Key Considerations for a

Successful Hyperion
Planning Implementation
June 29, 2010

Mark Hite, Practice Manager

Ranzal & Associates
 Agenda
INTRODUCTIONS
KEY PROJECT PHASES
RECOMMENDED BUILD TECHNIQUES
Application Definition
Delineate Plan Types
Define Dimensionality
Metadata Integration
Data Integration
Building a Planning Model
Development of Forms
Development of Calculations
Process Flow / Control
Define Security
Introductions
 About Ranzal
Founded in 1996, Ranzal has implemented Hyperion solutions for
500+ companies (800+ projects since the acquisition)
Oracle / Hyperion Platinum Partner - Highest Status
Hyperion Americas Reseller & Partner of the Year
1999, 2005 & 2007

Certified EPM Consultants & Instructors

Vertical Expertise with High-Profile Clients from Coast to Coast
East Coast & West Coast Presence

Sound Project Methodology Insures Project Success

Support Business Applications from start to finish

One of the Largest Hyperion Practices in the U.S.

Best Planning & Essbase Practices with Best HFM Practice
Hyperion Development utilizes Ranzal for Planning, Essbase and HFM product direction

Regarded in the industry as one of the "BEST at leveraging

OLAP technology to develop EPM Applications
 Application & Industries
Our team has been involved in 800+ successful EPM Implementations
Financial Consolidation & Management Reporting
Budgeting & Planning
Profitability Management Solutions
Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing
Infrastructure Planning and Performance Tuning
Business Process and Project Management

Strong client portfolio across leading Industry Sectors including

Financial Services High Technology / E-business
Insurance Energy / Utilities
Retail / Consumer Packaged Goods Distribution
Manufacturing Government
Pharmaceutical & Hospital Other
Hospitality / Travel / Entertainment

Certified consultants and instructors

Hyperion Essbase, Hyperion Planning, Hyperion Financial Management, HPCM, Hyperion
Enterprise, Hyperion Strategic Finance, Hyperion BI+ (Web Analysis, Financial Reports,
Interactive Reporting, Production Reporting), Hyperion Data Relationship Management,
Hyperion Financial Data Quality Management, Data Services (including ETL, Warehousing)
Key Project Phases
 Project Phases

Analyze/Design

Build

Infrastructure
Test
Build

Application
Rollout
Install

Back-End Build

Front-End Build
Infrastructure (Simple)
Infrastructure (Complex)

Analyze
Requirements unknown or undefined
Existing business processes need to
be updated
Existing business processes not
known or documented
Desire to re-engineer to align with
business vision or industry best
practices
Deliverables
As-Is vs. To-Be Processes
Functional Requirements
Technical Requirements
Project Roadmap & Timeline (High
Level)
Analyze vs. Design
Design
Key requirements are understood
Future business processes are
known
Basic understanding of technology
being used for build
Deliverables
Design Document
Proof of Concept / Prototype *
Infrastructure Architecture
Finalize Scope, Schedule & Budget
Project Strategies (Training, Testing,
etc)
 Biggest Risks to Planning Projects

LACK OF AVAILABLE METADATA & DATA

Clients often underestimate the effort required to source and validate data
and master data, and this is a frequent reason for project delays
The level of effort must be aligned with the quality of data, number of data
sources, and degree of change (e.g., new COA)

LACK OF CLIENT RESOURCES

Technical It is critical to identify the administrators of the new system early
on, and ensure they are properly trained for rollout
Functional - Clients sometimes do not dedicate enough resources to the
project effort as the project is viewed as simply a technology implementation

LACK OF CLARITY IN BUSINESS PROCESSES

Planning systems by their nature attempt to predict the future. Clients
sometimes have difficulty identifying which disparate elements of their
planning process should go into the application, particularly if different areas
of the organization have different models.
 Critical Success Factors

Clearly Defined and Communicated Project Goals

Key Stakeholder Participation and Approval
Finance and IT Involvement Throughout Entire Project
Clearly Defined, Reviewed, and Approved Application
Design
Ownership and Accountability for Project Tasks
Thorough Quality Assurance and Testing
Communication of Company-wide Benefits
Proper Administrator and End User Training
Consistent Project Management
 Planning Design
Recommended Practices
 Basic Build Approach

Application Definition
Delineate Plan Types
Define Dimensionality
Metadata Integration
Data Integration
Building a Planning Model
Development of Forms
Development of Calculations
Process Flow / Control
Define Security
 Application Definition

SINGLE PLANNING APPLICATION

Allows for three custom plan types
Two modules Workforce & Capex

APPLICATION SETUP
Classic
EPMA

COMMON PLAN TYPES

Core GL Account, Entity
Revenue Product, Customer
Salary / Workforce Employee, Position
Capital / Capex Asset Category, Projects, etc.
Sales Customer, Sales Rep
Balance Sheet / Cash Flow
 Application Definition

SINGLE APPLICATION BENEFITS

Metadata is shared across an application
Common Versioning, Scenarios between plan types
Business Rule Efficiency within same app (XREF)
Shared Interface for forms and rules between plan types
Leverage common set of task lists, right click menus, smart lists, and
personal variables

MULTIPLE APPLICATION USE CASES

Common for separate operating units w/ disparate planning
processes
Allows for distinct processing windows
US vs. Intl
Security Financials vs. Salary Detail
Ran out of plan types
 Delineate Plan Types

WHAT ARE THE CAPEX / WORKFORCE MODULES?

