SANDBOXING AND WHAT-IF ANALYSIS FOR MULTI-DIMENSIONAL SALES TERRITORIES

• US 20110040698A1
• Filed: 08/16/2010
• Published: 02/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Chang, Francis, Colliat, George, Constantinou, Fivos, Lam, Yu Cong, Pusegaonkar, Sanjay, Pimentel, Teodoro
• Application Number:
  US12/857,507
• Publication Number:
  US 20110040698A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/348
• 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 territory proposals for sandboxing territory changes, for performing what-if analyses, etc. In some embodiments, a staging environment allows the creation of a proposed territory model (e.g., a proposed territory hypercube) based on a production territory model or some other baseline territory model version. The territory proposal is associated with a name, owner, activation trigger event, and the proposed territory model. The owner can modify the proposed territory definitions in the staging environment, and the modifications may be published to subordinates, audited for errors, etc. When the proposed territory model is as desired, the owner may request activation of the territory upon occurrence of the activation trigger event occurs. Activation may involve promotion of the proposed territory model (e.g., or the modifications) to the production environment, for example, including realignment, reconciliation, auditing, and/or any other processing.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying, in a territory management system, a multi-dimensional territory model for use as a baseline model for a territory proposal, the baseline model comprising baseline territory definitions configured to define a hierarchical set of baseline territories each as a set of cells of a baseline hypercube, the baseline hypercube defined according to a set of territory dimensions each having a set of dimension members;

generating a territory proposal, using the territory management system, by associating a proposal activation trigger with proposed territory definitions generated according to the baseline territory definitions;

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

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

detecting an occurrence of the proposal activation trigger; and

activating the territory proposal by replacing production territory definitions with the proposed territory definitions in a production environment of the territory management system substantially upon detecting the occurrence of the proposal activation trigger.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

auditing the territory proposal prior to activating the territory proposal to determine whether the proposed territory definitions manifests an error condition,

wherein the activating step is performed automatically when the proposed territory definitions do not manifest an error condition.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

when the proposed territory definitions manifest an error condition;

aborting activating the territory proposal;

communicating a notification to a user of the territory management system indicating that the territory proposal was not activated.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein:

the notification indicates at least one of the error condition or a remedial suggestion to address the error condition.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

when the proposed territory definitions manifest an error condition;

automatically remedying the error condition by generating modified proposed territory definitions; and

activating the modified proposed territory definitions.

6. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

when the error condition is a gap condition or an overlap condition;

determining whether to reconcile the error condition; and

ignoring the error condition when it is determined not to reconcile the error condition.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the error condition is at least one of a territory gap condition, a territory overlap condition, or a reference to a non-existent dimension member.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

when the modification alters a size and/or a dimensionality of the baseline hypercube, the size of the baseline hypercube being defined by a full range of dimension members in each of its territory dimension, and the dimensionality of the baseline hypercube being defined by all of its territory dimensions;

generating a stage hypercube in a staging environment of the territory management system according to the baseline hypercube and the modification,

wherein;

the generating the territory proposal step comprises generating the territory proposal in the staging environment of the territory management system, such that the proposed territory definitions define a hierarchical set of proposed territories each as a set of cells of the stage hypercube; and

the activating the territory proposal step comprises replacing a production hypercube and the production territory definitions with the stage hypercube and the proposed territory definitions, respectively, in the production environment of the territory management system substantially upon detecting the occurrence of the proposal activation trigger.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the territory proposal is a first territory proposal of a plurality of territory proposals maintained concurrently at the territory management system, each of the plurality of territory proposals associated with a respective activation trigger, such that at least a second territory proposal is activated after generating the first territory proposal and before activating the first territory proposal.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing a first audit of the first proposal prior to activation of the second territory proposal by validating the proposed territory definitions against the production territory definitions as implemented at the time of the first audit; and

performing a second audit of the first proposal prior to activating the first proposal and subsequent to activating the second territory proposal by validating the proposed territory definitions against the production territory definitions as modified at least by the activation of the second territory proposal.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the proposal activation trigger corresponds to a time at which the activating step occurs.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the baseline hypercube and the baseline territory definitions corresponds to a production hypercube and the production territory definitions maintained in the production environment of the territory management system.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the proposed territory definitions are represented in an Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) business intelligence framework.

