To all Modano users,
I have a broad and philosophical question for you all.
What general principles do you apply when deciding whether to develop within a single module or split out into multiple, separate modules. I realise that specific cases will dictate the answer to that, but I am after a more general thought process. As an example, what would you do if you had multiple revenue streams, each with their own set of unique drivers?
I find that at times, separating into multiple modules can reduce efficiency as you need to consider and setup the link-outs and link-ins. Other times, building within a single module can also reduce efficiency where changes are required and the area in question has not been isolated (via modules).
Discussion is welcome!
Regards,
Tony.
Your timing is very apt Tony, as I was discussing this with someone just yesterday...
We coined the term 'single module workbook' to loosely refer to an entire financial model that contains only 1 non-time series module. Such a workbook still provides the automation benefits of categories, time series, styles, consistent formulas, etc., but does not - as you note - require any understanding of module links. So, for people used to using native Excel, there's minimal relearning required before they can customize such a model.
On the face of it, using a single module workbook sounds great, but the dicussion quickly turns to where the main benefits of Modano come from... Do they come from automating repetitive tasks (like adding categories and extending the time series) or from being able to reuse and share modules and combine them different ways.
Another consideration is that there's a whole bunch of things - like creating scalable multiple business unit models based on mirrored modules - which are not possible when using only one module. So, for advanced users, its often not an option.
I'm very interested in this discussion, but my personal position is that a single module workbook would be a great tool for educating new Modano users about time series and categories automation, without over-complicating it with module linking complexities. However, for advanced users it's hard to understand why you wouldn't want replaceable, duplicatable, mirrorable modules throughout your models whenever possible.
That's an interesting comment Tarjei.
We've recently summarized the practical benefits of Modano as falling into 3 broad areas:
To date, we've really been promoting the modular development component of the automation area, but it's becoming clear that this really under-sells many of the other things Modano automates to improve model build quality and reduce time and risk, including:
All of these things can me automated while building a modular workbook as a single mega-module, which is absolutely fine if you're not creating modules for re-use or some other purpose, such as mirroring as you note. And it prevents the need to factor in the idiosyncrasies of module linking too!
It's yet another example of how everyone has different touch points when using the platform.