ANALYTICAL PREVIEWING OF MULTI-DIMENSIONAL SALES TERRITORY PROPOSALS

• US 20110041089A1
• Filed: 08/16/2010
• Published: 02/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Chang, Francis, Colliat, George, Peng, Shih-Hsin, Lam, Yu Cong, Pimentel, Teodoro
• Granted Patent: US 8,510,659 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/771
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/067 Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for using multi-dimensional modeling techniques to handle analytical metrics and assignment previews, for example, in the context of territory proposals and what-if analyses. In some embodiments, a set of proposed territory definitions is generated in a territory management system to represent a hierarchical set of proposed territories each as a set of cells of a hypercube. A modification is received to the proposed territory definitions, and the proposed territory definitions are updated according to the modification. A query is received (e.g., at the territory management system via a user interface) and is executed against the proposed territory definitions in the territory management system to generate a query result. The query result is output to provide analytical metrics and/or assignment preview functionality.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

generating a set of proposed territory definitions in a territory management system, the set of proposed territory definitions representing a hierarchical set of proposed territories each as a set of cells of a hypercube, the hypercube defined according to a set of territory dimensions each having a set of dimension members, such that each cell represents an intersection of dimension members from each territory dimension, and at least some of the cells store metrics data corresponding to its intersection of the dimension members from each territory dimension;

receiving a modification to the proposed territory definitions at the territory management system via a user interface;

updating the proposed territory definitions in the territory management system according to the modification;

receiving a query at the territory management system via a user interface;

executing the query against the proposed territory definitions in the territory management system to generate a query result; and

outputting the query result from the territory management system via the user interface.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the hypercube is a production hypercube maintained in a production environment of the territory management system; and

updating the proposed territory definitions in the territory management system according to the modification is performed without affecting the production hypercube.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the hypercube is a stage hypercube maintained in a staging environment of the territory management system; and

updating the proposed territory definitions in the territory management system according to the modification comprises reconstructing the stage hypercube at least according to the modification.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein executing the query against the proposed territory definitions in the territory management system to generate the query result comprises:

identifying a queried territory and a queried metric according to the query;

identifying a queried set of cells of the hypercube corresponding to the queried territory;

generating an aggregation of at least some of the metrics data from the queried set of cells according to the queried metric, the query result relating to the aggregation.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein executing the query against the proposed territory definitions in the territory management system to generate the query result further comprises

calculating a trend analysis according to the aggregation and temporal data, the metrics data from the queried set of cells comprising the temporal data.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein:

receiving the query comprises receiving an opportunity defined by opportunity data;

executing the query against the proposed territory definitions in the territory management system to generate the query result comprises;

generating an opportunity definition by transforming the opportunity data to corresponding dimension members of the hypercube; and

determining a matching territory from the hierarchical set of proposed territories for assignment of the opportunity according to matching the proposed territory definition of the matching territory with the opportunity definition; and

outputting the query result from the territory management system via the user interface comprises generating an assignment preview of the opportunity to the matching territory.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein:

determining a matching territory from the hierarchical set of proposed territories for assignment of the opportunity according to matching the proposed territory definition of the matching territory with the opportunity definition comprises;

generating a set of de-normalized territory definitions by de-normalizing at least some of the proposed territory definitions according to their corresponding territory dimensions and dimension members; and

determining the matching territory by identifying one of the hierarchical set of proposed territories for which the dimension members of its de-normalized territory definition at least encompass the dimension members corresponding to the opportunity definition.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the set of proposed territory definitions is expressed according to an Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) business intelligence framework.

9. A system comprising:

a user interface subsystem, configured to;

receive a modification to a set of proposed territory definitions at a territory management system, the set of proposed territory definitions representing a hierarchical set of proposed territories each as a set of cells of a hypercube, the hypercube defined according to a set of territory dimensions each having a set of dimension members, such that each cell represents an intersection of dimension members from each territory dimension, and at least some of the cells store metrics data corresponding to its intersection of the dimension members from each territory dimension; and

receive a query; and

an analysis subsystem, communicatively coupled with the user interface subsystem, and configured to;

update the proposed territory definitions according to the modification;

execute the query against the proposed territory definitions to generate a query result; and

output the query result via the user interface subsystem.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the analysis subsystem is configured to execute the query against the proposed territory definitions to generate the query result by:

