Best Of

Featuring: Fethi Zerara, FP&A Consultant and Community Captain

Learning how to use Board is a journey but one that can yield truly incredible results. This installment of the Community 3 Questions series is a conversation with one of our more experienced members, Fethi Zerara, as he shares his thoughts on the Board platform and lets us know some of the exciting projects his team is working on. Take note of the valuable insight and advice Fethi gives us, and find out how learning to use Board shares some of the same principles as learning how to use math!

Quick reference:
0:35 What makes Board unique?
3:03 What are your Board-related innovative ideas in progress?
4:28 What advice do you have?

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We are pleased to announce that the Board 14.3 release is here! 🚀 

The new Board 14.3 release includes significant improvements for Developers, Administrators, and Planners (End Users). Board 14.3 proudly introduces new improvements to the Flex Grid Object, including the additions of Data Entry, a Detail By-like feature called “Column By”, Range Charts, and Drill Down. The new Board Signals add-on is also incorporated into the Board Platform. Makers configure Screens more easily and faster with less clicks and Slides with improved Notes, while end users have more helpful interactions like Print and Export as well as tracking changes in a Presentation. Please find all the enablement materials linked below.

What to expect in the new Board 14.3 release 

Improved features to Board’s new Flex Grid Object 

With 14.3 we are enhancing significantly the Flex Grid object to deliver the following benefits to our users: 

• Uncompromising performance, delivering a superior solution compared to any other grid table on the market. 
• Intuitive experience, similar to working with an Excel Pivot Table. 
• Spreadsheet-like approach, offering unmatched flexibility and empowering end-users. 

In particular, in this version we are adding to Flex Grid the following: 

• Spreadsheet-like Planning is now possible on a Flex Grid 
• Bottom up and top down data entry is now possible, including new interactions like  Data Entry on Row Headers  
• Flex Grid now supports ROLAP and BLOB type Cubes 
• Introducing the "By Column” feature which is a largely enhanced version of the Data View “Detail by” 
• Drill Anywhere is now possible on a Flex Grid , and the resulting drilled view will also be displayed as a Flex Grid. 
• Enhanced Range charts, empowering users to create self-service charts 
• Other Flex Grid small enhancements, like a new Filters tab on the Flex Grid object makes filtering much easier 

Presentations enhanced for corporate reporting 

• Enhanced Notes, allowing customizable type and an enhanced editor 
• Introducing Custom Changes Tracking so users can track what changes have been made to a Slide that is not in the original Screen 
• Metadata Transparency 
• Enhancements to creating a new Slide from a Screen and from a Presentation 

The new Board Signals add-on 

• This add-on provides industry-tailored solutions to improve economic insight analyses  
• Signals provides you with pre-packaged Capsule containing economic indicators that can be added to existing applications to enhance forecasts, identify emerging trends, and help make informed decisions  

Other Improvements for the Planner experience 

• Print and Export 
• Selector interaction improvements 
• Session Expiration improvements 

Other Improvements for Admin and Developers 

• @ProcedureID Substitution Formula  
• Admin Portal access and UI improvements 
• New APIs to read and extract audit logs 

Main new features to Flex Grid 

Flex Grid Data Entry now allows you to leverage the power of the Flex Grid Object and incorporate data entry at any level. In particular, differently from the Data View, Flex grid now allows an intuitive and spreadsheet-like interface for bottom-up planning exercises using Data Entry capabilities in combination with Pivot Mode, filtering, sorting and many other functionalities.  The By Column addition to the Layout Editor of the Flex Grid object allows for more flexible representation of datasets and by columns break down of data. It offers capabilities similar to the Detail By feature found in a Data View, however it takes this to the next level with the possibility to have multiple entities as column groups, expand/collapse interactions, management of totals at each level and maximum flexibility in headers display. 

