I mostly use it for planning, reporting, and forecasting systems.
IBM Planning Analytics as a Service
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IBM Planning Analytics has improved financial and project planning
What do you like best about the product?
This tool offers quick answers to questions, supports various use cases, and provides real-time problem-solving. The timing for the MVP release to internal users was ideal, allowing flexibility in how the product is used. I'm highly impressed with the overall speed and efficiency of the software and am quite satisfied with the development process so far.
What do you dislike about the product?
Most aspects simply require adapting to the Cloud, though you do sacrifice some control over things like software updates. Another issue is the lack of a mobile app for IBM Planning Analytics, which leaves users tethered to their plans. It would be beneficial to create ways for both internal and external users to easily brainstorm and collaborate on their ideas.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
IBM Planning Analytics addresses several key challenges, particularly in financial and project planning. It automates and streamlines complex budgeting, forecasting, and reporting processes, reducing manual effort and minimizing errors. This leads to more accurate and timely insights, enabling better decision-making. Additionally, its ability to handle large data sets and perform sophisticated analytics helps identify trends and opportunities, ultimately improving overall business performance and efficiency. For users, this means greater agility, more informed planning, and the ability to quickly adapt to changing business conditions.
The use of IBM Planning Analytics has enhanced financial and project planning.
What do you like best about the product?
This provides quick answers to questions, assists in use cases, and solves problems on the fly. This was the right time for the MVP to be available for the internal users, with the freedom of use of the product in different ways. So far, I am very much impressed at how well and fast the software works in general, and I am quite satisfied with the development process.
What do you dislike about the product?
Most things are just a case of getting used to using the Cloud, and you do lose a level of control around things like software updates. Another problem is that IBM Planning Analytics does not have an app; this means that the users are literally stuck up with their plans. Ways could be designed for internal and external people to ideate easily and then collaborate on those ideas.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
We have come a long way with the improvement in the manner and way that we plan and analyze our finances since we applied IBM Planning Analytics. You can make it user-friendly with the flexibility of the web layout, and it's pretty easy to connect to other software and Excel. Thank you, IBM, for listening to us and actually changing the product based on what we had to say.
The use of IBM Planning Analytics has enhanced financial and project planning.
What do you like best about the product?
IBM has also been very open to our feedback and suggestions on how things could be done better. They've always reverted promptly when we had questions, worries or use case talks. This kind of help was essential for us to make sure that we could use the tool in total capacity. Planning Analytics is very fast and good at what it does. Minimal viable products sent to internal customers work well and the direction and speed of creating products can be exciting. It is a flexible tool that manages a variety of tasks.
What do you dislike about the product?
You had to give up some of that control, like when the program was changed because it was a cloud based method. I also think that customers would gain a lot from having a security guide, logs, literature created automatically and native connections. Exactly when these characteristics are in demand, they have to be made by hand. Thank goodness, we just put in place a licensing system that is more open and easy to use.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
We have added timeseries forecast by IBM Watson Studio with it, hence we can make better guesses. Also the robust tools of Planning Analytics for data processing help us to make choices with flexibility and security and is by far the easiest software to use.
Offers speed of calculation, the ability to build complex models and integration with different data sources
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
The customers make use of it to improve their budgeting and forecasting activities. They can make it more rapid and can forecast more frequently.
The scenario modeling capabilities in IBM Planning Analytics have impacted the customer's planning processes. It's frequently used to create different scenarios, compare them, and see which action leads to which result.
What is most valuable?
The speed of calculation, the ability to build complex models, integration with different data sources, and the flexibility to use Planning Analytics Workspace or create other front ends with REST API and JavaScript React.
What needs improvement?
The workspace API should be improved and documented so we know better which objects and tier-one objects are used.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been working with IBM Planning Analytics for 30 years now. We always work with the latest version.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the stability a ten out of ten.
The stability of IBM Planning Analytics has been beneficial. Otherwise, they wouldn't use it anymore.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate the scalability a ten out of ten. You can have a solution for a single user and a single task, or you can have a solution for thousands of users with ten thousand tasks.
Most of our customers are medium to enterprise businesses.
Smaller customers cannot afford a long development time.
How are customer service and support?
The customer service and support could be improved. They could sometimes go more directly to the real problem and not provide obvious things that we have already tested. So we lose time during this process.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
It's easy to set up. I would rate my experience with the initial setup a nine out of ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy to set up.
We had a bug in computation a long time ago, but that was solved. Normally, we can rely on the computations being correct.
It is mostly deployed on-premises.
Deployment time:
The initial setup is quite fast, but the system grows and gets more complex over time. Planning Analytics is not a ready-made product; you develop it with the customers based on their specific needs. So from the beginning to the first use, it takes four to six months. If you start from scratch, it can take longer. But if the customer buys pre-designed modules, it's faster.
So the most time it can take is up to six months, if you start from scratch. If the customer buys already designed modules, you're faster.
Deployment process:
We always have a development, test, and quality assurance system, and then a production system.
We have continuous development and deployment for projects that run for two to three years because the customer develops a huge, complex planning and reporting solution. So it doesn't stop after installation. It's not like an app that is ready to use after installation.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I would rate the solution a nine out of ten.
