa 1979 But not the first spread sheet! Why Are Spreadsheets So Popular? Comfort Factors: Pervasive, Powerful, Personal, Familiar, Flexible A numerical Swiss Army Knife for many companies: Data Collection, Business Modeling, Analysis, Reporting But Spreadsheets are a Breeding Ground for Risk! Inaccurate: Inaccurate: Almost certain to contain unintended errors Untrustworthy: Untrustworthy: No confidence in source and accuracy Insecure: Insecure: Security is monolithic, no audit trail Fragile: Fragile: Lack of collaboration and repeatability for continuous processes (e.g. budgeting and planning) Cumbersome: Cumbersome: No process automation, long cycles, unintuitive analytics, manual hierarchies Inaccurate: Inaccurate: Almost certain to contain unintended errors Untrustworthy: Untrustworthy: No confidence in source and accuracy Insecure: Insecure: Security is monolithic, no audit trail Fragile: Fragile: Lack of collaboration and repeatability for continuous processes (e.g. budgeting and planning) Cumbersome: Cumbersome: No process automation, long cycles, unintuitive analytics, manual hierarchies Calculation errors are guaranteed Research shows 94% of spreadsheets contain unintended errors Single accurate business model Centrally managed server for data and business rules Transforming Your Excel-Based Process: From Fragile to Agile Two dimensions cannot encompass business data Most FPM processes require a minimum of four, often many more Multi-dimensional cubes with meaningful identifiers NOT $A$1 * \\BudFiles\2007\May\Budget.xls!C3 Copy and Paste is Hit or Miss Asymmetrical ranges, accidental overwriting, missing rows/columns Immutable business rules that apply to the entire cube Margin = Revenue Cost, always. Introducing multiple workbooks adds fuel to the fire Slow recalculations, broken links, more errors Transforming Your Excel-Based Process From Fragile to Agile Excel security is monolithic, auditing is weak Locks apply to entire workbook, auditing is bolted-on Shared in-memory business model Instant propagation of changes to all users Presentation = Storage Format of workbooks is fixed; no analysis capability Centrally-managed role-based security Selective access at any level. Auditing is tamper-proof. Presentation Storage Pivot/slice/dice to serve all users needs, in Excel and/or Web WARNING! WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE MAY SHOCK YOU. THE FOLLOWING SCREENSHOTS ARE FROM REAL APPLICATIONS BUILT ENTIRELY WITH COGNOS TM1 AND MICROSOFT EXCEL. NO DATA WAS HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THESE SLIDES. Budgeting and Forecasting Salary Planning Integrated Workflow Financial Reporting Aqua, Inc Dashboards Scorecards Analytics Whats the magic here? Cell H18 contains a DBRW formula, a TM1 function that retrieves or writes back a value to a TM1 cube on the server TM1 data values can be manipulated exactly like Excel values, enabling users to extend the application on their own with Excel functions and graphing features No data is stored in Excel. It is only used to present the TM1 data, meaning the same TM1 cube data can be presented in an entirely different way for other users or applications. The Transformation is Complete! Errors Untrustworthy data Unsecure Cumbersome Fragility Cognos TM1 enables the transformation from Accuracy Trusted information Auditable Speed Agility The Technical Transformation Excel OnlyExcel + TM1 Business Hierarchies Represented as SUM formulas Represented as true dimensional hierarchies Data Storage File-based. Requires manual distribution. Server-based cubes, always available Business Rules Complex Excel functions, repeated over and over Simple cube rules Data IntegrationFlat-files, copy & paste Built-in data integration (TurboIntegrator) Web DeploymentNot an optionEnd-user publishing Security and Audit TrailWeak Powerful, with full rollback capability Five Common Mistakes Focusing on Point Solutions Select a flexible, versatile product like Cognos TM1 that will grow with your needs Paving The Cow Paths Take the opportunity to challenge old practices and eliminate redundant/obsolete business processes Relying Too Much On IT Spreadsheets = User-driven & User-accountable Replacing Ultimate Flexibility with Complete Rigidity Purpose-built applications have a purpose, but Dont Take Excel Away From the Users Leverage It! Proven Practice: Emulate existing Excel templates Retain the look & feel of your existing Excel templates to Lower training cost Increase user acceptance Reduce deployment risk Deploy Excel applications with Cognos TM1 Web Tamper-proof interface for casual users (e.g. annual budgeting cycle) Simple, non-technical publishing process, owned and operated by business users not IT Cognos TM1 centralizes and manages fact-based assumptions, drivers and business rules Eliminates or greatly reduces back of the envelope calculations Enables immediate distribution of updates (hierarchy changes, model drivers) Enables management of parallel scenarios, each with its own set of assumptions Cognos TM1 + Excel removes labor and latency from your business processes Easier to deploy and manage for process owners Easier to contribute and collaborate for end-users Proven Practice: Centralized Management Personalized Dashboards for Performance Management Unified analysis enables better insight Proven Practice: Provide users with multiple lenses Summary Cognos TM1 delivers the best of both worlds A high-speed centrally-managed server for business data, hierarchies, calculations and workflow A familiar and attractive Excel-based presentation layer, managed by end-users Cognos TM1 + Excel: enables enhanced insight and proactive management removes artificial barriers to higher growth and business performance provides a secure yet flexible Performance Management environment