What Kscope13 sessions am I looking forward to, part two

Introduction

I’ve already covered the Essbase side of the house in part one of this series. I lurv Essbase more that is likely healthy for my psyche. Or social life. But I seem to spend an awful lot of my professional life using a wrapper around Essbase. A wrapper called “Planning”. And that wrapper is a pretty powerful application in the EPM space, now with lots and lots of brand extensions.

One thing that I find interesting about Planning and all of the Financial Planning products is that many of these sessions are either focused on latest features or tips and tricks sessions with a few how-to’s thrown in. I suppose this is the nature of an application as opposed to a database, which tends to have a more theoretical bent. Or maybe I am just evincing that somewhat monomaniacal love for Essbase I wrote about above.

Whoops, before I continue, I should mention that I am friends with, or at least am acquainted with most of the people below. Am I just shilling for them? Nope, these are good sessions. Of course you pick and decide what you want to attend – this is what I am interested in.

Note – you will notice that the name Cameron Lackpour is absent from the below sessions. This is not some kind of false modesty as I do think that the Planning session I am copresenting is at least worth considering. I will cover that later in the week – this block is for everyone not named Cameron.

Planning sessions (stolen right off of Kscope13.com) with my comments

Planning at Transaction Levels while Maintaining Performance

Chris Boehmer , The Hackett Group

Co-presenter(s): Danny Frasco, Kimco Realty Corporation

When: Jun 26, 2013, Session 12, 9:45 am - 10:45 am

Topic: Planning - Subtopic: General Planning

Would you like to obtain greater detail in your planning or forecasting process - e.g., to plan for greater product or customer granularity, more periods, etc.? But you're afraid that your Planning application just won't be able to cope with these requirements? In this session, you will hear how an organization's desire to forecast a large number of detailed items for a long period of time led to some innovative solutions built to enhance their Hyperion Planning application.

Hmm, this is interesting – sort of the anti-driver approach to Planning. Of course I’ve been on projects like that myself. It’s all very well to say, “Enter a few items, and let the magic of Planning allocate and aggregate the results,” and quite another to actually have a client do that. I’m interested to see what their techniques are. Could it be a paired BSO/ASO approach with partitions or maybe a reporting cube or maybe something completely different? Dunno, but this is intriguing.

Calc Manager: Go Beyond Basics and Unleash the Power of Oracle Hyperion Planning

Ludovic De Paz , TopDown Consulting

Co-presenter(s): Terrance Sundar, Shutterfly

When: Jun 26, 2013, Session 15, 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Topic: Planning - Subtopic: General Planning

With Hyperion 11.1.2.3., Calc Manager is the only option to develop and deploy Business Rules. This is a fantastic opportunity for developers to leverage its latest advancements. This session will examine key features and functionality in Calc Manager and demonstrate how to successfully achieve your goals while improving quality. It will also include best practices, tips, tricks, and techniques that consultants, administrators, and end users can leverage to make completing projects and daily tasks easier.

I’m using Calculation Manager on my current project. I am not in love with the endless objects and drawings. I even had a client ask me, “Does it have to be all broken up like this?” But maybe we’re not giving the more GUI-ish nature a fair shot. For sure we aren’t using really advanced features. Could oh could oh could that be tied to treating Calculation Manager like a glorfied Essbase calc script editor. Why yes it could, so I am going to try to attend this session to see the error of my ways.

Planning Experts Panel

Natalie Delemar , Ernst & Young

When: Jun 25, 2013, Session 10, 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Topic: Planning - Subtopic: No Subtopic

TBD

Not a lot to go on, is it? I moderated this panel last year and it was a lot of fun. I’m not involved in the panel this year but I am looking forward to shooting a bunch of tough questions at whoever the panel is.

Dynamic Integrations for Multiple Hyperion Planning Applications

Ricardo Giampaoli , TERACORP

Co-presenter(s): Rodrigo Radtke de Souza, Dell

When: Jun 26, 2013, Session 15, 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Topic: Planning - Subtopic: General Planning

This session will cover how to use Oracle Data Integrator and Oracle Hyperion Planning metadata repository to build dynamic, flexible, and reliable processes to maintain metadata, load, and extract data from any number of applications with a single generic component.

If it has ODI as a component of the presentation, I am interested. I almost like ODI more for its ability to tie together completely heterogeneous technologies without a ton of scripting than I do for its base purpose, which is ETL. ODI rocks! Actually, I’m more of a classic jazz fan, but I’ll try to bebop my way to this session.

Automating Hyperion Planning Tasks

Kyle Goodfriend , Rolta Solutions

When: Jun 25, 2013, Session 9, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Topic: Planning - Subtopic: General Planning

Maintaining Hyperion Planning environments can be so time-consuming that there is little time for development. We are constantly being asked to do more with less. Understanding some of the utilities and options to automate redundant operations can significantly improve your ability to react to change. It allows more time for new development, eliminates human error, and increases productivity and system stability. Find out what options are available, how to use them, and see real world examples you can take home.

Kyle must be a lazy programmer. Why do I write that? And no, I am not trying to insult him, as I too am a lazy programmer. What’s at least one definition of a lazy programmer? A lazy programmer is someone who sees a task that is manual or semi-scripted, does the task once and says, “There is no way I am ever doing that again.” He then sets off to write an automated whatever. ‘Coz he’s got better things to do. I suppose a really lazy programmer doesn’t even go through the pain once. I don’t know Kyle so I can’t determine if he falls into the moderately or intensely lazy camp.

NB -- Lazy = smart.

