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Common High-Level Forecast Usage Scenarios

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The following scenarios are examples of situations in which you may want to forecast. Each specific situation discusses in general terms what steps an administrator and end user would perform to forecast a certain way. Each scenario is not detailed enough to allow you to perform each task. You should use this section to gain an understanding of how forecasts work with regard to the data you want to analyze.

Opportunity Forecasting

Users often need a sales pipeline and actuals to proactively manage key deals, allocate sales resources, manage sales costs, and respond to competitive or industry trends.

Forecast Requirements

Opportunity management
Use of sales methodology

Administrator Usage Scenario

The administrator defines a WW Sales forecast series. The Auto Forecast Search Spec is set as follows: [Calculated Primary Flag] = 'Y'. This search pulls opportunity level revenue items into the forecast.

End User Revenue Scenario

Add a new opportunity.
Maintain relevant opportunity data consistent with your company's sales methodology, for example, sales stage, revenue class, and probability.
(Optional) Use revenue type attributes in each revenue item to add booked, billed, and actual status as revenue data is actualized over time. End users can use revenue class attributes to add service/hardware/software attributes for each revenue item.

End User Forecast Scenario

Create a new WW Sales forecast.
In the Details view, end users can see opportunities they are working on being automatically pulled into their forecast.
Make adjustments and view adjustment history.
Submit the forecast.

Service Forecasting

Often end users need a service pipeline, backlog, and actuals for capacity planning, resource allocation, and service product planning.

Forecast Requirements

The forecast needs to include revenue scheduling, spreadsheets, services as products, easy to add recurring revenues, as well as forecasts that pull scheduled revenue into the correct time buckets.

Administrator Usage Scenario

The administrator defines a service forecast series. The Auto Forecast Search Spec is set as follows: [Product] IS NOT NULL and [Calculated Primary Flag] = 'N'. This search pulls revenue line items that have a product indicated into the forecast.

End User Revenue Scenario

Create a new opportunity or project.
Associate and create revenues using revenue scripts or revenue plans to establish a revenue group ID.
Use the revenue spreadsheet to view and maintain revenues over the scheduled time. As revenues become backlog or actuals they should be updated by the practice manager.
Use revenue charts and reports to graphically display data and to perform ad hoc analysis.

End User Forecast Scenario

Create a service forecast.
In the Details view, use the spreadsheet and chart views to evaluate and adjust scheduled revenues.
Use predefined queries to see details by service.
Submit the forecast.

Product Level Forecast

Often end users need product level forecasts for demand planning (product and quantities), revenue management (price and revenue), margin management (cost and margin analysis), operations planning (inventory and demand) and product marketing decisions (product mix, discount analysis, and pricing strategies).

Forecast Requirements

Need to associate multiple products to one opportunity or account; need the ability to auto-quote from opportunity revenues; need spreadsheet-like functionality to manage recurring revenue products or milestone-based product deliveries; need the ability to add product price, quantity, cost and margin; and need to see product hierarchy.

Administrator Usage Scenario

The administrator defines a product forecast series. The Auto Forecast Search Spec is set as follows: [Product] IS NOT NULL and [Calculated Primary Flag] = 'N'. This search pulls product revenue line items that have a product indicated into the forecast.

End User Revenue Scenario

Create a new opportunity or account.
Associate and create product revenue line items using the New Record command, revenue scripts, or revenue plans.
Use the revenue list or spreadsheet views to edit and maintain product revenues. Add values in the following fields: Qty, Cost, Margin, Price, and Product Line.
Use revenue charts and reports to graphically display data and to perform ad hoc analysis. For example, create charts and reports with parameters of:
Quantity by product line by month

OR

Margin by product by quarter

End User Forecast Scenario

Create a product forecast.
In the Details view, use the spreadsheet and chart views to evaluate and adjust product revenues.
Uses forecast detail filters to see details by product.
Use charts and reports to perform analysis.
Submit the forecast.

NOTE:  To rollup total quantity, the administrator needs to expose the quantity rollup in the total forecast. This is a simple configuration procedure.

Cost-Margin Forecast

The company emphasizes cost and margin analysis in product planning and sales strategy. The company wants to use cost and margin analysis to drive lifetime value.

Forecast Requirements

End users want to evaluate costs and margins on each opportunity or product revenue to determine the value of a deal. There is a need to evaluate these costs and margins over a series of scheduled revenues, as some opportunities may lose money initially, but over the long term are highly profitable.

Administrator Usage Scenario

The administrator defines a product cost/margin forecast series. The Auto Forecast Search Spec is set as follows: [Product] IS NOT NULL and [Calculated Primary Flag] = 'N'. This search pulls product revenue line items that have a product indicated into the forecast.

End User Revenue Scenario

Create a new opportunity or account.
Associate and create product revenue line items using the New Record command, Revenue Scripts, or Revenue Plans.
Instead of adding just revenue information, end users should add cost data for every product added.
Using the revenue spreadsheet view, end users can view each product and its cost and margin expectations by month or week. These cost and margins can be modified accordingly and can be graphically viewed using the Charts view.

NOTE:  The spreadsheet needs to be configured so that Cost and Margin are exposed for each date.

End User Forecast Scenario

Create a new product cost/margin forecast.
In Forecast Details they see the revenues they are working on automatically pulled into their forecast.
End users can view the total revenue expected from each of these revenues from the Forecast Details list view or they can see the cost and margin expectations over time for each product using the spreadsheet view.
View a graphical presentation of this data using the Charts view or by creating reports.
They can adjust and submit the forecast.

NOTE:  This scenario requires minor configuration to the revenue spreadsheet view to see the Cost and Margin by each date. For more information about configuring the revenue spreadsheet view, see Revenue and Forecast Spreadsheet Configuration (Administrator).

