Administrator Training

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Administrator Training

• Session 1

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• Notice
• Information in this document is subject to
  change without notice.  This document reflects no
  commitment on the part of OutlookSoft
  Corporation.  The software described in this
  document is provided under license by OutlookSoft
  Corporation and is subject to the license and all
  other agreements provided with the software. No
  part of this document may be copied or
  reproduced, electronically or manually, or stored
  in any electronic data retrieval system without
  the written permission of OutlookSoft
  Corporation.
•  
• Questions Please call OutlookSoft Corporation
  at 203-964-3100

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Introductions

• Press the CTRL key when speaking!
• Name
• Company
• Location
• Connection type

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NASBA CPE Credits

• OutlookSoft web-based training courses are NASBA
  certified.
• You can receive two CPE credits per session.
• OutlookSoft provides hands-on workshops to
  further enhance your training experience.
• We highly recommend you take advantage of the
  workshops in order to gain a complete
  understanding of Everest.
• All workshops must be completed in order to
  receive a Certificate of Completion.

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Agenda

• Day 1
• What is Everest?
• Terminology
• The Connection Wizard
• The Process Selector
• Data Input Modeling
• Submitting the Package
• Analysis Reporting
• Working with MyEverest
• The Everest Collaboration Forum

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Agenda

• Day 2
• Creating a new Application Set
• Modifying Dimensions and Members
• Managing Applications
• Formulas
• Day 3
• Security
• Data Manager
• Creating and Publishing Everest Books
• Offline Data Distribution and Data Collector

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Agenda

• Day 4
• Foreign Currency Translation
• Inter-company Eliminations
• Member Assistant
• The Everest Investigator
• Customizing the Process Selector
• Day 5
• Everest Journals
• Everest Audit
• Dynamic Expansions
• Drill Down Reports
• Drill Through Reports

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What is Everest?

• Everest is a single, unified, Enterprise-wide
  solution.
• Everest is a web-based, collaborative solution
  that unifies the business planning and
  performance management process.

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Everest Key Process Areas

• Budgeting and planning
• Consolidation
• Multi-dimensional analysis
• Reporting
• Performance management

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OLAP Defined

• OLAP is an acronym for On-Line Analytical
  Processing.
• It is a database technology that was developed
  specifically for viewing and analyzing data.
• It is distinguished from On-Line Transaction
  Processing, which stores transactions in a
  relational, two-dimensional database.

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OLAP Defined

• OLAP is used to analyze summarized data, not
  detailed transactions.
• OLAP is used to analyze numerical data organized
  by category.
• OLAP is multidimensional.
• Data is arranged and viewed in cubes instead of
  tables.
• The multidimensional database structure enables
  quicker and more intuitive viewing and navigation
  of data.

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OLAP Defined

• OLAP databases contain three basic structural
  elements
• Dimensions
• Measures
• Cubes

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Dimensions

• A Dimension consists of members that are
  organized into a hierarchical structure.
• The relationship between members is described by
  terms such as Parent, Child and Sibling.

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Measures

• Measures allows you to change the view of your
  data.
• You can view Periodic, Quarter to date (QTD) Year
  to date (YTD), Month to date (MTD), and Week to
  date (WTD) views of your data.

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Cubes

• Cubes are where data is stored in an OLAP
  database.
• A Cube is equivalent to a table in a relational
  database.
• Cubes allow up to 20 dimensions
• A cube that stores Everest data might be called
  Finance

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Application Sets

• What is an application set?
• It is a group of applications. An application set
  contains a set of dimensions that may be shared
  among the applications.
• In MS Analysis Services, an application set is
  equivalent to a database.
• There is one MS Analysis Services database for
  each application set.
• There is generally one application set per
  company.

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Applications

• What is an application?
• An application is one functional unit used for a
  particular purpose.
• Example Finance application, Sales Reporting
  Application
• Applications may share some dimensions with other
  applications within the same application set.
• Applications may have some dimensions that are
  unique to that application.
• In MS Analysis Services, an application is
  equivalent to a cube.