Oracle Project Financial Planning -- The Owner's Manual

Josephine Manzano-Stettler , ADI Strategies

When: Jun 26, 2013, Session 11, 8:30 am - 9:30 am

Topic: Planning - Subtopic: Project Planning

Oracle Project Financial Planning is the newest packaged application to be rolled out with the Oracle Hyperion Enterprise Planning Suite (v.11.1.2.3). This pre-built solution ties project financial planning to corporate financial planning activities within a single application, as well as, supports financial planning throughout the complete project management lifecycle. Want to find out more?...a LOT MORE? This presentation will dive deep into the new Oracle Project Financial Planning solution. The following will be covered: 1) Highlights of key out-of-the-box features, functionality, and analytical tools 2) Integration with the Workforce and Capex Planning Modules, ERP, and Project Management systems 3) Implementation considerations for a successful deployment 4) Minimizing customizations...Are your company's business needs the right fit for the packaged solution? Maximize your success for integrating Oracle Project Financial Planning into your Enterprise Planning tool set.

If Josie does it, it’s good. ‘Nuff said.

Managing Your Project Budgets: Introduction to the New Hyperion Project Planning Module

Tracy McMullen , interRel Consulting

When: Jun 24, 2013, Session 2, 9:45 am - 10:45 am

Topic: Planning - Subtopic: Project Planning

Hyperion Planning 11.1.2.3 adds a new pre-built module to the existing suite of Workforce and Capital Expenditure planning. This new module, Project Planning, fills the gap of how to budget for projects both short- and long-term before they become capitalized assets. Whether you want to budget IT projects from initial proposal through implementation, capital projects to expand facilities, or development projects out in the field, the new Project Planning module can handle them all.

Guess what? If Tracy does it, it’s good. ‘Nuff said, part two.

Did you know (or care) that in a previous professional life I once turned down dancing with Josie and Tracy? On a ship? In the middle of the Gulf of Mexico? I must have been out of my mind. :) I did have a cold. But still.

Introduction to Predictive Planning in Hyperion Planning

Troy Seguin , interRel Consulting

When: Jun 26, 2013, Session 12, 9:45 am - 10:45 am

Topic: Planning - Subtopic: General Planning

Version 11.1.2.3 of Hyperion Planning is including Crystal Ball's predictor feature. Predictor utilizes established time series procedures to help with forecasting upcoming time periods. This presentation will walk you through how to effectively use predictor as part of your budgeting and forecasting duties as well as an intuitive explanation of the concepts working behind the scenes.

I have to say I am somewhat on the fence about this one. No, no, not about Troy, or his presentation skills, or anything like that. It’s about statistics in the hands of your average Planner. Face it, people love to gamble. Face it again, the house (casinos, state lottery boards, Nathan Detroit’s The Oldest Established (Permanent Floating Crap Game In New York), etc.) always wins over time; those institutions must if they are to survive. And yet people gamble in the “sure” knowledge that they will win. But casinos, and state lotteries, and even incredibly charming minor organized crime figures with great singing voices understand how statistical probability works, and in their favor. Wait, I just figured out who needs to go to this session. I hope Frank Sinatra is there (at least spiritually) as well.

Turbocharge Your Hyperion Planning Input Forms with Predictive Planning

Jake Turrell , US-Analytics

When: Jun 26, 2013, Session 13, 11:15 am - 12:15 pm

Topic: Planning - Subtopic: General Planning

One of the most exciting new enhancements to Planning 11.1.2.3 is its new Predictive Planning tool. This new feature allows users to plot their projections alongside those created by Predictive Planning, giving users another data set against which they can compare their results. This live demo will walk users through the process of setting up Predictive Planning and will provide several real-world examples. The session will cover: - When to use Predictive Planning and when to avoid it - Basic statistical concepts used by Predictive Planning - How to best configure input forms for Predictive Planning - A walk through of the Predictive Planning user interface - Running predictions. - Using Comparison Views to review the results of various scenarios - How to tweak your results with filters and reports Users will leave this session with the tools, knowledge, and confidence to implement Predictive Planning in their own environments.

If Troy’s presentation above is the theory, then Jake’s session is the application. So that makes Troy a physicist and Jake an engineer.

Lower your TCO With Oracle Planning and Budgeting Cloud Service (PBCS)

Shankar Viswanathan , Oracle Corporation

When: Jun 24, 2013, Session 5, 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Topic: Planning - Subtopic: General Planning

PBCS takes the best of breed Hyperion Planning solution to the Cloud with a compelling offering for companies looking to lower TCO by deploying their applications on the Cloud using the top Planning solution in the market. This session will introduce participants to the upcoming Planning Cloud offering from Oracle. Participants will hear the details of the offering and get a sneak preview of Oracle's Planning on the Cloud offering.

Oracle? Again? Do you want to hear about how Oracle’s cloud service works? Would the Planning product manager be the person to tell you all about it? Why yes, you should and he is. See, this is what makes Kscope so great – we the great unwashed get to interact with the people that make the products we use.

What's New in Planning?

Shankar Viswanathan , Oracle Corporation

When: Jun 25, 2013, Session 8, 11:15 am - 12:15 pm

Topic: Planning - Subtopic: General Planning

The latest Release 11.1.2.3 of Oracle Hyperion Planning takes Enterprise Planning to the next level by providing some valuable agile enablers within Planning. This session will discuss and showcase some of these key features in this release, and provide several good considerations for customers to help choose this release as the go-to release for deployment and upgrade.

I have but one question – Planning ASO, is it any good? This is where I will hear about it for the first time. I hope.

Are you crying Uncle yet?

That is 11 different Planning sessions. Is that the sum total of Planning sessions at Kscope? Absolutely not. In fact there are 31 on offer. And that is just a subset of all the EPM sessions. Kscope has content, content, content.

The next blog post will be The Truth About Hyperion EPM Foundations and Data Management at Kscope.

Be seeing you at Kscope13.