What IBM is trying to explain to their customers is the fact that every performance comes out of planning. Basically, if something is well planned, it gets a better chance to work efficiently. That was the relation IBM remembered about while preparing new IBM Cognos Planning solution, and this is the relation every organization manager should remember about whilst determining the goals and aligning the strategy.

IBM Cognos Planning highlights in a very few words

Basically, the idea of IBM Cognos Planning is to help with defining organization goals and adapting a strategy to them. Well planned and described goals followed with real strategy help increasing the performance. With efficiency-driven integration of operational and financial planning, the system allows its users to check immediately resource requirements or generate future performance prognosis.

Once the time is crucial to every business, IBM Cognos Planning focuses on accelerating budget and forecasts building process. The result is not only improved predictability, but also accountability. Finally, IBM Cognos Planning makes it easier to turn to another business scenarios in a very few minutes. Because of the fact that no IT department involvement is needed, managers can faster and more efficiently react to incessantly changing market conditions.

From the technical point of view, main IBM Cognos Planning advantage is the fact that the system is the one that adapts to users' requirements, not inversely. The thing is that a lot of attention was paid to make Cognos Planning tool as customizable as possible. Thereupon, if any business condition, structure, goal, strategy, so on and so forth changes, it's just a matter of a while to let the system follow the change and update. Unlike other BI solutions, Cognos evolves getting further and further from the primary presumptions (other solution are significantly less flexible).

Cognos Planning features

While there are so many different business planning solutions currently accessible in the market, sometimes the littlest details can be meaningful. The most important IBM Cognos Planning features - therefore - are as follows:

• Immediate (in comparison to other solutions) development which allows model building in just a few days (instead of months). If that's not enough yet, one can import data from external sources (ERP, for instance) to make development even faster.
• Modern and efficient modeling capabilities help better reflecting actual business conditions. As a consequence, the whole planning process (depending on multiple logic and relations) becomes more efficient and credible.
• Quick and efficient flexibility lets introduce changes and see the results immediately.
• Financial control remains with financial departments - everything can be controlled by the most appropriate department. There is no IT intermediation required as IBM Cognos Planning is easy to use and friendly.
• Specific construction of solution's engine lets its users pay more attention and spend more time on analysis and on what truly is important instead of processing itself or other collateral things.
• Break-back capability that helps spreading versatile targets over different profiles and dimensions.
• Detailed analysis that allow users to dive into data presented from different points of view. One can make queries against different dimensions, compare illusorily unconnected values and turn immediately to the part of data he's actually in need of.
• Unified and intuitive view is sufficient for keeping an incessant control on key metrics and indicators. Once every information is proved and based, managers might focus on what's coming out from the information instead of wondering whether the information is true and where is originated from.
• Simultaneous cooperation capabilities which thousands of managers from all over the world can work together at the same time to achieve the common goal thank to. Frequent and quick updates let all users work with the most timely version of data as possible.
• Support for finance to business translations - IBM Cognos Planning automatically turns finance numbers into business values.
• Simplified data entry requirements. The whole process lasts shorter and from many points of view is automated. The system is prepared for modifying thousands of cells with just one click, reorganize them or sort.
• Truly advanced personalization capabilities followed with almost none training requirements make IBM Cognos Planning really an intuitive tool which all users should have no problems with. If needed, there is a very helpful support system included and - if one wants - might contact IBM consultants for any help. However, most of questions should be answered by company IT specialists easily.

IBM Cognos Planning resources

Cognos enterprise planning datasheet - the IBM Software data sheet better than any other source provides readers with all required and useful information. What needs to be considered is the fact that not only the facts are pointed, but also their explanation and description is included. There are highlights followed with an essential overview and all features and benefits one could consider worth noticing before actually deciding on a solution. Unlike most of data sheets by solution vendors, IBM brochure seems complete and can be treated like a truly credible source of knowledge. An undoubted "must read".

IBM Cognos planning 8.3 documentation - here is a great library of IBM Cognos Planning documentation. All meaningful books are placed there as PDF files what makes them easy to read or download and save for further use. There is installation and configuration guide included, manager user guide, readme, and samples included. Moreover, numerous other documents are provided considering architecture deployment guides, and diverse tutorials. It's an obligatory source of knowledge for every beginning and more advanced IBM Cognos Planning tool users. Even though the documentation here is devoted to 8.3 version of the system, included information might be helpful to users of all other releases as well. Materials are accessible in five languages - English, German, French, Swedish, and Japanese.

Cognos planning software overview - a short overview of IBM Cognos Planning solution, however what's more interesting is demo presentation. After fulfilling a few fields of the form, one gets an access to thirteen-minute presentation about the tool's features and benefits in practice. Also, here is where one can get all information about other products related to Cognos Planning from.