Worst, Expected, Best (WEB) Forecasts

Sometimes there is a need for WEB analysis to evaluate the current state of business and to better allocate sales resources. WEB analysis examines the values in the following fields: Worst Case, Expected Revenues, and Best Case.

Forecast Requirements

Company wants to evaluate each opportunity, product revenue, or service revenue using WEB analysis.

Administrator Usage Scenario

The administrator defines a WEB forecast series. The Worst Case, Expected Revenue, and Best Case data is preconfigured to be pulled into the forecast.

End User Revenue Scenario

Create a new opportunity or account and associate the Worst Case, Expected Revenue, and Best Case values to the opportunity revenue or the associated product revenue.

End User Forecast Scenario

Create a new WEB forecast which automatically pulls in the correct revenues with their WEB data and rolls up that data into a WEB.
Adjust and submit forecast.

Partner Forecast Option I: Partner Portal

A partner's revenues are a large part of a company's overall revenues, and they want to be more proactive in managing such revenues, measuring the partners, and allocating resources to the channel partners.

Forecast Requirements

The company needs to incorporate partner opportunities and revenues into forecasts automatically.

Administrator Usage Scenario

The administrator defines the WW Sales forecast series. The Auto Forecast Search Spec is set up as follows to include partner revenues: [Partner] IS NOT NULL and [Committed] = 'Y'. The administrator makes sure the correct participant's name or organization is associated with the forecast series. For more information, see Siebel Partner Relationship Management Administration Guide.

End User Revenue Scenario

Partner enters revenues using the Partner Portal and creates appropriate opportunities and product revenues.
Partner can create scheduled revenues and use the charts view to see data graphically.

End User Forecast Scenario

Partner creates a standard forecast as if he or she were part of the sales force, WW Sales.
Partner makes adjustments and submits the forecasts to his or her appropriate internal partner manager.
Partner manager creates his or her own forecast.
Partner manager reviews, and adjusts the partner's forecast (which is automatically pulled into the partner manager's forecast), and submits it.

For more information, see Siebel Partner Relationship Management Administration Guide.

Partner Forecast Option II: Triggered by Partner Manager

In some instances, a partner's revenues are a large part of a company's revenues and the company needs to be more proactive in managing these revenues, measuring the partners, and allocating resources to the channels partners.

Forecast Requirements

Company needs to incorporate partner opportunities and revenues into forecasts using an internal source, such as a partner manager, to minimize partner's responsibilities.

Administrator Usage Scenario

The administrator defines the partner forecast series. The Auto Forecast Search Spec is set up as follows: [Partner] IS NOT NULL OR [Opportunity Primary Organization Partner Flag] = 'Y'. For more information, see Siebel Partner Relationship Management Administration Guide. Then, the administrator makes sure the partner manager is associated with the forecast and that the partner manager's positional hierarchy rolls up correctly for the forecast process.

End User Revenue Scenario

Partner revenues are entered by the partner manager or imported into the Siebel application.
Partner manager then maintains and manage the partner specific revenues in the Partner > Revenues view or the Account or Opportunity > Revenues view.

End User Forecast Scenario

Partner manager can create his or her partner forecast or sales forecast and the partner revenues are automatically pulled into the forecast.
Partner manager can review, adjust, and submit the forecast to his or her manager.

For more information, see Siebel Partner Relationship Management Administration Guide.

Opportunity Product Forecasting

A company needs to forecast both opportunity and product revenues related to opportunities, but only wants to see forecast details by opportunity.

Administrator Usage Scenario

The administrator defines an opportunity product forecast series. The Auto Forecast Search Spec is set as follows: [Product] IS NOT NULL and [Calculated Primary Flag] = 'N'. This search pulls product revenue line items that have a product indicated into the forecast.

End User Revenue Scenario

Create a new opportunity.
Associate and create product revenue line items using either the New Record command, revenue scripts, or revenue plans.
Use the Revenues list or spreadsheet views to edit and maintain product revenues (add quantity, cost, margin, price, and product line).
Use revenue charts and reports to graphically display data and to perform ad hoc analysis. For example, create charts and reports with the parameters revenue by opportunity or quantity by opportunity.

End User Forecast Scenario

Create an opportunity product forecast.
In the Details view, use the spreadsheet and chart views to evaluate and adjust product revenues.
Use charts and reports to view product revenues by opportunity and to see aggregates of product quantity and revenue by opportunity.
Use queries to view live forecast details by opportunity. Preconfigured, these queries are set up to query by product.
Adjust and submit forecasts.

NOTE:  To rollup total quantity, the administrator needs to expose the quantity rollup in the total forecast. This is a simple configuration procedure. Also to use the forecast queries to filter opportunities, the administrator needs to configure this.

Weighted Average—Expected Revenue Forecast

End users often have a large set of opportunities or products and want to manage total forecast by evaluating the probability of each deal.

Forecast Requirements

The company wants to perform expected value forecasting using revenue, probabilities (driven by sales stages), and expected revenue.

Administrator Usage Scenario

The administrator defines an expected revenue forecast series. The forecast series search definition depends on the specific data need. Critical to the success of this method is the need for the sales operations team to clearly define the following:

Proper sales stages.
The criteria necessary to move with the next sales stage.
The probabilities that should be associated with each sales stage. Sales operations need to modify the probabilities as the process and market environment change.
A method for managers and sales representatives to keep these sales stages accurate.

End User Revenue Scenario

Create a new opportunity or revenue items.
Associate the proper sales stage with each opportunity or revenue item. The probabilities should be automatically created and the expected revenue is automatically calculated.

End User Forecast Scenario

End user creates a new expected revenue forecast which automatically pulls in the correct revenues with his or her probabilities, sales stages, and expected revenues.
User adjusts and submits forecast.

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