Flex Grid Data Entry on Cells and Row Headers 

Flex Grid now offers Data Entry both on the cells and the Row Headers, providing powerful leverage to Planners in order to add individual changes at the member level or make bulk changes to data quickly. Benefits include: 

• Simplification. Data Entry on Row Headers removes the requirement for complex data model configurations to achieve the same use cases (e.g. new products management, 0-based budgeting, etc.) 
• Full Spreadsheet like experience. Every cell is editable, which makes data entry on values and totals very easy and intuitive 
• Efficiency. The ability to change large attributes of datasets, saves Planners valuable time 

Flex Grid By Column 

Flex Grid now introduces the new feature "By Column" which gives users more data display flexibility. Benefits include: 

• Data display flexibility. More flexibility in breaking down data by column, displaying the headers, deciding how to show totals allowing users to achieve the data display that best fits their needs 
• Interactive. More expand/collapse interactions are now possible 

Enhanced Flex Grid Range Charts 

Flex Grid's Range Charts have improved with the following key benefits: 

• Improved Insights  
  • Enhanced data visualization leads to better understanding of trends and patterns 
  • Aggregated functions provide quick summary views of complex datasets 
• Customization  
  • Greater flexibility in chart appearance and data representation 
  • User-driven chart creation enables end users to generate custom visualizations on the fly for specific scenarios, empowering self-service exploration 

Flex Grid Drill Down and Drill Anywhere 

Drill Down and Drill Anywhere for Flex Grid are now possible. The drill-down functionality integrates smoothly with the spreadsheet-like experience of the Flex Grid, offering an intuitive interface for analyzing data in greater depth, providing the following benefits: 

• Interactive Data exploration. Users can easily explore deeper layers of data directly within a Flex Grid without navigating away from it 
• Simplified navigation of complex hierarchies. Users can easily drill into any type of data structure with clarity and precision 
• Enhanced drill flexibility. The drill down on a Flex Grid is opens another Flex Grid Object, allowing end users to use the pivoting functionalities also in the drill for an unmatched level of customization and insight 

Other enhancements 

In addition to the main features, Board 14.3 has numerous other enhancements to look forward to. Some of these improvements include: 

• Selector interaction improvements 
• Presentation improvements 
• Substitution Formula 
• Print and Export 
• Admin Portal 
• APIs for Audit Logs 

Board 14 Family FAQs 

Looking for answers? Read our FAQs about the Board 14 release (access under community log in).  

Board 14.3 Enablement Materials 

• Board has grown—and so has our Knowledge Base! Check out what’s changed and how to find the info you need.  
• Review the [Official] Board 14.3 Release Deck is attached at the end of this post.
• Find the Customer Webinar available on June 11th here. We’ll explore how we’ve reimagined the planning experience, with Board 14.3
• Explore the B14.3 training course here.
• Watch the detailed 14.3 enablement recording here:

Release Notes and Bug Fixes 

You can review the full Board 14.3 release notes now on the Board Knowledge Base as well as on the dedicated page here on Community. Read more details about the most recent bug fixes on our Community’s dedicated page.     

Install Files  

To download the latest installer files, please visit the Board 14.3 Download page. You must sign in to view and download the files.   

Upgrade Instructions  

The upgrade instructions are the same for 14.1. Visit the upgrade instructions page of the Board knowledge base to learn about the upgrade process. 

Review the Official Board 14.3 Release Deck below!

Author: Lucas Charello is a Community Captain and Senior Board Consultant at Kiwika.

Hello, Community! My name is Lucas Charello, and I’ve been working at Kiwika for almost three years as a Senior Board Consultant and Project manager. Today, I’m excited to bring up a big topic that is sometimes overlooked: The importance of documentation during the delivery process and how this helps to drive the project to a long-term success. More specifically, having a good Bill of Delivery document will be the difference between a smooth and error-proof deployment and a problematic and unreliable one. It also may be the difference between having a good or a bad relationship with a customer.

So, imagine this quite common situation: You and your coworkers spent weeks or months creating new features or a whole new module in your dev environment. You went through all necessary testing, everything works and visuals look good. Now comes the critical time of deploying all that hard work for the first round of testers, and that task is assigned to you alone. The delivery is due in a few days, and the customer wants to reduce application downtime as much as possible as they constantly need to use the application etc.

Well, at this point you remember you didn’t have good visibility about the work done by your coworkers, and it’s been a while since the last time you made a deployment. Depending on your experience level and your coworker's discipline in documentation, this can feel like a challenging situation. Hopefully, you and your coworkers agreed to consistently fill a “Bill of Delivery,” and it will be your path to a stress-free deployment!

A Bill of Delivery can be an official deliverable document containing all details about a delivery, or it can be made and used internally for organizational purposes. As different companies may have different requirements when defining official documents, here we will focus on non-official organizational purposes. A good Bill of Delivery will drastically reduce the chances of error during implementation and optimize the application downtime.

