Consultants Corner Feb '10

21st Jan 2010

In the Consultant Corner this month is one of our director's Steve Hitchman.

The Christmas break gave me a chance to reflect on 2009, so I thought it would be good to share my thoughts on some of the underutilised new features of Hyperion Planning that are making a real difference to our customers deployments. I hope it will give you a better insight into the new release and help prioritise your efforts for 2010 so you can continue to improve your planning deployments.

Since its acquisition of Hyperion, Oracle has maintained and in some cases increased the delivery of new Hyperion Planning features, see table below for a summary of recent version releases. 

• 9.3.1 – Sep 2007
• 11.1.1.1 – Oct 2008
• 11.1.1.2 – Apr 2009
• 11.1.1.3 – Sep 2009
• 11.1.2 – To come in 2010

 The good news for all existing customers is that V11 is a significant improvement over V9 and has proved to be a stable and reliable release with dot releases ironing out any minor initial problems.  V11.1.1.3 is now being used by an increasing number of our clients, all without any problems.

Through all of these releases new features have been delivered but a vast majority of these are still to be adopted by existing clients. The following table highlights some of the new features I think would be useful to all Hyperion Planning deployments and the good thing is they are all relatively straightforward to implement.

Feature: Show Formula’s on Data Entry Forms

My personal favorite, this allows Administrators to add comments to members in any dimension such that they are available to users of data entry forms by clicking on the   as shown below.

 In practice the comments explain formulas, provide definitions and / or the data source for actual figures. This is very easy to implement and helps remove “black box” concerns, bringing documentation into the system. I would certainly recommend inclusion in any new functionality that you add.

Feature: Composite Data Entry Forms

A composite data entry form is a means to display two forms at the same time. Below is an example of how this can help.

Workforce planning relies on assumptions and standing data against each position which is reflected in the 1^st section. The second section then shows the time based impact arising from those assumptions providing the user with immediate feedback and increased transparency.

Composite forms themselves are easy to implement, there availability may change thinking about the optimal way to set things up.

Feature: Smartview Smartslices

In version 11 Smartview has now clearly overtaken the Essbase add in with regard to functionality. The Smartslice is a long overdue ability to create a pre defined start point for users to perform ad hoc analysis, removing the need to select the correct Point of View every time you perform ad hoc analysis.

A Smartslice is a subset of the overall Essbase model, delivering a simple more focused user experience. Options such as zoom and formatting settings are pre defined during the set up.

The Smartslice feature is available for use, with no set up or configuration necessary.

Feature: Adding commentary to Financial Reporting

Financial Reporting now includes the option for users to add comments to your reports. The screen shots below show how comments are added and what the end result looks like.

In the 1^st screen shot, note the labels 1, 2 and 3 against specific data cells. This is what the user sees in pdf reports indicating that comments exist against each of these, the comments themselves will be at the bottom of the report.

The second screen shot shows how comments are entered in html mode, comments captured hold the full point of view and will be rendered on other reports exposing that same point of view.

For most Hyperion deployments it’s a challenge to ensure that the flexibility and use of the Essbase add in / Smartview are appropriately supported by a suite of pre defined “official” reports delivered in Financial Reporting. This feature helps to cement the benefits of Financial Reporting as part of your reporting strategy.

These are just a few of the features available that can and are significantly improving Hyperion Planning deployments; I hope you find them useful. 

Thanks Steve, we will make sure Steve provides more updates on the other new features available in V11 in subsequent newsletters.  If you have any questions on any of the features highlighted or want to know more about V11 please get in touch on +61 (0)8 9389 4413 or email steve.hitchman@mpowersolutions.com.au.