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Pet Depot Company Overview

• Specialty retailer of pet food, supplies, and
  services
• Founded in 1975
• Employee-owned corporation, with corporate
  headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri
• Company Mission Statement
• To provide the highest level of health,
  happiness, and comfort to companion animals and
  their owners
• Stores located across United States and in Europe

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Pet Depot Store Structure

• In the United States, Pet Depot has opened and
  maintained 21 stores
• Across continental U.S., 16 states in total
• Stores typically located in large metropolitan
  areas
• Currently four stores have been opened in Europe
• United Kingdom
• Switzerland
• Stores fit into three store types
• Small
• Mid-Size
• Large

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Pet Depot Corporate Goals

• To increase market share on an international
  basis
• Expand into several markets in US
• Open additional distribution centers and retail
  stores in Europe
• New branches in Italy, Germany, France, and
  Norway
• Establish an Asia-Pacific Division
• To increase Net Income
• Increase Total Revenue by 25 this year
• Reduce Cost of Goods Sold, and focus on reducing
  Total Operating Expenses
• Increase Total Revenue per Employee

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Pet Depot System Requirements

• Require enterprise-wide, web-based solution
• Need to perform the following processes
• Actuals - Financial reporting and analysis
• Current year and Next year
• Net Income, Balance Sheet, Gross Margin analysis
• Across all stores and regions, with ability to
  view in local and converted currencies
• Budgeting
• Forecasting
• Performance Management

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Pet Depot Solution

• After product evaluation, selected OutlookSoft
  Everest
• Reasons for selection
• Everest is unified and integrated for required
  business processes
• Leverages existing Pet Depot technologies (Excel,
  SQL Server, Internet Explorer)
• Contains built-in financial functionality
• Foreign Currency Conversion
• InterCompany Eliminations
• Has rich set of analysis and reporting options
  available for the variety of Pet Depot system
  users
• Centralized web-based system for simplified
  method of company information sharing and
  collaboration

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Pet Depot Business Dimensions

• Time
• Current year, Next year
• Category
• Actual, Budget, monthly Forecasts, What-if
  analysis
• Account
• Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow, KPIs
• Entity
• Stores, organized by Region and by Store Type
• RptCurrency
• Local Currency, USD, EURO
• DataSrc
• Input, Adjustment, Total Adjusted
• InterCo
• For Inter Company Eliminations

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The Connection Wizard

• Guides you through the process of connection to
  the Everest server.
• The wizard will determine the connection method
  based on server capability.

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The Connection Wizard
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The Connection Wizard
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The Connection Wizard
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The Connection Wizard
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Everest Login

• Select the Appset
• and
• Click OK.

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Everest Process Selector
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The Process Selector

• The Everest Process Selector provides specific,
  process-driven tasks organized around business
  processes. It is a launching pad for
  business-process-specific reports.
• When you click on an entry in the Process
  Selector report, information is displayed on the
  bottom left indicating the module,
  application, category, time and menu
  file.
• The Process Selector may also be used to display
  a system message.

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WebExcel

• WebExcel provides the flexibility functionality
  of Microsoft Excel connected over the Internet to
  a centralized multi-dimensional database.
• Spreadsheets are linked to a central repository
  to ensure data consistency security.
• Existing spreadsheets are easily integrated
  without modification or redundant data entry.

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WebExcel

• Advanced spreading modeling functions provide
  immediate recalculation from the repository.
• Templates allow rapid solution development.
• Users can submit budgets with a wide range of
  supporting attachments.
• Spreadsheets
• Documents
• Presentations, Multimedia files, etc.

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WebExcel

• The Current View Bar
• WebExcel contains a Current View bar that
  contains the available applications and
  dimensions for each specific user.
• List boxes are available in the Current View bar
  to select the specific dimension members whose
  data you want to display in your worksheets.
• The Current View is user dependent, therefore you
  will only be able to view information that your
  user profile allows.

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Data Input Modeling

• Everest comes with a set of predefined input
  schedule templates and input sheets.
• The input templates can be accessed using the
  Schedule Wizard or by a library of input
  templates that are store on the Everest server.
• The templates can be customized.
• Once you have modified your input schedule and
  input your data, you can submit the data to your
  Everest Server using the eSubmit menu.

