EPM Conversations

Cameron, Natalie, Celvin, and Tim

Call it Enterprise Performance Management or Corporate Performance Management or whatever you will — we will bring the most interesting, thoughtful, and sometimes maybe a wee bit controversial personalities in our little world and simply talk. The conversations will be free ranging and open ended. We (Cameron, Natalie, Celvin, and Tim) think you will find it interesting. We hope.

  1. EPM Conversations Episode 35: Al Marciante – A (Professional) Life In EPM

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    EPM Conversations Episode 35: Al Marciante – A (Professional) Life In EPM

    IntroductionWe seem to be in the mood for reflective end-of-career episodes (see Dan Pressman’s episode one & two if you haven’t already as Al’s is very much in that vein).  Al has seen a lot in his career (yes, he’s retired although we recorded this before that was made public), thought a lot, and done a lot from Essbase consultant to Oracle EPM management.  For those of us still in the workforce (Which I am guessing is practically everyone except my mother, who listens religiously to hear her little Cammy.  Thanks, Mater, it is nice to know that you’ll always be a fan.  I hope.), hearing the thoughts of those who have completed the arc of employment might trigger our own thoughts of wither our so-called careers. Does the example of others inspire you or perhaps make you ponder where you’re going and where you might end up?  That’s for you, Gentle Listener, to decide.    Join us, won’t you?

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  2. EPM Conversations Episode 34 – A Conversation with Pressman, Dan: ASO Man, Part 2

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    EPM Conversations Episode 34 – A Conversation with Pressman, Dan: ASO Man, Part 2

    EPM Conversations Episode 34 – A Conversation with Pressman, Dan:  ASO Man, Part 2 It couldn’t be more Dan than this (nope, Buzzsprout doesn't allow graphics, so this will have to do)The Official Mnemonic Alphabet To be used in all Telephonic Communication At the Chase Bank on Wentzville Parkway Letter    Pronunciation          Example -----     -------------          ----------------------------------------------- A         R                      How are you? C         Q                      Pool cue D         W                      Double U E         I                      Eye F         Weigh                  There’s no “F” in weigh G         N                      Gnat H         Ah                     Hour I         E                      Iwo Jima J         H                      Jose K         N                      Know L         Y                      Llama M         N                      Mnemonic O         W                      One P         N                      Pneumonia (or Swimming – the silent Pee) Q         Key                    Quay S         C                      Sea T         Z                      Tsunami W         Y                      Why Y         U                      You It's a lot better at epmconversations.com, but you get the idea. That, as a joke, encapsulates, personifies, is an exemplar, and simply sums up his unique (and generally quite corny but also quite loveable) sense of humor.  That vein of humor runs through this second episode.  Here’s a couple of bon mots: I was fired from projects for making things too fast.“Don’t shut him down, hire him!”I never learned when to keep my mouth shutTake chances on yourselfDon’t be too concerned with dollars instead of long term learning and challenge.  “That’s the fun part”.Teach yourself, it’s always faster than being taught. Oh my, those aren’t jokes:  they’re heartfelt pieces of advice gained from a lifetime of experience and reflection.    Join us, won’t you?

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    EPM Conversations Episode 33 – A Conversation with Pressman, Dan: ASO Man, Part 1

    One of FourIn my so-called career, I’ve known four geniuses: one evil, one chaos made flesh, and two nice; Dan is in the last group. There are many theories around what makes someone a genius; I define it as the ability to make connections where others cannot see them. Dan is professionally (at least in EPMland) best known for his deconstruction of ASO Essbase, understanding its architecture and fundamentals, and how to optimise it. If you were in his "Essbase ASO Performance:  When NOT to Depend on MDX" session at Kscope 2010, you know just what I’m talking about I was sort of slack jawed by the end of the presentation. How on earth did he figure this out? BSO Essbase’s architecture was (and is) fully documented. Thank Arbor Software. The same was (and still is) not true for ASO Essbase. Thank (or don’t) Hyperion Solutions. Dan took apart ASO Essbase, hypothesising, testing, rejecting, confirming, and simply intellectually beating the product halfway to death to mirror Codd’s 12 rules for OLAP. His work revolutionized (and made my life considerably easier amongst many others) ASO Essbase theory and practice. If you weren’t there and you practice Essbase, you probably have a copy of Developing Essbase Applications:  Advanced Techniques for Finance and IT Professionals. You can still (it came out in 2012!) buy it here on Amazon. One day Oracle will change the architecture behind ASO Essbase (maybe this has already happened – I’m out of that space now), but until then, and maybe even in future if they mimic the way ASO works/worked, Dan’s chapter is the place to be. Listen to the podcast and hear how Dan did it and of course more back story of a fascinating man in an equally fascinating industry across time. Part 1 of 2In editing (and yes, I did it this time round and yes, I’m not very good at it as you’ll hear glitches in the recording – sorry) an episode, there’s always a temptation to cut content to fit an hour long format for brevity. However, EPM Conversations is about, well, conversations and if you were sitting in a coffee shop with Dan, you’d want to know a bit about his personal life – that’s more in the second part although you’ll get a good feel for him in this episode as well. Be seeing you.