identifying a queried territory and a queried metric according to the query;

identifying a queried set of cells of the hypercube corresponding to the queried territory; and

generating an aggregation of at least some of the metrics data from the queried set of cells according to the queried metric, the query result relating to the aggregation.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the analysis subsystem is configured to execute the query against the proposed territory definitions to generate the query result further by:

calculating a trend analysis according to the aggregation and temporal data, the metrics data from the queried set of cells comprising the temporal data.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein:

the query identifies an opportunity defined by opportunity data;

the analysis subsystem is configured to execute the query against the proposed territory definitions to generate the query result by;

generating an opportunity definition by transforming the opportunity data to corresponding dimension members of the hypercube; and

determining a matching territory from the hierarchical set of proposed territories for assignment of the opportunity according to matching the proposed territory definition of the matching territory with the opportunity definition; and

the analysis subsystem is configured to output the query result by generating an assignment preview of the opportunity to the matching territory.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein:

determining a matching territory from the hierarchical set of proposed territories for assignment of the opportunity according to matching the proposed territory definition of the matching territory with the opportunity definition comprises;

generating a set of de-normalized territory definitions by de-normalizing at least some of the proposed territory definitions according to their corresponding territory dimensions and dimension members; and

determining the matching territory by identifying one of the hierarchical set of proposed territories for which the dimension members of its de-normalized territory definition at least encompass the dimension members corresponding to the opportunity definition.

14. A machine-readable medium having stored thereon a series of instructions which, when executed by a processor in a territory management system, cause the processor to perform steps comprising:

generating a set of proposed territory definitions in a territory management system, the set of proposed territory definitions representing a hierarchical set of proposed territories each as a set of cells of a hypercube, the hypercube defined according to a set of territory dimensions each having a set of dimension members, such that each cell represents an intersection of dimension members from each territory dimension, and at least some of the cells store metrics data corresponding to its intersection of the dimension members from each territory dimension;

receiving a modification to the proposed territory definitions at the territory management system via a user interface;

updating the proposed territory definitions in the territory management system according to the modification;

receiving a query at the territory management system via a user interface;

executing the query against the proposed territory definitions in the territory management system to generate a query result; and

outputting the query result from the territory management system via the user interface.

15. The machine-readable medium of claim 14, wherein:

the hypercube is a production hypercube maintained in a production environment of the territory management system; and

updating the proposed territory definitions in the territory management system according to the modification is performed without affecting the production hypercube.

16. The machine-readable medium of claim 14, wherein:

the hypercube is a stage hypercube maintained in a staging environment of the territory management system; and

updating the proposed territory definitions in the territory management system according to the modification comprises reconstructing the stage hypercube at least according to the modification.

17. The machine-readable medium of claim 14, wherein executing the query against the proposed territory definitions in the territory management system to generate the query result comprises:

identifying a queried territory and a queried metric according to the query;

identifying a queried set of cells of the hypercube corresponding to the queried territory;

generating an aggregation of at least some of the metrics data from the queried set of cells according to the queried metric, the query result relating to the aggregation.

18. The machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein executing the query against the proposed territory definitions in the territory management system to generate the query result further comprises

calculating a trend analysis according to the aggregation and temporal data, the metrics data from the queried set of cells comprising the temporal data.

19. The machine-readable medium of claim 14, wherein:

receiving the query comprises receiving an opportunity defined by opportunity data;

executing the query against the proposed territory definitions in the territory management system to generate the query result comprises;

generating an opportunity definition by transforming the opportunity data to corresponding dimension members of the hypercube; and

determining a matching territory from the hierarchical set of proposed territories for assignment of the opportunity according to matching the proposed territory definition of the matching territory with the opportunity definition; and

outputting the query result from the territory management system via the user interface comprises generating an assignment preview of the opportunity to the matching territory.

20. The machine-readable medium of claim 19, wherein:

determining a matching territory from the hierarchical set of proposed territories for assignment of the opportunity according to matching the proposed territory definition of the matching territory with the opportunity definition comprises;

generating a set of de-normalized territory definitions by de-normalizing at least some of the proposed territory definitions according to their corresponding territory dimensions and dimension members; and

determining the matching territory by identifying one of the hierarchical set of proposed territories for which the dimension members of its de-normalized territory definition at least encompass the dimension members corresponding to the opportunity definition.