System offers drag and drop pivots of data via dimensions with near instant results

Description

Corporate Performance Management (CPM) software should offer the functionality of creating dynamic and intuitive data pivot tables using a straightforward drag and drop interface. These pivot tables should be based on data dimensions that enable the rapid analysis of sizable data collections with near-instant results. This advanced analytics function enhances data interaction, allowing businesses to better comprehend complex information, draw insights, and make data-driven decisions.

Example Use Case

Scenario: A large retail company utilizes CPM software to track sales data across various regions and product categories. The data comes in a complex format with multiple dimensions, making it hard to make sense of large data volumes.

Solution: With a drag and drop pivot function, the company easily organizes and summarizes complex datasets by dragging dimensions like 'Product Category', 'Region', and 'Sales Period' onto a list of revenue accounts. The system immediately generates an understandable data summary, thereby enabling the company to rapidly identify sales trends and patterns for strategic decision-making.

Considerations

This feature will be used often over the course of your analytics journey with a CPM tool and a core feature of a multi-dimensional financial analysis tool. Some products will accomplish this with an Excel plug-in, showing dimensions in the ribbon or in a pane on the side of the sheet, where those dimensions can be dragged onto a sheet. Others will offer this in a web-based interface. Either way, speed is important here. Large models, especially those that calculate results on-demand, can still be slow.

There are two types of results when dimensions are dragged into a screen - either a pivot, where one dimension is dragged onto another - or new data is introduced to a blank sheet. A competent tool should allow dimensions to be dragged, more to be dragged, shifted from row to column with a click, nested, and so on. This should not require a consulting engagement.

Questions to Ask a Vendor

• Ease of Use: How intuitive is the drag and drop pivot table function? Can non-technical users create complex pivot tables?
• Data Processing: How does your system handle large data sets? Can it generate pivot table results almost instantly? If not, what is the latency with a data set like ours?
• Customizability: To what extent can the pivot tables be customized? Can users define specific filters and/or select any dimension?
• Interface: Can we slice data using the front-end that we prefer? (spreadsheet or web)
• Re-Use: How can we save the view that was created with these dimensions?