AI & Automation infused planning can drive more intelligent workflows

PCQuest, in association with Algorisys and IBM, held a live webinar on the theme of “Infuse Automation & Analytical Power into your planning workflows” to give businesses a guided tour on how AI and automation can help in breaking down silos, unify data, and synchronize planning across the organization to reveal the full picture of your data and help businesses drive integrated plans.

Sunil Rajguru, Editor, PCQuest, said that Data is the ‘New Oil’ and whoever is understanding, crunching and analyzing that data will rule in this new paradigm of data. Businesses just need to use all the right tools and technologies to achieve that.

The live webinar was well-attended and participants got detailed information on the IBM Planning Analytics solutions from Algorisys Technologies and how it can help optimize businesses performance through advanced planning, analytics, modeling, and reporting.

Performance management solutions can help business in making the right decisions at right time, said Prasanna Hatkar Head Of Business Intelligence at Algorisys Technologies. He explained how businesses can gain quick insights from their business data by automating planning, and forecasting processes and adjust the plan in real-time.

IBM Planning Analytics is an integrated planning solution that uses AI to automate planning, budgeting, and forecasting and drive more intelligent workflows. Built on IBM’s calculation engine, TM1, the enterprise performance management tool allows businesses to overcome the limitations of manual planning. It has the full range of reporting, dashboard, self-service mechanism and easy to maintain sharing models to drive collaboration.

IBM Planning Analytics can connect to all sorts of Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS), CSV filet, Excel files also. It can even connect to the ERP data if connectors are available.

Spreadsheet is still the preferred tool for many business users. But spreadsheet-based manual planning exercises generally involve a longer planning cycle. Reporting and visualization also need to go through longer IT processes. But an automated and smarter planning solution can offer scenario-based analysis for foresight, quicker data analysis at different levels, views and selections.

IBM Planning Analytics enables you to use your spreadsheets within our enterprise-level solution. Businesses have an option to choose from different user interfaces: the standard web interface, a traditional spreadsheet interface and the mobile one. They can be used together, and you can switch back and forth as per your requirement.

“IBM Planning Analytics is a customizable application and hence, businesses need not worry about aligning themselves to the tool’s functionality. The frameworks will help you to write your business logic, and model it as per your organization's requirements and processes,” says Hatkar.

Different businesses use different planing methodologies suitable to their industry or their business. Use cases across industries and the functionalities such as rolling forecasts, scorecards and scenario analysis, predictive forecasts, strategic planning, etc. can easily be configured in the planning analytics.

The entire organization can collaboratively create its plan, and it can be easily reviewed and controlled at the top management level, or the reviewing level.