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You have ten minutes to complete that task! Working smarter not harder
No more riots Today is May 1st. Most European countries are off work to remember labor day. May 1st is indeed a historical date. In 1886, workers in Chicago and other cities laid down their work to demand better working conditions including eight hour working days. The situation escalated over the next few days and…
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Why continuous forecasting is more enjoyable
The case for continuous forecasting Time for a confession. I really hated forecasting back in my old job. Kind of crazy since I was working with clients on improving their planning, budgeting & forecasting processes. Yet, I absolutely hated doing my own forecast. What was wrong? First of all, the template was terrible. Way too…
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Dashboard Design Advice: Avoid eye contact at all cost!!!
Dashboard Design When I watch interviews with international sports stars, I sometimes have to laugh. Every inch of their clothing is plastered with logos from sponsors. It’s usually impossible to see or remember even a single one of them amidst this smorgasbord. We can spot a similar overload problem in many dashboards and reports. Corporate…
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The other side of Cognos Insight – A powerful planning client for TM1 (Guestpost)
Cognos Insight and TM1 There is a lot of buzz about Cognos Insight. It is a great tool for analyzing and discovering data. There is also the ability to perform powerful what-if analysis through the use of write-back capabilities. But Cognos Insight is actually more than just a personal desktop analytics tool. You can use…
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What my car taught me about designing a successful dashboard
A useful dashboard? The other day, a former colleague sent me several screenshots of a ‘dashboarding solution’ a new team member had proposed to him. What I saw was wild: A set of complex, colorful and overloaded screens. Not just one screen, but a whole book of different pages. There were long tables mixed with…
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The reputation of business forecasting is not positive – Time for change!
Business Forecasting The budgeting and business forecasting processes often have a poor reputation in many companies. Part of the issue is that the people involved in the process do not see a lot of value in it. Last year in November, two of my colleagues and I conducted a survey amongst 162 senior finance professionals…
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I see a cake on the horizon! Meteolytix use predictive analytics to drive success
Meteolytix Predictive analytics are an extremely hot and interesting area for most organizations. No wonder, there are some extremely cool and amazing use cases. Let’s take a look at a sweet example: cake. Bakeries around the world struggle with either reducing their waste or maximizing their potential. There are days when cakes seem to be…
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An Easter Egg hunt with three charts
It’s that time of the year. Millions of kids are excited about hunting for Easter Eggs. Why not do the same here on the blog? Below are three charts. All of them are colored according to the season. But there are some problems with each one of the charts. Can spot them? Scroll down to…
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“Focus is key for success” says the German Cognos User Group
The German Cognos User Group Last year, I posted an interview with Steve Veilleux, president of the Quebec Cognos User Group. This article has gotten a lot of attention. I therefore decided to reach out to another very successful user group: The German Cognos User Group. The three leaders of this organization volunteered for an…
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Are you kidding me? There is more than just the tools!
Wasted time Do you enjoy wasting time? I surely don’t and I do not have patience engaging in activities that do. Unfortunately, over the past few months I did witness several completely useless discussions about tools and their specific features and functions. So much wasted time and energy! While everybody focused on boasting & bitching,…
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