What is the best way to find the differences between the source data (e.g., budget financials by cost center) you've loaded into Stage, vs. the Financial layer in Apptio ? 

Ken,

What sort differences are you looking for?  Are you looking for what's not flowing up the model or are you just trying to see if there are any data quality issues?

1. You could use the Data Quality Reports and go into the Data Dimensions for the Cost Source.  It will show the Completeness, Validity, etc.

2. You could use the Data Tab and look at the file you loaded to see if everything matches your source file

     2a.  There could be filters on the Transformed table or raw table that are preventing the totals not match.

3. You could use the Model to what's not flowing (i.e. Gaps)

     3a.  You could add \ remove columns so you can see the cost center or other important columns that are not flowing.  In the Assigned column you would just need to put in 0.

Thanks,

Ryan

Ken,

There are a finite number of places to check, in order to derive any number in any Apptio dashboard back to the raw data.

TBMA training covers this topic and Apptio Education Services can direct you to the right place for this training.

Briefly and non-exhaustively, you would want to check these things in roughly this order:

- Make sure you understand any project-level Dev filters on your instance if in Dev, as they filter data down to a workable subset for Dev purposes.

- Open Edit mode on the report.

- Inspect the quantity in question.  Check any formula in the report Ribbon that derives the number.  Check the Ad Hoc Query builder for this quantity, and look at the TableTransform or Object backing the number.  Inspect the Filter as well in the top left AHQ pivot container.  Note the columns in play, as they may be in the raw data or they may be synthetic, and you will need this below.  The columns might be columns in data or might be Calculated Metrics or Model Metrics.

- If the column is a Model Metric, then inspect the calculation for it in the Metrics studio.

- If an Object backs the number, open the Model(s) (a/k/a Model Metric(s)) containing that object.  Inspect the Identifier and remember that Apptio groups this down to be unique per aggregated row.  Inspect any Model filters on the object.  Inspect the drivers for this object and make sure you understand the formulas in play.  Model tracing can really help you here.  The Inference studio can help too, if you are not sure why some table transform is present in a formula.

- In the Data studio, inspect the Table Transform containing that Identifier column.  Look at this column and make sure you understand any formula that might create the quantities in that column.  Look for data filters and uniqueness filters on this table transform.  Again Inference studio can help you if you are not sure how this table relates to another and flattens so as to derive some formulaic quantity.

Now you are ready to inspect the Raw Data tab in the Data studio for this table transform, and you should have your explanation for what changed between upload of that raw data and final presentation of the number in the report.

@Rhonda Keller @Shannon Wallner   re. RTBMA and ETBMA certification, as discussed previously.