User:Kubek15/Planners Lab

Overview
The Planners Lab is a modeling and visualization application written and distributed by GRWStudios for Microsoft Windows. It operates as both a desk top application and as a web product. It features model building using simple algebraic equations and drag and drop visualization. The product was released in 2006.

Successful financial planning is a critical success factor for every organization. The Planners Lab (PL) is not restricted to financial planning, but this is a primary focus. Example applications include strategic planning, financial planning, capital budgeting, balanced scorecards, engineering project investment analysis, merger and acquisition analysis, and sales forecasting. Planners Lab models are written in an algebraic style in the user's native language.

The Planners Lab is software for building Decision Support Systems (DSS). DSS is defined in many different ways depending upon the speaker or author. We define DSS as tools, processes, and methods for rehearsing the future. This is a term coined by Dr. Peter Keen, the founder of the DSS movement.

In the early days of DSS there was a highly successful software product called the Interactive Financial Planning System (IFPS) from Execucom Systems Corporation in Austin, Texas. IFPS had a modeling language similar to that of the Planners Lab. During its era, IFPS was the dominant software package to support the teaching of Decision Support Systems (DSS) in over 250 Universities around the world. It was also the dominant DSS software product for corporate and government financial planning.

The basic components of the Planners Lab are (1) an easy to use algebraically-oriented model-building language and (2) easy to use state of the art options for visualizing model output and answers to what-if and goal-seek questions; that is, to analyze results of changes in assumptions. The combination of these components allows business managers and analysts to build, review and challenge the assumptions that underlie decision making scenarios.

The Planners Lab supports easy query of SQL data bases and Excel files containing historical data to automatically feed Planners Lab models. Such data can be useful as a starting point to simulate the future.

History
The founder of the Planners Lab software previously developed and distributed the Interactive Financial Planning System (IFPS). IFPS was very popular as a main frame product in the 1980’s and was the dominant financial planning system for academics, businesses, and government. The Planners Lab has a modeling language similar to IFPS.

Modeling Assumptions
Modeling assumptions are in the form of algebraic equations and in the model builders own words. This form of model building is different than spreadsheet applications where computations are described in cells in a matrix with column and row references. The assumptions in English or other native language are always visible. The software is a general application and not limited to any specific application however templates can be built, saved and shared.

Visualization
Visualization of model outputs is performed by dragging a chart type icon onto the stage and then dragging and dropping variable names onto an empty chart type. This style of interactive visualization is done “on the fly” including asking what if and goal seek type questions. Layouts of any combination of chart types can be created and saved for use as an interactive dashboard which is useful for management presentation. Since the data source is a simulation model any changes in any assumptions automatically updates any charts affected by the changes.

Export to Excel
Models can be exported to create live Excel spreadsheets, i.e., not a table with static numbers. Changes in Excel spreadsheets can be imported to update the assumptions in a Planners Lab model.