IBM Planning Analytics vs Board

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Our analysts compared IBM Planning Analytics vs Board based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Accounting Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

IBM Planning Analytics Software Tool
Board Software Tool

Product Basics

IBM Planning Analytics is a multidimensional in-memory database for analytics and planning. Part of the IBM Analytics Suite and powered by TM1, it provides forecasting, budgeting and reporting at an enterprise scale through data compression. With all data connected to a central hub, it enables collaborative planning with workflow approvals and review protocols in place. Enterprises perform OLAP analysis faster through in-memory technology.

Integrating with Microsoft Excel, it gives businesses the ease and familiarity of working with spreadsheets with the power of an enterprise database. With automated time-series modeling, it enables self-service predictive analysis. The vendor offers a 30-day free trial.
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Board Intelligent Planning Platform is a business planning tool that gives companies of all sizes resources to empower themselves and develop better, future-proof practices. It’s especially useful to businesses that have financial, supply chain, sales and operations, and merchandise and retail planning needs.

The software utilizes the Microsoft Azure cloud to give users access from any connected device and uses a low-code customization environment so even the least experienced programmer can optimize its workflow for whatever their company requires.

Pros
  • Easy to use interface
  • Collaborative planning
  • Data visualization tools
  • Flexible reporting options
  • Scalable for future growth
Cons
  • Limited free plan features
  • Can be expensive for large teams
  • Learning curve for advanced features
  • May not integrate with all software
  • Limited customization options
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$825 Monthly
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Tailored to your specific needs
$10,000 Quote-Based
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Tailored to your specific needs
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Windows
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Chromebook
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Linux
Android
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Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile
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Mobile

Product Assistance

Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
Email
Phone
Chat
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Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support

