Scenarios and versions can be secured for specific users only
Description
The system should allow specific versions or scenarios (often the same thing) to be assigned to one person or a group of like individuals. This allows only them to view and edit.
Example Use Case
Scenario: Acme Corporation uses CPM software for its financial forecasting and analysis. It runs different scenarios and versions for its various product lines and regional operations. They’re planning a significant RIF and need to keep that version of the workforce plan private.
Solution: Their software allows for a specific version to be locked down for executive eyes only. An Administrator control the access, who luckily is not getting laid off.
Considerations
Versions and scenarios are often used to model growth, but are equally useful in modeling difficult choices like RIFs. For that reason, having security against a version is incredibly important. In the Excel world this usually involves a private folder that has to be managed by finance. Hopefully nobody makes a mistake and shares the link.
A CPM system will do this much more reliably and should also provide deeper security granularity for the users who have access. For example, they might have access to the version, but they do not have access to the workforce planning model.
Questions to Ask a Vendor
- User Management Features: How extensive are your CPM software's user management capabilities? Can we easily secure different scenarios and versions for specific users or user groups?
- Depth of Security: What if we want to share just a specific portion of the version?