Product can snap-shot a report at a specific period of time for later use

Description

This requirement pertains to the ability of a Corporate Performance Management (CPM) software to capture, or snapshot, reports at a specific point in time. This enables data analytics teams to refer back to historical data in order to make comparisons, identify trends, and inform decision-making processes. The snap-shotted report is preserved in its exact state from the moment it was captured, ensuring accuracy and reliability of historical data.

Example Use Case

Scenario: A mid-market business uses CPM software to manage and analyze its financial data. With various data coming into the system at different times, they need a way to capture a point in time for comparison later.

Solution: With the snapshot feature of the CPM software, the company can capture a financial report in the middle of a quarter. This provides the company with preserved data from every mid-quarter, which they can then use for comparisons, understanding trends, reviewing historical performance, or audit.

Considerations

Snapshots differ from selecting a date range for a report in that they remain static even if the underlying data is updated. This is helpful if the source data is updated frequently, or the organization wants to keep an archive of point in time reports for later comparisons.

Most CPM products do not offer this. If they do, it is often a “save as PDF” exercise.

Questions to Ask a Vendor

• Snapshots: Are snapshots possible beyond simply saving a PDF or data at the moment needed?
• Comparing Snapshots: Is there a mechanism to compare a snapshot with another snapshot, or with a date ranged report?