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  4. EPM Conversations Episode 32 – A Conversation with Tim Tow, The Coolest Guy in EPM, Part 2

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    EPM Conversations Episode 32 – A Conversation with Tim Tow, The Coolest Guy in EPM, Part 2

    30 Years in the Making and Oh Yes, Can I Borrow Your Belt?I first met Tim when he worked for (I think this is the name – it’s so long ago it is outside of the ken of the World Wobly Web) Lex Software who had built, with Microsoft, an Executive Information System (EPM/CPM in today’s language) toolkit that married Excel to what was then Arbor’s Essbase (at least I think this is what it was). Tim was the teacher and we (my fellow J&J Executive Information Systems colleagues) were learning about the new client/server paradigm. For any J&Jers out there, this was at 410 George Street, right across the street from Corporate; I believe it is still a J&J office. That is exactly everything I remember about that training session, other than this: Tim forgot his belt, felt self-conscious, sized me up as being (probably) nice and generally the same size, and asked if he could borrow a belt. With me as recent(ish) college graduate, I had exactly one black belt to go with my suit (everyone wore suits), that left my one other belt which, alas, you cannot see because of Buzzsprout's limitations.  Think brown braided belt with a brass buckle.  Truly, an artefact of the 1990s. I think Tim felt he was underdressed for J&J – at the time (and maybe still is – it’s been 29 years since I last set foot in a J&J office) a very conservative and buttoned down place. The Past is a Foreign Country, They Do Things Differently ThereWhat was it like, boys and girls, when all and sundry wore a suit to work? Kind of like this: ( Wow, again, you can't see it.  Buzzsprout, either you need to add graphics or poor old Cameron needs to get a clue.  Maybe both.  Try this link back to EPM Conversations.) No, that is not me (you are over on the website, right?), but in fact Tony Randall (Who knew I hobnobbed with Hollywood royalty?  I didn't, of course. AI can be a wondrous thing; I have no idea who the woman is.) What is accurate is this is how people dressed. I cannot speak for the woman, but that is a fine example of a charcoal grey sack suit and a repp tie -- my Ivy Style exemplar. Work environments are so different now, it’s almost inconceivable. Such is the passage of time and through time reputations are made – Tim’s is stellar as is this second part of his interview. Join us, won’t you?

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  5. EPM Conversations Episode 31 – Neviana Zhgaba – A Versatile Force of Nature

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    EPM Conversations Episode 31 – Neviana Zhgaba – A Versatile Force of Nature

    It seems as though I’ve known Neviana seemingly forever, but it can hardly be more than 10 years.  Neviana quite simply packs more into a decade-plus of friendship than many pack into a lifetime – she is that kind of dynamic personality. Beyond her charisma, she harbors a fierce vision and ambition and drive:  EPM, analytics, ODTUG board member, and now chatelaine of Aquila’s Nest Vineyards, in Newtown, Connecticut.   Celvin and I are fans – we think you will be as well. Join us, won’t you?