14. A system comprising:

a production subsystem configured to maintain a production model comprising production territory definitions configured to define a hierarchical set of territories each as a set of cells of a production hypercube, the production hypercube defined according to a set of territory dimensions each having a set of dimension members; and

a territory proposal subsystem, communicatively coupled with the production subsystem, and configured to;

generate a territory proposal by associating a proposal activation trigger with proposed territory definitions generated according to the production territory definitions;

receive a modification to the proposed territory definitions from a user via a graphical interface;

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

detect an occurrence of the proposal activation trigger; and

activate the territory proposal by replacing the production territory definitions with the proposed territory definitions in the production subsystem substantially upon detecting the occurrence of the proposal activation trigger.

15. The system of claim 14, the territory proposal subsystem further configured to:

audit the territory proposal prior to activating the territory proposal to determine whether the proposed territory definitions manifests an error condition,

wherein the territory proposal subsystem activates the territory proposal automatically when the proposed territory definitions do not manifest an error condition.

16. The system of claim 14, further comprising:

a staging module, communicatively coupled with the territory proposal subsystem, and configured to maintain a stage hypercube,

wherein the territory proposal subsystem is further configured to, when the modification alters a size and/or a dimensionality of the baseline hypercube, the size of the baseline hypercube being defined by a full range of dimension members in each of its territory dimension, and the dimensionality of the baseline hypercube being defined by all of its territory dimensions;

generate the stage hypercube in the stage subsystem according to the production hypercube and the modification;

generate the territory proposal in the staging environment of the territory management system, such that the proposed territory definitions define a hierarchical set of proposed territories each as a set of cells of the stage hypercube; and

activate the territory proposal by promoting the production hypercube and the production territory definitions with the stage hypercube and the proposed territory definitions, respectively, from the stage subsystem to the production system substantially upon detecting the occurrence of the proposal activation trigger.

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

identifying, in a territory management system, a multi-dimensional territory model for use as a baseline model for a territory proposal, the baseline model comprising baseline territory definitions configured to define a hierarchical set of baseline territories each as a set of cells of a baseline hypercube, the baseline hypercube defined according to a set of territory dimensions each having a set of dimension members;

generating a territory proposal, using the territory management system, by associating a proposal activation trigger with proposed territory definitions generated according to the baseline territory definitions;

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

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

detecting an occurrence of the proposal activation trigger; and

activating the territory proposal by replacing production territory definitions with the proposed territory definitions in a production environment of the territory management system substantially upon detecting the occurrence of the proposal activation trigger.

18. The machine-readable medium of claim 17, the steps further comprising:

auditing the territory proposal prior to activating the territory proposal to determine whether the proposed territory definitions manifests an error condition,

wherein the activating step is performed automatically when the proposed territory definitions do not manifest an error condition.

19. The machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the error condition is at least one of a territory gap condition, a territory overlap condition, or a reference to a non-existent dimension member.

20. The machine-readable medium of claim 17, the steps further comprising:

when the modification alters a size and/or a dimensionality of the baseline hypercube, the size of the baseline hypercube being defined by a full range of dimension members in each of its territory dimension, and the dimensionality of the baseline hypercube being defined by all of its territory dimensions;

generating a stage hypercube in a staging environment of the territory management system according to the baseline hypercube and the modification, wherein;

the generating the territory proposal step comprises generating the territory proposal in the staging environment of the territory management system, such that the proposed territory definitions define a hierarchical set of proposed territories each as a set of cells of the stage hypercube; and

the activating the territory proposal step comprises replacing a production hypercube and the production territory definitions with the stage hypercube and the proposed territory definitions, respectively, in the production environment of the territory management system substantially upon detecting the occurrence of the proposal activation trigger.