From this perspective, the Bill of Delivery I suggest using is composed of:

1. A general summary describing the whole go-live process, naming each step in a simple and understandable way.
2. Specific sections explaining each of those steps in detail. Some steps are standard, and others may change every time the document is used.
3. One or multiple “Deployment procedures” created directly inside the concerned BOARD application. Those procedures will be responsible for reliably creating data in the other instances of Board.
4. All the previous points should be organized in a chronological way so they can be used as a step-by-step procedure.
5. A header, generally on the first page, describing the scope and the author(s) of the document.

Some of those topics may need a deeper dive—here we go:

Topic number three can use a deeper explanation for beginners: The main tool we have for deployment, the “ALM Transporter package”, is used to create data structures inside one database of the instance in which we deploy. Ex: Cubes, Procedures, Data Readers, etc. However, new cubes and entities will be empty in the new instance. If you need key cubes or key entities to be populated, you have two choices:

• Manually populate the structures. This may be adapted if a very low volume of manual operations is needed. Example: A single member should be added to an already existing key entity. If you use this method, you must document it very well. It’s QUITE easy to forget this kind of step during a massive deployment.
• Create one or more “Deployment procedures” containing Data Readers and Dataflows. The sole purpose of those procedures will be to populate cubes and entities during the next few deployments. It’s especially useful when deploying several entities and/or several key setup cubes. They can be capsule procedures or database procedures. Always remember to test those procedures prior to a delivery. I like to name them “Deployment procedure_Projet Name”.

Quick tip 1: I use Deployment procedures as much as I can because I simply love the fact that I can have one of the most important parts of a deployment done by only clicking a button! I populate my key setup cubes and entities via a deployment procedure since the very first time I use them in the dev instance. In that way I kill two birds with one stone: The cube is populated, and the procedure is tested.

Quick tip 2: I prefer to build my deployment procedures as Capsule procedures. I make them inside a Test capsule so I can easily move between instances without a problem. In this way it’s easier to deploy as we don’t need to make a DB Transporter.

Topic number four: The chronological order could vary following companies’ best practices. Here is an example that works for me, along with some specific information:

• Header.
• Summary.
• Deployment preparation: Everything you should do before the deployment. This step revolves around Backups. Capsule backups, DB backups, where to store them, etc.
• Deployment: This is the moment in which you will be pulling the strings inside Board, so do not save words: Explain all steps as well as you can! I would always mention the following sections as well as the order in which they should be performed:
  • What to do before setting up the Transporter. Ex: Deployment procedures, transferring text files, etc.
  • Transporter Package setup: What to check or uncheck when creating the Transporter Package.
  • Transporter Package execution: When to launch it in chronological order.
  • Capsule delivery: Which capsules and when you should deliver them.
  • Deployment Procedures: When to launch them and in which order.
  • Manual data creation: When to do it.
  • Actions after executing the Transporter Package. It can contain Deployment procedures, visual verifications that entities are populated, checking screens, etc.
  • Any other action or commentary that could guide the deployment.
• Application reset. Sometimes it’s necessary to restart the Board Engine and Board Web Application and synchronize User definitions to Data Model to ensure that the application is running fine after a delivery. Some people prefer to do it right after the transporter, some do it after finishing the whole deployment phase. Refer to your expert about your company best practices.

If you and your team can put together all the points above, I can guarantee that your deliveries will be quick, smooth, and clean! I can tell it’s a real relief to open this kind of document to see that all the team has been disciplined and precise in their instructions. The perfect situation is when this document is completed collectively during the devs. In that way, the instructions are as specific and pertinent as possible. If some pieces are lacking during its first use, it’s also good to complete and proof the document during the deployment in the Test environment (s2 or other) so it will be the perfect path for a smooth deployment in Production (c1).

This article is all about removing obstacles during a deployment using documentation. The Bill of Delivery generates a win-win situation where the time spent writing instructions compensates for the time we may lose during a deployment and diminishes our reliance on human memory only. Also, the moments in which we are under pressure are the ones where we are most likely to have our memory failing. It’s also a win-win for the customer as errors and downtime are reduced.

Of course, this is not a complete nor a perfect guide. If you need more help with this subject or just if it interests you, please feel free to contact me. Also, I’m sure there is room for improvements in the guidelines I propose.

What do you do differently? Please share below so I can learn from you as well!

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Moving forward with an insider's lookback
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