DC Thomson
Famous publishing house deploys highly functional and user friendly budgeting and forecasting application.
Challenge
- There was no internal knowledge or skills to utilise existing IBM Cognos Planning Solution.
- The solution was difficult to navigate and the budget process became unclear.
- There was no functionality to carry out in year forecasts, rolling forecasts or variance reporting.
- Visibility of profitability at Title level was limited.
- The Planning application only held one year of historical data.
- The business had lost faith in the system.
Solution
- Workshop sessions redesigned the business planning process model.
- A user friendly navigation and process screen was created enabling multiple users to carry out the planning cycles.
- A Forecast and Rolling Forecast dimension was created to enable the business to plan on a more regular basis.
- Formal training was delivered and the model development carried out collaboratively to ensure the business could own the planning application.
- Mappings from source data to create P&Ls by Title.
Benefits
- The application is owned by the business within the Finance Team.
- Easy to use screens and step by step instructions enables the business to run and enhance the model continuously.
- Budgets and Forecasts can now be viewed by Title, this allows the business to understand which Titles are profitable and which ones are not.
- The business can now create monthly and quarterly forecasts and achieve rolling monthly forecasts.
- The business regained its trust in the IBM planning tool.
Similar Success
Simpson Associates gives data-driven organisations the confidence to make fully informed decisions.