A set of pre-built forms, rules, and menus for planning Salary and Capital
expenditures.
Pre-built functionality fully customizable
Out of the box functionality to calculate:
WFP Salaries, Payroll Taxes, Benefits, etc. Based on attributes associated with
the employee.
Capex Depreciation, Capital Spending by Asset Categorization.
EXPECTATIONS
No one will use the modules out of the box with no customization.
Key is to use out of the box functionality with the right blend of
customization.
Expected customization includes:
Updating Smart List attributes for use within an organization
Modification to forms / rules to allow for budget & forecast processes that
converge.
Updating metadata Employees, Asset Category, etc.
Adding a requisition number input field
 Delineate Plan Types

WHEN DO I NEED A NEW PLAN TYPE

A model needs a different set of dimensionality
Revenue modeling for the organization is done by product and customer
Salary modeling is done by employee and position
Project Planning is done by Project Number
Capital modeling is done by asset classification
Inter-dimensional Irrelevance
Does my Core GL plan type need Product, Employee and / or Project #?
Impacts performance of forms, business rules, and reports.
Want to minimize number of stored dimensions for each plan type.

IMPACTS OF A NEW PLAN TYPE

Data Movements between Plan Types
Additional Essbase Cube to optimize
Metadata & Data Integration Considerations
 Define Dimensionality

DIMENSION
Stored hierarchies within an application
Core Accounts, Entities, Time, Years, Scenario, Versions
Revenue Core + Product, Customer, Sales Person
Capital Core + Asset Category, Project
Salary Core + Employee, Position
ATTRIBUTE
Associated with a base dimension
A dimension member can be associated with a single attribute
member from an attribute dimension.
Examples
Start Date (Employee)
Address (Customer)
Brand (Product)
Growth, Productivity, Maintenance (Project)
 Define Dimensionality

SMART LIST
A member in an outline (often an
account) that is represented as a drop
down within the data grid.
Smart Lists can be used to drive
business rules
Smart Lists cannot be sliced and diced
like dimensions *
Smart Lists can be reported on within
Hyperion Reports
Stored as numeric value in Essbase
Textual Value show in Planning Forms
Can be predefined in Essbase
Smart Lists No adapter, load right to
tables
11.1.2 supports model to ASO for
increased reporting capabilities
 Define Dimensionality

DATA ELEMENT (TEXT / DATE)

Allow user to input text and date
directly into a cell in Planning
Can leverage in Hyperion Reports

Text stored as numeric lookup

relationally HSP_TEXT_CELL_VALUE
Date stored as number 20090101

Can be predefined in Essbase

No adapter, load right to tables
 Metadata Integration

METADATA MANAGEMENT VS. ETL TOOLS

They are not the same thing
A metadata management tools provides you with a graphical interface to manage your
metadata across disconnected applications.
An ETL tool moves data from one place to another

METADATA MANAGEMENT TOOLS

EPMA
Relatively new tool (BPMA,)
Essentially DRM for EPM Applications
Ability to synch Planning, HFM & Essbase dimensions across multiple applications
V11 Stable, Much Improved
Update via Interface Tables ETL, or Flat File
EPMA File Generator Creates ADS Files
DRM
Full blown metadata management tool
Supports metadata management across any toolset Hyperion, ERP, etc.
Agnostic read from any source, write to any source
Does not have adapters to source / target systems
Flat file extracts created from DRM to load into Planning
 Metadata Integration

ETL TOOLS
ODI
HAL Replacement
Limited Use ODI Bundled with EPM toolset
Planning must be a source or target to use
Relational Staging Repository where a lot of the work is done
ELT Extract, Load and Transfer Tool
DIM
Adapters that connect directly to Planning
Additional Licensing Costs
For Informatica shops
Functionally very similar to ODI
HAL
Not an option for new clients
Still works in 11X for legacy clients but not supported
OTHER UPDATE METHODS
Essbase
Outline Load Batch Utility
Manual Update
 Data Integration

SOURCES
General Ledger Lawson, Oracle, Peoplesoft, SAP, Great Plains
Payroll Ceridian, Lawson HRIS
Fixed Assets Lawson, Oracle Project, Navision
Project Tracking Oracle Project, JDE
Billing System
Order Management
EDW
Manual Load File
Collect via Planning Form
Currency Rates
Benefit Rates (FICA Max, FICA %)
INTEGRATION OPTIONS
Essbase Load Rules
SQL Interface
Flat Files
MAXL Automation
Simple ETL
ODI / DIM / HAL
ETL Tools, use when there is heavy file manipulation
Data Integration
 Building a Planning Model

KEY CONSIDERATIONS
What data is needed to facilitate input?
What data needs to be collected from end users?
Are there supporting drivers that must be input?
Are there calculations that need to be processed before input?
Read vs. Write on data form elements
Are there calculations that need to be processed after input?
Before Input?

