There is no limit on the amount of versions that can be maintained in the system

Description

The CPM system should be able to store and manage as many individual versions of budgets, forecasts, and other related datasets as is needed by the user. To clarify, this means that all versions are considered active and available for use.

Example Use Case

Scenario: A rapidly scaling company, ABC Corp, uses CPM software for its budgeting and forecasting needs. Every quarter, the firm creates a new version of the budget that contains adjusted projections based on the latest market trends, economic conditions, and company performance.

Solution: Since there is no limit on the number of versions that can be maintained in the system, ABC Corp can keep all versions of the budget for each quarter. This functionality allows for a comparative analysis of previous forecasts with actual figures, or even scenario mapping for potential future trends, thereby aiding in informed decision-making.

Considerations

We include this as a requirement because some tools on the market will limit you to only a few active versions. This can be limiting, as most users have best, middle, and worst-case versions always active. This leaves little room for anything else.

CPM vendors may not offer this because they are trying to keep storage costs down, or because each version slows down the system a bit.

Take a look in your budget file directory right now and count how many workbooks (assuming each has the full budget) you have in that directory. Include different scenarios, budgets from prior years, and each rolling forecast workbook. It could be in 5, 10, 20, 100. That is the amount of versions you might like to be active in the system.

Questions to Ask a Vendor

• Version Control System: How does your system handle versioning? Is there a limit to the number of active versions?
• Scalability: If we maintain numerous versions in the system, how will it affect the software's performance?
• Archives: If your system only allows a few active at a time, do we have to delete old versions or is there an archive mechamism?