Business Analytics Today!

Apr 19

GRC Maturity – Measuring a New Paradigm for Risk and Compliance (Part II)

This is the second in a series of four blog posts where we present risk and compliance speaker and thought leader, Michael Rasmussen’s, GRC maturity model. For more insightful information on GRC and to exchange ideas with risk and finance colleagues, come see us in Orlando at Vision 2012.

GRC Maturity — Measuring a New Paradigm for Risk and Compliance

Lacking an integrated view of GRC results in business processes, partners, employees and systems that behave like leaves blowing in the wind. Modern business requires a new paradigm for tackling risk and compliance issues across the enterprise. No longer can organizations afford to focus on single risk and compliance issues as unrelated projects; nor can they allow software Band-Aids Read more

Apr 17

GRC Maturity – From Disorganized to Integrated Risk & Performance (Part I)

Success in today’s dynamic business environment requires organizations to integrate, build and support business processes with an enterprise view of governance, risk management and compliance (GRC). Without an integrated view of risk and compliance, the scattered and nonintegrated approaches of the past fail and expose the business to unanticipated risk.

In a mature GRC program, the organization has an integrated process, information and technology architecture that provides visibility across risk and compliance domains. It offers an integrated approach for business managers and executives to leverage GRC data for risk-aware decision-making and resource allocation. Read more

Apr 6

The Portal-To-All-Things-Analytics Dashboard using IBM Cognos BI v10, IBM Cognos TM1 v10 and IBM SPSS

One in every nine people on Earth is on Facebook ( This number is calculated by dividing the planets 6.94 billion people by Facebook’s 750 million users) where each Facebook user spends on average 15 hours and 33 minutes a month on the site, and they check back with Facebook nearly 3 times per day on average. This is mind boggling to me but I guess it makes sense if Facebook’s executed well on its vision for the site. In a sense, Facebook has become people’s personal life’s dashboard to everything they need to manage all of their ‘outside of work’ existence. Read more

Mar 27

“All Plans Are Great Until The First Shot Is Fired”: A Case For Forecasting

In the “Preface” to The Gathering Storm, volume I of Winston Churchill’s World War II memoirs, Churchill writes that when President Roosevelt asked for suggestions about what the war should be called, he replied that it should be called “the Unnecessary War.” If someone asked me what to call budgeting I’d say it’s “the Unnecessary Practice.”

Well, maybe that’s going a little too far because the budget does serve one purpose: to enforce strict fiscal adherence across the entire organization to predetermined annual targets set forth by the executive team in advance of the fiscal year in question. These targets are commitments transposed in the budget into initiatives and action plans while being reinforced through individual performance contracts. Because of this commitment to a target defined by other parties budgets tend to have an overwhelming power over the workforce to meet these commitments at any expense. As a result, budgets can drive the wrong behavior where managers Read more

Mar 21

Business Forecasting & A Look Back At Amazon’s then incumbent Kindle vs. Apple’s upstart iPad

April, 2010. This was the date Apple’s iPad first came out. Yes, that was many moons ago – at least in technology years where today’s hot gadget is tomorrow’s paperweight. When the first iPad was released I still owned a shiny new Kindle ebook reader from Amazon. When I bought that Kindle I thought I had something pretty darn cool and revolutionary. It was well designed, intuitive to use, including direct wireless access to Amazon’s Kindle bookstore which seemed to have every title at a fraction of the cost of the physical book. Read more

Sep 16

IBM Cognos TM1: The Swiss Army Knife of Technology Used For Profitability Modeling & Optimization

Yes, IBM Cognos TM1 is like a Swiss Army knife – it has capabilities to do a lot of different things extremely well. One of the practices it’s being utilized for with incredible results is an emerging, but no so well understood, practice entitled profitability modeling and optimization. Read more

Sep 22

Leadership Lessons from the American Civil War & Master Bathroom Remodels

“He who hesitates loses.” The truth of this phrase rings true in the case of battles that never occurred in the American Civil War. For those unfamiliar with this war the American Civil War occurred during the mid-1800′s from 1861-1865 on U.S. soil. It was fought between the North (Union States) and Read more

Oct 4

KPIs & Aligned Scorecards For Better Agility & Execution: Part II

Imagine entering the cockpit of a modern jet airplane and seeing only a single instrument there. How would you feel about boarding the plane after the following conversation with the pilot?