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The EvSND Function

• EvSND (Send Value)
• References another cell sends the value in that
  cell to the server when the Send and Refresh
  Schedules is selected from the eSubmit menu. The
  parameters specify the dimensions that identify
  where the data value is to be sent in the
  database. For example
• EvSND(D16,Finance",Revenue","Budget",Store1,
  2006.Jan")sends the value in cell D16 to the
  database.

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Park N Go

• Park N Go
• Park N Go allows you to take a static snapshot of
  a live report or schedule.
• When you Park a report or
  schedule, you can lock down
  the
  CurrentView, lock down the
  data and the
  CurrentView or take
  the workbook
  completely offline.
• Using Park N Go, you can view
  reports or make changes to a
  
  schedule even when you are
  disconnected from your
  Everest
  server, using native Excel.

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Everest Modeling Functions

• While building your budget you may want to look
  at your numbers under different models. WebExcel
  is equipped with three built in modeling
  functions. The available functions are
• Spread
• Trend
• Weight

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The Spread Function

• The Spread option allows you to take a value and
  allocate it among selected destination cells.  
• The value may be allocated equally, or it may be
  weighted by an optional range of weights.

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The Trend Function

• The Trend option takes a value and grows it by a
  factor among selected cells.
• The source value will be placed in the first cell
  of the destination range.  Each subsequent cell
  in the destination will increase by the amount
  specified.

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The Weight Function

• The Weight Allocation option lets you allocate an
  amount by weighted factors in your spreadsheet.  
• It allows you to take an amount, grow it if
  desired, and then allocate the new amount based
  on the relative weights of the selected cells.  
• The destination range is the same as the weight
  range, (i.e., the weights will be overwritten
  with the newly allocated amounts.)

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Approval Status Board

• The Everest Approval Status Board tracks the
  status of the deliverables (budget, forecast) for
  your organization, division, department, etc.
• The Approval Status Board is Current View driven.
• From the status board you can change the status
  of a deliverable, submit and view supporting
  documents, and view the status of deliverables.

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Submitting a Package

• What is a package?
• Data
• Numbers sent to the database.
• Supporting documents
• If necessary, submitted in WebExcel or MyEverest.
• When you have finished modeling and attached your
  supporting documents, the next step in the
  budgeting process is to change your package
  status.

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Changing Package Status

• There are three package statuses
• Unlocked - the deliverable is a work in
  progress.
• Submitted - the deliverable has been submitted
  for approval.
• Approved - the deliverable has been approved.
• Note The data is locked when the package status
  is changed to Submitted. However, if you need to
  make changes to the data, your package status can
  be changed back to Unlocked to make any necessary
  changes.

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Supporting Document Board

• The Supporting Document Board is a centralized,
  Current View driven list of all supporting
  documents that have been submitted.
• It provides you with a quick view to all
  supporting documents for a given Current View.
• The documents are posted with the following
  headings
• Caption
• Description
• Entity
• Owner
• Modified Date

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Analysis Reporting

• Standard Report Templates
• Everest comes with a set of predefined report
  templates which can be customized.
• Creating New Reports
• New reports can be created using the Report
  Wizard.
• Modifying the Report using Member Selector
• Once you have created the structure of a report,
  you can easily change the specific dimension
  members by using the Member Selector, located on
  the eTools menu.
• Everest will retrieve the data for the new member
  from the database when you refresh the report.

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Analysis Reporting

• Modifying the Report by changing the Current View
• A report can be modified by changing members in
  the Current View.
• Saving Reports
• Regardless of whether you create a new report
  using the Report Wizard or modify an existing
  report template, you can save these reports
  locally for use at a later time.
• Saving Reports as templates
• If you modify an existing report template or
  create a custom report you can save it locally as
  a template for future use.

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Analysis Reporting

• Modifying report templates
• Only Application Administrators can save
  templates on the server.
• All users can modify a template and save it
  locally for their own use.

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The EvGTS Function

• EVGTS- stands for Get value and scale
• EVGTS retrieves a data value based on the
  specified members and scales according to the
  scale property of the dimension.
• If the scale property is Y, then EVGTS uses the
  scale factor in the "ScaleValue" parameter. If
  the scaling property in the Account-type
  dimension is "N", no scaling occurs regardless of
  the scale value assigned to this function.
• If the same member name is used in more than one
  dimension, the dimension must be specified. Use
  the syntax as follows "DimensionMember"
• Example
• EVGTS("Finance",1, "AccountSales",
  "EntitySales", "2005.Jan", "Actual")
• Result The value is returned from the database.