Product Insights

  • Maximize ROI: Save time for analysis of trends, business performance and results by creating project plans faster. Reallocate budget and resources by leveraging deep insights into business performance and market trends. Collaborate with others on a single, unified platform with total transparency and visibility into business data, available for all plans. 
  • Boost Sales: Win more business opportunities – boost annual sales quotas and deal sizes through end-to-end sales workflows. Grow revenue and reduce time to insight with robust sales analytics. Track campaigns for performance monitoring in real time and deep dive into data for buying behavior and customer churn analysis. 
  • Financial Planning and Analysis: Optimize the business’ performance through valuable financial insights. Ensure the business is on track by creating and managing plans, budgets and forecasts. Simplifies the budgeting process through real-time calculations with automatic application of business rules. 
  • Optimize Supply Chain: Create more accurate demand forecasts, get a clearer view of the resources and budget required to fulfill projected demand and update production plans accordingly. View historical data and drill down into summaries for deep-dive analysis and add visuals to spot key KPI trends. 
  • Workforce Planning: Increase the workforce’s efficiency by acquiring and retaining skilled employees at the right time. Effectively manage staff schedules, task assignment and performance tracking through workforce analytics and HR planning tools. 
  • Deploy Anywhere: Access the same data from everywhere with the flexibility to deploy on-premise, in the cloud or as a combination of both. 
  • Scalable: Build and change plans flexibly in real time to match business requirements. Scales with increasing data volumes, number of users and planning models, without impacting existing workflows and performance. 
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  • No Experience Required: Users of any skill level can get into Board and immediately start optimizing their business planning with a comprehensive set of tools for business intelligence, performance management and predictive analytics. 
  • All-in-One Platform: Board provides the resources to handle everything from flat-file data to ERP, with a user-friendly interface that serves expert and beginner users alike. 
  • Adaptable Use Cases: Financial planning and analytics, accounting reporting and consolidation, supply chain planning and management, and merchandise and retail planning can all be handled and optimized using Board’s robust set of corporate and departmental modules. 
  • Customizability: Board gives businesses the ability to not only handle processes out of the box, but also to create custom workflows and modules for their specific needs. 
  • Self-Service Analytics: Gain insights into business performance, forecast trends and develop better strategies without sophisticated IT knowledge or assistance. 
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  • Architecture: Leverage a three-tier client-server architecture that includes a database, application server and front end, with data stored centrally in the OLAP server. 
    • TM1: Employs an efficient data compression algorithm to enable faster planning and analytics. Create business models by combining multiple data sources with manual input for effective decision-making. 
  • Workspace: Create and access all plans and forecasts through its web-based interface. Grant role-based access to team members down to cell-level granularity. Collaborate on plans through chats and cell comments in the workspace. 
    • Data Visualizations: Choose from a rich library of visualizations to apply that includes bullet charts, waterfall charts, treemaps, word clouds and more. Input data intuitively to specific slots through drag-and-drop actions, and customize fonts and styles for personalized branding. 
    • Books and Views: Access related data in the form of web sheets, scorecards, videos and embedded web pages from a single interface. Leverage defined selections of a data cube — views — for analysis and data exploration, and export as an Excel worksheet. 
  • Performance Tracking: Compare targets with actual results, and with actual performance over time. Quickly find the desired metrics and create visually compelling scorecards such as impact diagrams, strategy maps and custom diagrams. Add existing scorecards to books and analyze data over different periods, metrics and dimensions. 
  • Data Modeling: Autonomously build a financial model by converting business requirements into cubes, dimensions, hierarchies and calculations. Transform and load data easily into a financial model, without the need to code. 
  • Sandbox Environments: Work in a sandbox to manipulate data as needed in real time without impacting actual data. Compare different scenarios and test assumptions to see the impact of potential decisions. 
  • Microsoft Excel Integration: Go beyond what spreadsheets can do – perform multi-dimensional analysis and big data exploration within the Excel interface, retaining its full functionality and formatting. Find answers to business questions by creating reports from Cognos TM1 through interactive drag-and-drop actions. 
  • AI-Based Automation: Speed up planning cycles and get more reliable results. Create plans, forecasts and budgets through automated model creation, natural language processing and cognitive analytics. 
  • On-Demand Module: Generate dynamic dashboards from existing Excel spreadsheets through autonomous data exploration. Move from annual planning to rolling forecasts based on real-time information by identifying variances in plans caused by external data. 
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  • Adaptable Platform: Board Intelligent Planning Platform can be deployed in a variety of ways depending on specific business needs, and utilizes a proprietary in-memory technology and HTML5 web platform to remain fast and usable regardless of how it’s deployed. 
    • Granular Security: A multi-layer security system provides full control over who has access to what information on a cell-by-cell basis.
    • Metadata Gateway: The software translates data sources into simple, easy-to-read views and imports data into its own format automatically.
  • Powerful Analytics: Board provides automatic and manual analytics features for users of all experience levels to make sense of data and inform future decisions. 
    • Drag-and-Drop Analysis: Build robust analyses from company financial data by simply dragging and dropping information into a visual environment, with built-in machine learning capabilities to handle the more difficult, technical side of analysis. 
    • Multidirectional Drilldown: Create drill paths in any direction, between reports or back to source systems for the most in-depth analysis possible. 
  • Robust Planning: Enter data and use it to determine future plans with Board’s complete set of ERP tools. 
    • Simplified Metrics: Users can create Excel-like formulas to define specific custom metrics and apply them to any of the software's databases. 
    • Real-time Adjustments: Change data metrics and models without affecting user operations. This gives businesses maximum control over planning and forecasting as events unfold. 
  • Business Modeling: Define workflows and onboard employees to ensure maximum organizational efficiency. 
    • Customized Rules: Create and customize boundaries and guidelines for their workflows. Users can also set criteria to help generate more precise predictions. 
    • Adaptive Aggregation: Flexible data aggregation can be performed at any time, automatically adapting data and metrics to new dimensions. 
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Product Ranking

#335

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Accounting Software

#17

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Accounting Software

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User Sentiment Summary

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Great User Sentiment 804 reviews
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89%
of users recommend this product

Board has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 89% when considering 804 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

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4.8 (2)
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4.4 (279)
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4.5 (134)
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4.6 (157)
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4.3 (232)

