Versions can be locked by an administrator and re-opened if necessary

Description

Version locking in Corporate Performance Management (CPM) Software enables administrators to lock a version or scenarios, preventing edits. Once locked, only those with the necessary access can re-open these versions.

Example Use Case

Scenario: The finance team at a software company uses a CPM tool to build their annual budget. They collaborate with 50 different department heads and sales managers. When the budget deadline hits, they need a way to prevent further changes to the budget.

Solution: The administrator uses the version locking feature in the CPM software to lock the current working budget. This ensures that data after that point does not change and that the finance team does not have to individually lock out each user.

Considerations

Locking versions is a common feature in CPM tools, as it is one of the main reasons why organizations move away from Excel. This is usually as simple as a toggle that says “locked” in the version admin screen. More advanced CPM vendors will offer a more robust configuration here. For example, they might allow portions of the version to be locked such as workforce or sales forecasting. They might allow certain user groups, like sales, to be locked out while leaving it open for the operational teams.

Questions to Ask a Vendor

• Granularity of Locks: How detailed can the version locking mechanism get? Can we lock down to the level of user groups, specific sheets, sections, or cells?
• Access After Lock: Who has access when a version is locked? Can some users still be allowed to edit, like admins or the CFO?
• Lock Specifics: When locking, is the version simply gone from view for certain people? Or is it just not editable, but still viewable?