Designing Extensibility On OneStream XF

Publication Date: 07/16/2019

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Designing extensibility in OneStream XF always relies on a couple of important things:

Consultants should know early on in the project by asking users which Business Units and Scenario Types are special and require different dimensionalities and workflows.

Certain Business Units can inherit and extend Dimensions for reporting or operational needs.
Business Units with their own special Dimensionality need to have their own special Entity Dimension and Cube.

The dimensionality that is required by the users and company for future phases or projects.

If a company decides they want a Phase 2, consultants must confirm if that phase needs detailed Dimensions or summary Dimensions (summary Dimensions must be created in the very beginning and before Phase 2 starts). If consultants are not sure if later Phases will occur at design time, Budget and Actual Dimensions will be locked at the same reporting level.

WHAT CAN EXTENSIBLE DIMENSIONS DO?

The following are all actions that Extensible Dimensions can do:

Without removing members, Extensible Dimensions can only extend the inherited Dimension.
Extensible Dimensions can extend Base Members (thus making them Parents in the extended Dimensions).
The ability to create New Parents/Children under an inherited Base Member.
The ability to create alternate hierarchies. This happens when the new Parent is created in the extended Dimensions and referencing the inherited Members below that new parent.

WHAT CAN'T EXTENSIBLE DIMENSIONS DO?

The following are all actions that Extensible Dimensions can't do:

They can not extend inherited Base Members and then create a new Parent to try inheritance again. This creates an error message.
They can not edit Member Properties on any inherited Members.

Please Note: Inherited dimensions can't change an extended Base Member into a Parent and they can not see extended Members in their Dimension.

GENERIC EXTENSIBILITY QUESTIONNAIRE

Below is an example of what kind of questions you should consider asking users on Extensibility:

Will business processes be modeled at different granularities or levels? (Yes, No)
Will there be Business Units that engage in a multitude of diverse operating activities? (Yes, No)
Will it be important for users to see Business Unit specific management reporting? (Yes, No)
Do any model Dimensions contain performance sensitive nouns? (Yes, No)

Please Note: The total amount of questions you can ask your clients is not limited to just these 4. Instead, think of this list as a beginning spot on what kinds of questions you should consider asking.

RUNNING A DESIGN SESSION FOR EXTENSIBILITY

The main goal of a design session for extensibility is to define the lowest common dimensions and extension points (horizontal/vertical extension points, large and sparse partition points, etc.).

Consultants will go through each Scenario Type and ask users which level each Account Dimension is collected on. The consultants will then go through each Business Unit and ask users if the Unit is different from other Units, and if this Unit can extend Account Level Dimensions. The last topic that consultants will go over are the proposed Models. Consultants will ask users if the model contains large sparse trigger Dimensions, if the company will consolidate large amounts of data, and if the model has Attribute Type Dimensions that will change over time.

Usually, consultants should be prepared to build and demo a skeleton model to show users for validation.

NEED HELP?

Need help implementing OneStream XF? No worries - our consultants at Paradigm SES are well-versed in EPM software and can help your company successfully implement OneStream XF. Feel free to contact us for more information and details. A consultant will get back to you shortly.