2Overview of Forecasting
Overview of Forecasting
This chapter provides an introduction to Oracle’s Siebel Forecasting including a summary of its key features and the screens involved in forecasting. It includes the following topics:
About Siebel Forecasting
Siebel Forecasting allows customers to manage their revenues across each channel and to take periodic forecast snapshots of those revenues as they mature. The Revenues screen and views allow for straightforward pipeline management. They allow a sales professional, sales manager, or sales executive to retrieve revenue information in real time. The Forecasts screen is used to create new forecasts, that is, snapshots of live revenue records, and to then analyze and evaluate those saved forecasts over time.
The total forecast process encompasses a range of activities across many organizations. The business requirements, and the approaches to forecasting can vary dramatically from time-to-time and division-to-division. While forecasting can involve only a simple query in some companies, it can be a planning process in other companies. Forecasting can be very high level in some organizations, and very detailed in other organizations. For example, for some organizations, margin is a critical element of forecasting. For other organizations, it is revenue that matters, or the quantity of a product to be built, the quantity of product to be shipped, the monthly bookings, or the quarterly billings. Siebel Forecasting can address a wide range of forecasting requirements.
Forecasting Terms
The following table defines some terms that can be helpful as you learn about and use Siebel Forecasting.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
Forecast period |
The period of a forecast series from start date to end date, for example, quarterly. |
Interval period |
The period between creation of new forecasts; their frequency, for example, weekly. |
Product quantity forecasting |
Forecasting in which forecasts are aggregated according to specified fields, where each field is assigned a particular hierarchical level. Also known as multidimensional revenue forecasting. |
Roll up |
To sum details and synchronize totals with summaries. |
Summary period |
A length of time into which revenues are aggregated for each forecast in a series. The default summary period is the month. |
Summary revenue |
The sum of revenues in a forecast period. Each summary period has one summary revenue amount. |
Total forecast revenue |
The sum of each summary record. Each summary period is a summary record period. |
Key Features of Siebel Forecasting
Siebel Forecasting allows you to:
Report revenues by account, opportunity, product, product line, employee, partner, division, organization, or project. Users can add revenue data in a number of screens. For more information, see Revenues
Aggregate revenues by certain groups or dimensions, such as account, product line, or product. Siebel Forecasting provides a product quantity forecasting feature (also known as multidimensional forecasting) that allows the forecasting administrator to specify fields by which forecasts are aggregated. These fields are used to group the revenues into a hierarchy in the Summary view of forecasts. For example forecasts can be grouped by account by product line by product. This allows the creation of granular forecasts that fit business requirements. For more information, see Adding Aggregation Levels and Viewing the Forecast Summary.
Refresh forecasts with updates from subordinate forecasts. Often, managers must pull revenue data from their subordinates’ pipeline to create their forecast. Managers can initiate an update of their aggregate forecast, and automatically retrieve the updates that the subordinates have made since the last revision of the manager’s forecast. For more information, see Refreshing a Forecast.
Create snapshots of revenue information over time for historical analysis. Siebel Forecasting provides access to historical information from earlier forecasts. For more information, see Defining Forecast Series Dates.
Perform real-time analysis of revenues using charts and reports. Users can analyze their forecasts by using a chart view, or by using reports. For more information, see About Analyzing Forecasts.
Access projected margins, cost, best case, and worst case estimates. Users can create forecasts that include the costs associated with an opportunity, the calculated margin, and best case and worst case estimates of revenues. For more information, see Creating a Forecast, Cost-Margin Forecasting and Worst, Expected, Best (WEB) Forecasting.
Use multiple currencies and multiple organizations. Siebel Forecasting supports the use of multiple currencies across different divisions of an organization. For more information, see About Using the Currencies Table in Forecasting.
Define conversions between different units of measurement. Companies with global business models can use different units of measurement for the same product in different parts of their organization. Forecast participants can define a default unit of measurement for their forecasts and units of measurement are converted to the manager’s preferred unit of measurement when forecasts are rolled up. For more information, see About Using Units of Measurement in Forecasting and Setting Up Units of Measurement Conversion for Forecasting.
Perform auto-forecasts for absentee employees when appropriate. Siebel Forecasting supports the automatic creation of subordinate forecasts when a manager creates a forecast. For more information, see Forecast: Auto-Forecast System Preference.
Create recurring revenues by account, project, and opportunity. Users can define revenue templates recurring revenues by using SmartScripts. For more information, see Adding Multiple or Recurring Revenues Using SmartScripts (End User).
Create revenues using revenue templates. Administrators can create revenue templates for sales representatives and managers. Multiple revenue items can be generated using the revenue templates for a week, month, year, and so on. For more information, see Creating Revenue Plan Templates.
Update revenues in the Revenue screen. Users can update live revenue records with the current forecast updates. For more information, see Updating Revenues from a Forecast.
Update revenues with details. Users can update a forecast with a revenue item to apply the most recent adjustment in the live revenue records. For more information, see Updating a Forecast with a Revenue Item.
Split credit for sales revenue across multiple employee positions. Siebel Forecasting supports forecasting for revenues that are split between multiple sales representatives. For more information, see Adding a Split Revenue (End User).
