Sending Workbooks to Data Providers

  To send data collection workbooks to data providers:

  1. In the Analysis Workbench, click a data collection scenario name.

  2. In the Scenario Data Collection section, perform an action:

    • Click E-mail icon to send a data collection workbook to an individual data provider.

    • Click Send All to send a data collection workbook to all data providers.

      Each data provider receives a different version of the data collection workbook containing the data provider’s current forecast data. Data providers do not see each other forecast data unless the provider is also the analysis owner, a participant, or an approver for the scenario.

  3. In the Send Data Collection Form dialog box, select the template to use for the e-mail sent to data providers and enter the requested information:

    • Base Template—Default template for the e-mail, including information about the data providers, cc list, subject, and message. With the exception of data providers (which are read-only), you can add or edit the information and click Send. When you click Send, you are asked whether to save the template as a user template.

    • User Template—Last saved user template. If no user template is saved, the default base template is displayed.

When data providers receive a data collection workbook from an analysis owner, they should:

  1. Open the data collection workbook in Excel.

  2. Review and update workbook data using the existing format for data entries.

  3. Save changes to the workbook file in Excel.

  4. (Optional) Contact the analysis owner by replying to the original e-mail message.

  5. Return the updated workbook (.xls file) as an e-mail attachment.

    When an updated workbook is received, the Integrated Operational Planning server adds a set of data staging and loading jobs to the job queue.

    Note:

    You can preview and send data collection workbooks only for scenarios in the In Progress state. The workbook file name is automatically generated with the file extension .xls. The file name is different for each data provider.