Able to extract information from a data warehouse to use for planning drivers and reporting

Description

This feature allows organizations to use their stored data as drivers for their business strategies and performance reporting inside a CPM tool. It involves leveraging API or export functionalities to obtain crucial business, financial, or operational data from existing data storage centers.

Example Use Case

Scenario: A mid-market energy company utilizes a dedicated data warehouse for storing its operational, customer, and market data. The company uses CPM software to track its performance, but needs the software to pull specific data directly from its warehouse.

Solution: The company uses the system's data extraction function, leveraging its API or export feature, to extract key data points like customer usage patterns, sales performance, and market trends from the warehouse. This data is then used as drivers for their strategic planning and reporting, allowing the company to make data-anchored and performance-based decisions.

Considerations

Data warehouses come in a variety of configurations. Some are still on-premise, others are using Snowflake, Amazon, and so on. In most cases, the data warehouse has a unique setup and must have a customized integration process to map and pull data. Being able to access that data without a complicated IT heavy data export exercise each month will save extensive labor costs over time.

Keep in mind that a CPM system is not a BI system. Some reporting functions, like transactional analysis, are best left to a BI tool. If the intent of shopping for a CPM tool is to connect to a BI tool and generate reports, we recommend looking elsewhere.

Questions to Ask a Vendor

• Data Extraction Capacity: How robust is the software when it comes to extracting large volumes of data from a warehouse? Are there limits to the volume and complexity of data it can handle?
• Integration: How well does the software integrate with various data warehouse solutions in the market? What are some of those it integrates with?
• IT Support: What level of support will we need from our IT staff?