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The Control Panel

• The Control Panel is the mechanism by which you
  control the dimensions, expansions, and scaling
  for reports.
• When you build a report from a report wizard, it
  has a control panel built in.
• A standard Everest report built using an Everest
  template can be used to quickly create ad-hoc
  reports using the control panel.
• When you use the Control Panel, you can create
  reports and schedules by choosing dimensions and
  row/column expansion settings from a list, rather
  than knowing details about the underlying Everest
  custom formulas.

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The Control Panel
Row and Column Dimension Setting
Page Dimension settings
Filter property
Row and Column CV member
Level down settings
Suppress Zero option
Property value
Expansion On/Off
Scaling option
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Publishing Reports to the Web

• You can make any report created in WebExcel
  available in MyEverest through a browser.
• Where you publish a report will depend on your
  level within your organization and the type of
  report being published.

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Publishing Reports to the Web

• Reports published to the web are stored in one of
  four folders
• Application set folder
• The highest level of visibility, reports
  published here are available to everyone who is a
  registered user of the application set.
• Publishing rights to this folder are usually
  restricted to executives.
• Sites folders
• Reports published here are available to all users
  that have access to the applicable Site.
• Application folders
• Reports published here are available to all
  registered users of the application.
• Your private folder
• Reports published here are available only to you.

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MyEverest

• MyEverest is your gateway to resources on the web
  to information from both Everest and other
  sources.
• MyEverest keeps you in touch with
  up-to-the-minute corporate information, including
  the latest published reports that relate to your
  unit.
• It allows you to collaborate with other managers,
  supervisors, and subordinates, and to track the
  status of your budget or forecast submissions
  through the corporate approval process.
• Depending on your company's needs there may be
  multiple desktops available to you.

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MyEverest Desktops

• The Company Desktop can be accessed by all users
  of the application set. It can only be customized
  by Administrators.
• MyDesktop is available to you for displaying
  information pertinent to your job. You determine
  the information displayed.
• Web Publications can be added to the desktops
  which is a window in which you can display
  published information. You can have up to 30
  web publications in each page on your desktop.

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Current View

• The CurrentView can be displayed on each
  MyEverest page.
• The CurrentView is made up of selected dimension
  members in an application.
• The CurrentView displays only those dimension
  members to which you have access.
• The CurrentView controls the information
  displayed in the Approval Status Board and
  information in reports that are published
  dynamically. It does this by retrieving only data
  relevant to the current dimension members
  selected in the CurrentView bar.

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The Collaboration Forum

• The Collaboration Forum allows guidelines,
  expectations, supporting documentation, or any
  other important information to be communicated
  throughout the organization.
• This feature is unique in that it allows a full
  range of document types, including Word, Excel,
  PowerPoint, etc. to be included.

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The Collaboration Forum

• Collaboration Forum
• Contains the following components
• Bulletin Board
• Approval Status Board
• Supporting document Board
• The information displayed in the Collaboration
  Forum is controlled by changing the Current View
  category.
• The Collaboration Forum is a standard part of
  every MyEverest Desktop.

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The Bulletin Board

• Everest provides a Bulletin Board for posting
  information relevant to a task (budgeting for
  example).
• The Bulletin Board facilitates information
  sharing by providing a centralized place to post
  (store) documents.
• In the budgeting process, there is information
  that is of vital importance to those involved in
  creating and submitting budgets.
• This information may be budget guidelines,
  timelines or templates, to be used to complete
  the budget.

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The Bulletin Board

• Rather than email this information to everyone,
  it can be posted on the Bulletin board.
• Everyone who needs this information can simply go
  to the Bulletin Board and locate it.
• When you post documents to the Bulletin Board,
  you have the option of notifying the recipients
  of the new bulletin, via e-mail.

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QUIZ PLACEHOLDER
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End of Session 1

• Thank You!
• Have a nice day