Q: I’m surprised to see you operating a plane with only a single instrument. What does it measure?
A: Airspeed. I’m really working on airspeed this flight.

Oct 17

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IBM Cognos FSR: The Silver Bullet for Automated Financial Statement Reporting & Disclosure Management (Webinar with demo)

IBM Cognos FSR is making in roads with many organizations as they grapple with the demands of disclosure-related processes and their related reporting requirements. We’re seeing successes all over where finance departments are realizing massive time savings not to mention having the absolute confidence in their reported figures as a result of implementing IBM Cognos FSR. New SEC reporting requirements due by year end are one of the catalysts for this but there’s certainly other reasons for companies adopting this solution, including greater financial governance, enablement of XBRL, as well as other internal performance reporting needs. It’s been fun seeing organizations transform this process into something that’s now almost as simple as 1-2-3.

Here how IBM Cognos FSR and the processes it enables. Also, see a demo of it in this Financial Performance Insider webinar series.

Click here to view this IBM Cognos FSR webinar!

#baforum

Oct 18

Automated Financial Statement Reporting & Disclosure Management using IBM Cognos FSR (Podcast)

Hear Dan O’Brien, IBM Product Marketing Manager for the IBM Cognos FSR product and an expert in the financial statement reporting & disclosure management processes for corporate finance departments, discuss the capabilities of IBM Cognos FSR, including how organizations are using this solution, as well as how to get started using IBM Cognos FSR right now.

Automated Financial Statement Reporting & Disclosure Management using IBM Cognos FSR Play Now | Play in Popup | Direct Link

Oct 19

Drive Better Performance Thru Greater Finance Integration with the Sales & Operations Planning Process

In this blog, I’m going to highlight the critical importance of integrating the organization’s financial plan and the actual finance function in general into the operations department-led sales & operations planning process. Yes, in this sales & operations planning process, or S&OP, where future supply and demand plans are compiled, aligning the S&OP with the financial plan results in greater corporate alignment, improved information transparency, and more timely and effective organizational execution. Read more

Nov 9

Enterprise Risk Management: Part I (Video-cast)

In this segment of the Enterprise Risk Management Best Practices series I provide a general overview of the leading practices, process steps and outcomes resulting from a Risk Management Framework.

Enterprise Risk Management: A General Overview of ERM Play Now | Play in Popup | Direct Link

Nov 10

Enterprise Risk Management: Part II (Video-Cast)

In this Enterprise Risk Management Best Practices Part II segment, I layout some of the steps you need to consider as you consider adopting an enterprise risk management strategy in your organization. Focus is on the process steps you’ll need to consider as you deploy this framework as well as some charts and graphs to leverage.

Enterprise Risk Management: Best Practices (Part II) Play Now | Play in Popup | Direct Link

Nov 14

Enabling a Mobile Workforce with IBM Cognos Mobile (Podcast)

In this Business Analytics Today podcast, as hosted by IBM’s Tim O’Bryan, you’ll hear how the workforceis spending more time away from their desks, but armed with smartphones and tablets that let them access information in powerful ways and make decisions wherever they are. And the speed of the markets today makes that decision-making ability a necessity, not a luxury. Join us for this podcast to learn how IBM Cognos Mobile allows users to enjoy uninterrupted productivity by interacting with trusted BI content through a rich and visual experience whether offline or online. This flexible and Read more

Business Analytics Today podcast series: IBM Cognos Mobile Play Now | Play in Popup | Direct Link

Nov 15

KPIs & Triple-A (Alignment, Agility, and Accountability): Part III

The power of personally-assigned key performance indicators, or KPIs, is tremendous. If done incorrectly, KPIs might be used like a drunk would use a light post, for support not illumination. You could call KPIs industry-speak for one method to measure employee, departmental, and/or organizational performance. If effectively constructed, they can drive the right workforce actions supporting strategic and operational objectives. Yes, they could be tied to achieving an operational goal, such as on-time customer shipments, best-in-class inventory turns, or an industry-leading order-to-cash (Finance) or procure-to-pay (Procurement) process. Selecting the right KPIs is very important because they will drive employee behavior. Read more

Nov 18

The Chicago Public School System & The Power of a KPI: Part IV

I’ve recently written about key performance indicators in enabling corporate agility, alignment, and accountability. Enterprise-wide KPI use when done properly raises the workforce productivity/efficiency bar and drives shareholder value whereby the organization operates with greater speed and precision. In short, it’s a key driver of better execution.