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    EPM Conversations Episode 30 -- Splash 2025 recap

    Yes, it’s different, but we still think it’s good.  Also, this is all you’re getting. The latest OneStream Splash (that would be 2025’s) is behind us and interesting it was. While I’ve typically live-ish blogged Splash (and what was once Open World and of course ODTUG Kscope), I was largely (completely0 unable to attend sessions because I was ensconced in a fancy suite in the Nashville Westin conducting Black Diamond Advisory’s BDA Splash Podcast (yes, Celvin and I are on multiple podcasts – it’s a tough life).  The show is a series of interviews with OneStream customers and employees in a talk show format.  I like to pretend I’m a significantly geekier Dick Cavett.    Sorry about the noiseWhat I and my objectively taller, younger, smarter, and subjectively better looking brother from completely different parents did was record our thoughts each night in the hotel lobby.  While – maybe – our thoughts will pique your interest (I hope you’re ready to hear Artificial Intelligence again and again and again interleaved with a mild amount of scepticism and yes there are other products in the OneStream world), I’m sorry to share that the sound in a marble hotel lobby can be quite dramatically variable.  Regardless, we think you’ll be able to understand our conversation.  Join us, won’t you?

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  7. EPM Conversations Episode 29 – A Conversation With Tim Tow, The Coolest Guy in EPM, Part 1

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    EPM Conversations Episode 29 – A Conversation With Tim Tow, The Coolest Guy in EPM, Part 1

    26 Years in the MakingTim and his company, Applied OLAP, has been in the Performance Management space for 26 years.  That’s longer that many of the people in this space have worked, longer even than some of the people in this space have been on God’s green earth.  That longevity isn’t accidental, but rather the result of a vision, a not unmeasurable amount of determination, a focus on continual product improvement, and oh yes – a pretty damn cool product – Dodeca.  I think so highly of the product, I wrote a chapter about it in my second book, Developing Essbase Applications:  Advanced Techniques for Finance and IT Professionals.  I will also note that this book is out of print and Amazon are pricing it at $170.  Perhaps the Dodeca chapter is partially responsible? Tim has been the visionary, developer (in the beginning, although he now claims he “does no work” which I am pretty skeptical of), and constant cheerleader for Dodeca and Applied OLAP’s other products. Tim is always at ODTUG’s Kscope and holds ongoing events where new and existing customers – if you haven’t been to one of them or indeed Kscope, you owe it to yourself to do so. In the meantime, have a listen to Tim in this episode and the one to come. Join us, won’t you?

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  8. EPM Conversations Episode 28 -- A Conversation With The Recruiters 3: Freya Bull, Patrick Cronan, and Austin Perez, Understanding How Recruiters Work, Who They Are, And Why We Should All Care

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    EPM Conversations Episode 28 -- A Conversation With The Recruiters 3: Freya Bull, Patrick Cronan, and Austin Perez, Understanding How Recruiters Work, Who They Are, And Why We Should All Care

    Three competitors in one podcastI have been characterized by some (my coworkers, my friends, my family, me) as being a tad cynical.  Part of that cynicism is borne from experience, part of it is seemingly intrinsic to my nature.  I find that I am often not disappointed when it comes to a certain level of disbelief. At the same time, I am beyond pleased and maybe just a little bit less jaded when I see people not behave in a self-interested way and instead come together for the benefit of all, even if the “all” is our little world of Performance Management.  That is exactly and precisely what this podcast contains.  It is heartening. Three recruiters, three companies, three varied (and that is understating the case) backgrounds, in just one podcast.  Maybe I don’t hang around mature adults enough?  Maybe these are just special people?  Both? In alphabetical order, Freya Bull of Codex, Patrick Cronan of WorkTrust, and Austin Perez of Specialized Solution Services, all came together to talk about who they are, what they do (and how it affects you, Gentle Listener), and the value they bring to all of us.  Connecting the dots indeed. Three very, very, very different backgroundsI think Performance Management geeks are just that – geeks.  We plow the same furrows year after year, seemingly content in our little world, coming from a functional finance or technical world.  I’ve met an awful lot of people in this space and the origin story, while interesting, is often quite similar. The guests of this podcast are anything but:  national level athlete, politics (no, not what goes on in your company, but real US politics), and restauranteur.  You’ll have to listen to understand their journey. You’ll also have to listen to understand the value that these three recruiters bring to the podcast and their perspectives on work.  It really is a very different and very interesting episode. Join us, won’t you?

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Call it Enterprise Performance Management or Corporate Performance Management or whatever you will — we will bring the most interesting, thoughtful, and sometimes maybe a wee bit controversial personalities in our little world and simply talk. The conversations will be free ranging and open ended. We (Cameron, Natalie, Celvin, and Tim) think you will find it interesting. We hope.

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