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The Importance of Planning and Forecasting in BI
From PARIS Technologies
The budgeting and forecasting process for most organizations is long and tedious and occurs on an annual basis, at least. Companies try to do it more often to improve accuracy and aim to ultimately implement a procedure for continuous planning, rolling forecasts, and driver-based planning.
Unlike any other business process, budgeting and forecasting is unique because it is forward thinking. Business processes like accounting, inventory tracking, invoicing, shipping, etc. are based on actual events from the past and present.
This is a fundamental difference as it also defines how the data from these processes are managed. Essentially, actual events are captured as transactions in ERPs, supply chain systems, invoicing and accounting systems, etc., and data related to it is effectively stored in its databases. On the other hand, budgets and forecasts typically reside in spreadsheets where aggregate data is entered by several people in the organization.
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2014 Business Intelligence Predictions | OLAP.com
Business Intelligence is here to stay and data analysis is the way to stay in the game. PARIS Technologies presents an easy-to-understand infographic on the top Business Intelligence trends for 2014 to watch. Copy and paste the iframe or javascript to embed this...
5 Fun Facts about OLAP Technology and Databases
If you are unfamiliar to OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) technology it may sound very technical and confusing. OLAP technology is however a very cool technology that allows Businesses to do more with their data. At OLAP.com we believe analyzing data is fun so here...
Business Intelligence Smart Even for Small Business
Business Intelligence is essential for decision making since it helps businesses to do more with their data, improve productivity and efficiency. However, many business intelligence applications are often thought of as a solution that is used by larger businesses who...
Get With The Program! Accept Excel As the Cracklin’ BI Solution.
Excel is pervasive in businesses, with a probably very low estimate of a couple of hundred million users around the world. Countless companies run some part of their reporting, analytics or planning systems using spreadsheets. For this good reason Excel is regarded...
Better Business Intelligence from a New ERP System? Think Twice!
ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems are widely acknowledged as a backbone software component for mid-to-large sized companies. The general idea is to create efficiencies in the way a business is run by gathering information from different functional...
Is an Executive Dashboard the Blind Spot That’s Holding You Back?
The pace of business is accelerating—and with that quickening in tempo comes a need for ever-faster insights into how the business is performing. And the contrast with the era of printed reports, produced weekly, is remarkable. These days, an executive dashboard...
Forget big data — let’s talk about all data
We constantly hear people talking about big data as a monstrous mess. They usually describe it as a difficult problem to tackle, as though big data itself has a beginning and an end, or a neat solution. I’ve been to many conferences in the last few weeks, and over and...
From Business Intelligence to Advanced Analytics
Big Data and Analytics are still a hot ticket, both in the venture community and in the IT budgets of selected verticals—including any of the e-commerce enterprises competing directly with Amazon, any of the online transaction companies voluntarily exposing their...
How to Transform Data into Intelligence that Promotes Growth
Most businesses have the ability to capture data from customer transactions and day-to-day operations, and through research. However, the significant problem after accumulating data is how to turn the data into intelligence that can improve the bottom line. A major...
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Resources
Types of OLAP Systems
MOLAP, ROLAP, HOLAP... what's the difference? And modern OLAP for this century.
History of OLAP and BI
Learn about the history of OLAP technology with this comprehensive inforgraphic