Perform matrix revenue analysis and forecasting. Siebel Forecasting supports analysis and forecasting in sales teams that span organizations, groups, and divisions. For more information, see Matrix Sales Organization
Import and export data from the Revenues screen. Users can import and export revenue data and also export data from the Forecasts screen. For more information, see Importing and Exporting Forecast Information
Add an ad-hoc revenue line item to a forecast. Managers and sales representatives can add an ad-hoc revenue line item to a forecast, which is reflected both in the pipeline revenue and the forecast rollup. For more information, see Adding Ad-Hoc Revenue Line Items to a Forecast.
Create a forecast-specific hierarchy. Managers and sales representatives can define a forecast-specific hierarchy where they can roll up and submit forecasts to managers outside of their reporting hierarchy. For more information, see Setting Up Customer Adaptive Forecasting.
API driven forecasting. Users can generate a forecast through batch mode work flow. For more information, see API Driven Forecasting.
About Forecasting Screens
The following screens are used in Siebel Forecasting:
Administration - Forecast screen. Includes a Forecast Administration view, which allows you to create and define forecast series, and a Revenue Templates view, which allows you to create and define revenue templates. In the Forecast Administration view there are tabs for:
Forecast Series Dates. Includes the dates on which each forecast of a series occurs.
Forecast Series Participants. Includes the employees who participate in a forecast series.
Forecast Series Organizations. Includes any organizations that participate in a forecast.
Aggregation. Includes the aggregation fields and aggregation levels that are used in the Summary view of a forecast.
Revenues screen. Includes every revenue to which you have access. These revenues can be associated with opportunities, accounts, projects, and so on. When you add a revenue to a Revenues view in a screen such as Opportunities, it appears where you add it, and it appears in the Revenues screen. You can analyze your revenues from the Revenues screen without performing a forecast.
Forecasts screen. Includes your forecasts of revenues over time. From the Forecasts screen you can create new forecasts, adjust forecasts, unadjust forecasts, reject forecasts, submit forecasts, and perform analysis on your forecasts. A forecast includes the following views:
Summary. Includes summed totals for the periods specified in the forecast series, grouped according to the aggregation levels defined for the forecast series. You can view the summary as a list, as a tree structure, or as a chart.
Details. Includes revenue items queried into the forecast and in the case of a manager’s forecast, summary amounts for subordinates. You can view the details as a list, as a spreadsheet, or as a chart.
Subordinates. Includes a manager’s subordinate’s forecasts.
About Types of Forecasts
You can perform a number of different types of forecasts. Siebel Forecasting allows you to define summary depth, detail depth, or standard depth forecasts based on the level of information that managers and executives want to see about their subordinates’ revenues in their forecasts. The type of forecast set up determines whether users’ final adjustments must be completed in the Details view or the Summary view in the Forecasts screen. It also determines whether all subordinate line item details are visible to the manager or just the aggregate data. You can also define whether a forecast is a rollup, snapshot, or hybrid forecast.
About Detail, Summary, and Standard Forecast Types
A forecast can be detail depth, summary depth, or standard depth.
In a detail depth forecast, each revenue line item in the Details view in the Forecasts screen is rolled up through the reporting hierarchy. As a result, senior management has access to every forecast detail revenue item for their review. In this scenario, users need to make sure that adjustments are made in the Details view of the forecast. After adjusting the details, users must select Rollup to recalculate the modified forecast. To view the forecast details by periodic summary, use the Summary tab. Detail depth forecasts have a value of Revenue Detail in the Detail Depth field.
In a summary depth forecast, each record in the Summary view is rolled up to a user’s direct manager. As a result, a manager can see the detailed line item records that they own and the summary records of direct subordinates from the Details view in the forecast. Users can adjust detail records and click Rollup to calculate the modified forecast. They can then further adjust those records from the Summary view. Summary depth forecasts have a value of Summary Only in the Detail Depth field.
In a standard depth forecast, the manager can see a detailed view of all subordinate forecasts, including a roll up of any adjustments made from the Summary view. In this scenario, managers and sales representatives can see all revenue records in the Detail view, and Summary records in the Summary view. However, they can make revenue adjustments in the Summary view only. Standard depth forecasts have a value of Standard in the Detail Depth field.
For all forecast types (detail depth, summary depth, and standard depth), the Total Adjustment By Subordinate field displays a summation of the total revenue adjustments made by all subordinates in the forecast.
About Rollup, Corporate Snapshot, and Hybrid Forecast Types
A rollup forecast is one that moves up through a hierarchy. It involves many participants and facilitates sales and forecast management. A personal forecast with details is an example of a rollup forecast. For more information, see Creating a Personal Forecast Series with Details.
A corporate snapshot allows you to avoid forecasting altogether. It provides you with an instant way of seeing your revenues over time. A global forecast is an example of a corporate snapshot. For more information, see Creating a Global Forecast Series.
A hybrid forecast allows you to have more than one visibility in one forecast and thus to combine a rollup and snapshot forecast, if appropriate. For example, one manager does not want the team to create individual forecasts, but another does. A hybrid forecast allows both managers to forecast their own way; snapshot and rollup, and still roll up to their VP. For more information, see Creating a Hybrid Forecast Series.