My recommendation:
Check for a solution that is similar to your needs because it's not easy to understand how it works sometimes. If you see a similar solution, you can easily compare. Every year, there's a big conference where customer solutions are shown to other customers.
So it's really important to have resources who have knowledge of the product.
Financial planning with this great software with good features
What do you like best about the product?
I like this IBM software for consolidations and financial planning. I really like the analysis planning, simple reports, its system adminsitrator and its security. I also love that this software demonstrates agility in networking and that it is easy to work with calculations and to be able to simulate different scenarios.
What do you dislike about the product?
The tool is good but I wish it were more modern and simply more versatile to find the functions.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
The problems that IBM Planning Analytics solves focus on reporting, especially those related to finance for planning and forecasting and improving budgets, obtaining good visualization, and providing security and improving productivity.
Flexible and intuitive tool to plan and improve processes
What do you like best about the product?
I like its flexibility to create reports, besides being intuitive and attractive thanks to its excellent interface. On the ohter hand I like the data converter, the customization and performance is excellent and finally we save time and improve processes.
What do you dislike about the product?
Since I have been using IBM Planning Analytics I have not noticed any problems and so far I like everything.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
We use it for different types of needs, but mainly to solve business problems, plan budgets, reduce time spent and improve processes and data, and we notice the efficiency and return on investment.
AI level planning analytics at good pricing
What do you like best about the product?
Optimized user count level price estimator gives confidence on pricing.
Helped us breaking down profitablity
Helped us breaking down profitablity
What do you dislike about the product?
Long onboarding. 1st experience was long and friction to onboard team members.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
easy raw data flow from multiple sources, AI enabled actions are on ground feasible. Once learned it's easy to use. We identified patterns in our finance sheets and optimised our content production budget.
It's a great tool for analyzing, planning, and forecasting, which helps us make faster decisions
What do you like best about the product?
IBM has helped us carry out faster analyzes of our financial statements.
What do you dislike about the product?
For now, we don't have anything we don't like.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
We have multiple views to analyze
Capable of handling large amounts of diverse data types
What is our primary use case?
The main customers and use cases for Planning Analytics are large companies in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, typically with more than 2,000 employees.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of IBM Planning Analytics for streamlining planning processes include a unified database where all data are centralized, similar to Microsoft Excel but with the advantage of centralized data storage. Another essential feature is sandboxing, allowing extensive analysis and testing without affecting core data. Additionally, the workflow functionality enables locking and approval processes for calculations and formulas, providing enhanced management control and collaboration compared to Microsoft Azure.
What needs improvement?
To improve IBM Planning Analytics, adding predefined templates could be beneficial. These templates could cover various business areas like volume planning, service levels, and more. Specific templates for functions such as sourcing based on criteria like minimum order quantity and stock levels would also be helpful. Additionally, having templates for P&Ls and cash flow could enhance usability.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Planning Analytics for about a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the stability of IBM Planning Analytics as a nine out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product is highly scalable. Our customers for IBM Planning Analytics are mainly large enterprise businesses, typically with two thousand employees or more.
How are customer service and support?
I would rate IBM's technical support as a seven out of ten. They could be a little faster.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
Setting up IBM Planning Analytics can vary depending on client expectations and needs. For someone covering just one area, it might be relatively easy. I would rate the setup at around a six out of ten in terms of ease.
The deployment duration for IBM Planning Analytics varies greatly depending on each client's needs and complexity. It can range from a minimum of one month to a maximum of one year.
What was our ROI?
Customers see ROI with IBM Planning Analytics. It improves internal processes, reducing the need for extensive control departments and resulting in operational cost savings. More importantly, it enhances predictability in business and provides better insights into the potential impacts and implications of decisions.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The cost of IBM Planning Analytics is not cheap, considering the amount of money involved. However, it offers good ROI for customers.
What other advice do I have?
IBM Planning Analytics is used for cross-departmental planning and forecasting by our customers. Different versions of the planning can be used, such as budgets and projections based on monthly results. The system keeps all historical data and tracks the development from projected numbers.
IBM Planning Analytics supports compliance and risk management within financial operations. It enables the calculation of impacts, such as increased interest rates, across various business areas. The effectiveness of risk management depends on the system setup and how risks are defined by the company.
In financial planning, IBM Planning Analytics aligns with current trends, including the use of AI and leveraging unstructured data. It is capable of handling large amounts of diverse data types. While it is unclear if IBM fully incorporates AI, it likely follows the trend as many companies do.
Before using Planning Analytics by IBM, consider your planning process and how it can be simplified. Understand that the system won't solve all issues on its own.
Overall, I would rate IBM Planning Analytics as a nine out of ten.
An experienced professional approach
What do you like best about the product?
Every buisness is different and the industry might be the same but the people are always looking to get the accurate insight about the clients there product performance market reach and growth prospects now understanding once buisness prospective and give meaningful insights is what I expected when we turn to IBM and it doesn't fail us
What do you dislike about the product?
There is nothing to dislike the process requires your utmost dedication when they are setting up the solutions because only once they get your pain points and strengths is when they are able to design and deliver the best tailored solutions
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
As we are into various verticals of B2C and B2B it's hard to manage the inventory and purchase and at the same time to manage multiple teams and roster there work on a daily basic, IBM solved all the issues with even giving us insights as to how our team is performing and how we can scale up also
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