Overview
Today’s organizations must manage performance expectations and make timely tactical adjustments in order to achieve strategic goals and maintain stakeholder confidence. To do this, they must be able to forecast the future as quickly and accurately as possible. Unfortunately, the forecasting process often is rendered ineffective by subjectivity and game-playing. Enterprising companies leverage technology to forecast objectively, quickly, and accurately and strengthen their overall performance management (PM).
Infor CPM Forecasting enables you to quickly gather pipeline and other detailed information from your field sales organizations around the world, consolidate and analyze the information at a summary and detailed level, and compare the forecast to an objective, time-series statistical benchmark based on past performance, product trends, and seasonal patterns.
This solution requires no statistical expertise because the forecasting engine embedded in the software selects the optimum statistical technique to analyze the data you specify. You can generate rolling forecasts, check the accuracy of submitted plans, and receive automatic alerts that allow you to easily spot and quickly take action on issues as they arise.
Forecasting from Infor helps you achieve a more accurate picture of future performance while simplifying this important task.
Streamline the process—quickness
Infor’s Forecasting solution helps you reduce the amount of time it takes to collect forecast information across your organization and around the world at the level of detail you require. You can collect data as frequently as needed over the web, through Microsoft® Excel®, or through other business systems. You can even load data directly from source systems or data warehouses. Then, simply choose the data on which to base the forecast and the number of future periods to be included, and let the software do the work for you in just minutes.
Ensure realistic results—objectivity
Forecasting’s sophisticated engine selects for you the optimum method for data analysis, such as Holt-Winters, exponential smoothing, and Box Jenkins. Using the statistically accurate benchmarks created by Forecasting, you can test the likely accuracy of your employee-submitted forecasts and reduce game-playing. You also can use this objective forecast to jump-start your budgeting process.
Infor’s solution lets you forecast not only at a summary level, but also at a detailed level, such as by product line, region, or sales channel. Forecasting from Infor helps you gain a true picture of likely performance because it reveals trends and seasonal patterns in the series being forecast, and enables you to eliminate one-time or unusual events that skew your view.
Adjust actions to achieve goals—agility
Forecasting from Infor allows you to shift planning away from less accurate historical budgeting and forecasting, and move toward continuous predictive modeling, automatically adjusting the revenue targets to meet your goals as each period closes and a new period rolls forward. By also enabling trend analysis, generating early-warning email alerts, and supporting “what if” scenario planning, Forecasting helps you identify problems and opportunities in time to modify business behavior and achieve organizational goals. A status monitor gives you a visual overview of individual forecast submissions and how they impact the company’s overall forecasting process.