TIPS
Break the process into steps if possible
Use menus or task lists to drive navigation
Simplify the user experience, provide tools to facilitate navigation
Try not to clutter and overcomplicate a form
Development of Forms
 Development of Forms

PERFORMANCE
Balance performance with functionality
Load Performance 3 seconds or less
Save Performance 3 seconds of less
Hone business rules
Focus on fewer blocks FIX (Entity), FIX (Scenario, Version)
Dont calculate more than you need to
Balance form calculations with an hourly sweep
Poorly performing business rules can stack up and kill Essbase performance

PERFORMANCE TIPS
Suppress Missing Rows vs. Suppress Blocks
Rows vs. Columns vs. Page
Isolate Performance Issue Form vs. Rules
Query Issue Size or Poorly Designed Essbase Cube?
Block Size Balancing Act Query vs. Calculations
 Development of Forms

DESIGN TIPS
Large Sparse Dims on Rows (Improvements to GUI in Talleyrand)
Turn on Attribute Display
Suppress Missing Block

Show member formulas

 Development of Forms

DESIGN TIPS
Startup Message to Guide Blank Forms

Column Definition
Drivers & Commentary in BegBalance Member
Data Values in IDESC (YearTotal)
 Development of Forms

Use Flag Members to drive form layout

Smart List to drive Flag

UDAs to drive form definition

Flag Member Set flag based on UDA definition and Smart List Selection
 Development of Forms

Simple Form

Enhanced Forms
 Development of Forms

Control Navigation with a Menu

Development of Calculations
 Development of Calculations

TIPS & TRICKS

Calculations & Forms Should be Developed in Tandem

Calculation Manager
Graphical Web Based Rules Builder
Pre-built Templates
Requires EPMA Integration (Talleyrand support for Classic)
Ability to Convert HBR to CM Rules

Alternatives to Drive Calculations

Member Formulas
Business Rules / Calc Manager Rules
Essbase Member Calc Formula
 Development of Calculations

Essbase Member Formula

Simple Member Calculation
Dependencies - Outline Order Important
Calculations that dont require user input
Calculations dont require moving data between plan types
Can be run upon save of form Calc members on form
 Development of Calculations

Business Rules
Allow for user input to the rule
Allow for passing through variables from the form to the rule
Multiple Members Calculated Upon Form Save with Dependencies
Can be launched on save, or from a right click menu
Typically more procedural than member formula
Leverage BR to move data between plan types
 Development of Calculations

Essbase Member Calc Script

Write multiple member formulas in an Essbase member
Place member on form, and hide
Allows for procedural member formulas ala Business Rules
Run on save of form
Cannot allow user input to calc
Cannot move data between plan types
 Development of Calculations

DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
Minimize Calculations
Run Time Prompts Align w/ Page
IANCESTORS (Run Time Prompt) to aggregate instead of CALC DIM
Beware Run on Save / Load
Launch Rules from Right Click Menu
Sequences
Calculation in Current Plan Type
XREF Data to Core Plan Type
XREF Dangers
Slow across applications
Create Block Issues
Create Blocks in Business Rule
Schedule hourly sweep to catch any issues - DATAEXPORT
Currency Conversion Limitations
Rates stored High
Manual Input of Rates
Pros Entity has requirement to plan in different local currencies
Process Flow / Control
 Process Flow / Control

Form / Folder Organization

Logically name forms and folders
Order based on Steps

Right Click Menus

Jump to other forms
Launch Rules
Launch Reports

Task Lists
Guide user through a task list
User can check off items as they complete
Review completed vs. outstanding tasks

Workflow
Being rewritten due to current limitations
Targeted for Talleyrand (next release)
Security
 Define Security

PROCESS
1. Setup Groups & Users in Shared Services
2. Assign Access in Planning & Workspace
3. Push Security to Essbase

SETUP USERS & GROUPS IN SHARED SERVICES

Define Groups
ALL_PLANNING_GROUP - Handles basic provisioning tasks Version, Scenario, Accounts
ENTITY_PLANNING_GROUPS - Most detail security occurs along the Entity dimension
FUNCTIONAL_PLANNING_GROUPS - In charge of a functional area for example margin
detail
Assign Users to Groups

PITFALLS / SUGGESTIONS
Groups within Groups
AD Groups vs. Planning Level Groups
11X Apply Security to Folders
 Questions

Mark Hite
mhite@ranzal.com
Key Considerations for a
Successful Hyperion
Planning Implementation
June 30, 2010

Mark Hite, Practice Manager

Ranzal & Associates