To illustrate how an adherence to KPIs to drive focused execution I bring you the Chicago Public School system and their use of a KPI to benchmark success and drive behavior.

For the last 20+ years Read more

Nov 21

Aesop’s Fable, IBM Cognos TM1, & IBM Cognos BI for Collaboration

One summer’s day, a rooster scoured the barnyard looking for food. As he scratched the straw on the ground he uncovered a jewel. The rooster suspected the jewel might be valuable because of the way it glittered in the sun.

“The object is probably worth a lot”, the rooster thought to himself, “but I’d trade a bushel of these shiny things for a single kernel of corn.”

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The primary moral, of course, is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. …But, there’s something else to be learned from Aesop’s fable. What would have happened if the rooster had seen the bigger picture beyond his simple need for a little sustenance? Read more

Nov 22

Strategic Risk Management: It’s The New New Thing, Right???

The global economic crisis, which began with the U.S. housing market’s nose-dive in late 2007, continues to burn brightly across nations far and wide. This financial meltdown has served as a jack-hammered catalyst for corporations today to re-evaluate their risk management practices – assuming, of course, they had one in the first place. Most didn’t. Apart from very large, globally diverse corporate behemoths, formal risk management practices didn’t really exist outside of the top-level business strategy sessions conducted between CEOs, CFOs, and other members of the executive team. Read more

Nov 29

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Financial Performance Management for the Empowered CFO (using IBM Cognos TM1, IBM Cognos Controller & IBM Cognos BI for Scorecarding)

The evolution of the CFO from cost extractor and compliance enforcer whose primary concern had been to ‘manage the numbers’ into providing strategic support and organizational leadership helping drive profitability and growth for the enterprise certainly didn’t happen overnight. There’s been a series of events over the years driving this change, including the advent of Sarbanes-Oxley (Think Enron/Arthur Andersen/Worldcom) to today’s Dodd-Frank as well as greater internal and external demand for performance data. In addition, there’s increased CEO and board interest and oversight into the ‘World of the CFO’ where board members require more than just a simple view of the annual operating plan; They want it all now given that they have to put their John Hancock on documents like no time before. (The threat of a little jail time for malfeasance has a way of getting people to sit up straight and pay closer attention too.)

Nov 30

Business Analytics: Part Historian, Part Pragmatist, Part Futurist

We often hear Business Analytics being so many different things that we feel it’s near impossible to get a handle on what it really is. I’m sure you were just getting used to the idea of what Performance Management is and now we throw Business Analytics into the equation. To make matters worse, there’s a great deal of prognosticators, thought leaders, and industry analysts who still are married to the idea of calling the space Business Intelligence. I thought it might make sense to pass along a simple explanation of each without all of the Big 5 consulting speak that usually goes with it. Read more

Dec 13

Learn what’s new in IBM Cognos Planningv10.1.1, including comments about the upgrade process, performance improvements, and usability enhancements.

Learn the value of the new IBM Cognos Planning 10.1.1 (GA November 22). You will be pleased to learn of this release as it affirms IBM’s continued commitment to ongoing support and value-added enhancements to the IBM Cognos Planning solution. The release fulfills our customers latest requests with:

- features for greater ease and speed;
- improved performance; and,
- exceptional integration that improves a customer’s financial performance management capabilities.

IBM Cognos Planning v10.1.1 delivers additional functionality for contributors (end users), faster access to data for reporting, an improved installation features, and conformance with IBM Cognos BI version 10.1.1 and Microsoft Excel 2010, and other key solutions.