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Flexible Modeling: Users praise the software's ability to handle complex planning scenarios with ease, such as building detailed driver-based models for budgeting and forecasting.
Improved Collaboration: The platform facilitates better communication and data sharing among teams, streamlining the budgeting and forecasting process.
Powerful Reporting and Analytics: Users appreciate the robust reporting features, allowing them to generate insightful reports and dashboards for data visualization and analysis.
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Collaborative Planning: Users praise Board's real-time collaboration features, enabling teams to work together seamlessly on plans and share updates instantly, boosting efficiency and alignment.
Flexible & Scalable: Many appreciate Board's adaptability to various planning needs, accommodating diverse data sets, departments, and future growth, making it a future-proof solution.
Data Visualization & Insights: Users value Board's robust data visualization tools, transforming complex data into clear dashboards and reports, aiding in informed decision-making and identifying trends.
Automation & Streamlining: Real user experiences highlight Board's ability to automate repetitive tasks and workflows, freeing up time for strategic work and analysis, improving overall planning efficiency.
Mobile Accessibility: Appreciations are shared for Board's mobile app, allowing users to access plans and data on the go, enhancing flexibility and real-time decision support.
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Steep Learning Curve: Users have reported that IBM Planning Analytics can be difficult to learn, especially for those without prior experience with similar tools. Its interface and terminology can feel overwhelming initially.
Limited Reporting Capabilities: Some users have expressed frustration with the reporting functionality within Planning Analytics, finding it less intuitive and flexible compared to dedicated reporting tools. They desire more advanced formatting and customization options for presenting financial data.
Performance Issues: Users have occasionally encountered performance issues, particularly when dealing with large datasets or complex calculations. This can slow down budgeting and forecasting processes, impacting overall productivity.
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Complex Calculations: Limited transparency in formula calculations, hindering troubleshooting and advanced analysis.
Macro Restrictions: Restricted macro functionalities might constrain automation and specialized workflows.
Navigation Challenges: Unintuitive interface layout and navigation, leading to user frustration and inefficiency.
Mobile Limitations: Limited mobile app functionalities compared to desktop version, restricting accessibility.
Restricted Dashboard Design: Limited design freedom for dashboards, impacting user preferences and visual clarity.
Scalability Concerns: Performance issues reported with large datasets, potentially hindering scalability for growing companies.
Opaque Pricing Structure: Lack of clear pricing information and complex licensing tiers, making cost estimation difficult.
Limited Support Availability: Reported challenges with timely and comprehensive support responses.
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User reviews from the past year suggest IBM Planning Analytics is a powerful tool for businesses seeking to streamline their financial planning and analysis processes. Users praise its robust features, particularly its budgeting, forecasting, and reporting capabilities. One standout feature is its ability to handle complex "what-if" scenarios, allowing businesses to model different outcomes based on various factors, which is crucial for making informed decisions in a volatile market. However, users also point out some drawbacks. The learning curve can be steep, especially for those unfamiliar with similar software. Some users find the interface less intuitive than competitors like Anaplan or Cube, and the pricing can be a significant investment for smaller businesses. Despite these weaknesses, users generally agree that IBM Planning Analytics offers a comprehensive solution for businesses needing advanced planning and analysis capabilities. Its ability to integrate with other IBM products and handle large datasets makes it particularly well-suited for larger enterprises with complex financial operations.

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Board, an Intelligent Planning software, garners mixed reviews from users. While praised for its user-friendly interface and extensive customization options, some find its cost and scalability a concern. Let's delve deeper. Users appreciate Board's intuitiveness, making it accessible even to non-technical folks. Its flexibility allows tailoring the platform to specific needs, a boon for organizations with intricate planning processes or unique data demands. Additionally, Board seamlessly integrates with various data sources, simplifying information consolidation for insightful analysis. However, cost can be a barrier, particularly for smaller businesses, as Board can be pricier than competitors. Scalability concerns arise, with some users reporting performance issues when handling massive datasets. While powerful for basic planning, Board might lack the advanced features offered by competitors for highly technical users or complex scenarios. Board sets itself apart by emphasizing visually engaging and interactive reports and dashboards, aiding communication with stakeholders. Its robust mobile app empowers users to access and manage plans on the go, promoting flexibility and remote work. Ultimately, Board's strengths and weaknesses hold varying importance depending on your needs. Budget, data volume, desired features, and user requirements should be carefully considered when comparing Board to other Intelligent Planning software options. Remember, this is just a general overview, and thorough research tailored to your specific context is crucial before making a decision.

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