IBM Cognos Planningv10.1.1 - What's new including discussion on upgrading and performance enhancements Direct Link

Dec 15

IBM Cognos TM1: The Official Guide

Co-Author Dr. Chris Ilacqua, IBM’s Director of Product Marketing for Planning, Analytics & Forecasting, talks about his new book, IBM Cognos TM1: The Official Guide. The IBM Cognos TM1 product “inventor”, Manny Perez, also makes an appearance offering a little history on the product’s evolution worth hearing.

This exceptional book, IBM Cognos TM1: The Official Guide, covers everything from the origins of IBM Cognos TM1, its technical capabilities, and the latest techniques utilized within this product, including conditional feeders and activity-based costing. Check it out now!

Feb 14

A Leopard Changes Its Spots: How The Washington Post Became a Newspaper for the 21st Century Reader Thru Strategy Execution & Analytics

Probably the most storied (no pun intended) and universally-revered newspapers has been arguably The Washington Post. It’s the ‘paper that the politically interested read’ a lot would say. It is the paper of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein (Think ‘All The President’s Men’), Katherine Graham, and Ben Bradlee fame – all celebrity newspaper people if you know the newspaper industry. The Post’s stable of writers include Pulitzer Prize winners like Rick Atkinson, Dana Priest, David Maraniss, and, of course, Mr. Woodward. Read more

Feb 28

Bedford Falls or Pottersville? It’s Up To The Office of Finance

Most people have either seen or heard of the movie It’s A Wonderful Life where its lead character, George Bailey, evolved from the depths of despair to exalted heights. George found himself in what he perceived as a dead end life accomplishing nothing he’d dreamed of doing as a child forever stuck in his job as the head of his father’s failing Bailey Building & Loan business and in his personal life as both husband and father. There he was with no options in the sleepy little Bedford Falls town with no ability to ever fully appreciate the sweeping impact his daily efforts were actually making. The movie vividly highlights the important one-to-many network effect that can be achieved by doing the small things consistently right. In baseball vernacular, it’s ‘small ball’. Nothing exciting but gets the job done. The movie’s conflict arises when George decides he wants out of this life. Read more

Mar 6

2010 IBM Global CFO Study (Summary): Where Finance Efficiency meets Business Insight

This is a brief follow up to my prior post where I promised to provide more background around the 2010 IBM Global CFO Study’s results. As you can see from the figure below there are two dimensions that jumped out at the researchers based on their ‘comparative regression analysis’ that the feedback provided. Those two areas are Finance Efficiency and Business Insight. Fall short on either one and the financial outcomes suffer. After breaking out the capabilities across the Finance Efficiency and Business Insight dimensions the data showed that four different levels or quadrants of performers surfaced. Read more

Mar 5

What a 70-year-old 2012 Olympian & the 2010 IBM Global CFO Study Can Teach Us About Driving Better Financial Performance

For those who don’t know Hiroshi Hoketsu, he’s the Japanese equestrian who recently qualified for the London Olympics at age 70. Hiroshi’s Olympic sport is equestrian dressage, or “horse ballet”, known as one of the more stately sports. Qualifying for these Olympics definitely isn’t his ‘first rodeo’ as Hiroshi first appeared on the equestrian scene at age 23 in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics in the showjumping competition. In the London Games in August, the retired corporate chief will become the oldest Japanese citizen to compete in the Olympics. As he said, “Luckily, I have a talented horse.” He continued, “If you have a goal, you can stay young. It would be good if people of my generation feel the same.” In Read more

Hoketsu Trots to 2nd Olympics Play Now | Play in Popup | Direct Link

Mar 8

Analytical Decision Making & The ALCOA Transformation

This is the story of how the analytical thinking of the Aluminum Corporation of America’s CEO Paul O’Neill drove Alcoa’s transformation back in October, 1987. Through his surprising strategy - which, by the way, was met with much derision and skepticism as to the sincerity of it – he was able to get the entire company to focus on one little objective that soon resulted in record profits, improved product quality, and superior productivity enhancements. He did so and in short order.

Let’s go back to 1987 long before Paul O’Neill ever became United States Treasury Secretary. Read more