If you own an on-prem IBM Planning Analytics environment, you have probably been told SaaS is the future.

What you have not gotten is a straight answer about what it actually means for your data, your models, your budget, and your team. This session is that conversation.

We walk through the ten objections we hear most often from IT and finance teams before they migrate: security concerns, loss of control, customization limits, integration headaches, cost surprises, and the rest. No spin. Where SaaS solves the problem, we say so. Where it does not, we say that too.

Who should attend: IBM Planning Analytics and TM1 owners, finance leaders, FP&A teams, and the IT staff who keep the environment running.

You will leave knowing which objections hold up, which ones are outdated, and what questions to ask before you commit to a timeline.

Your CEO calls on a Sunday. There's a new tariff, a customer just went dark, a cost just spiked. She asks what it does to next quarter. What's your honest answer, “give me a few days,” or “give me twenty minutes”? Join Heather L. Cole, one of only 32 IBM Lifetime Champions worldwide and Founder/CEO of Lodestar Solutions, for a free, CPE-credited session on building a scenario-planning process that's ready before disruption hits, not scrambled together after. With tariffs, volatility, and demand uncertainty topping CFO concerns for the back half of 2026, this session is for finance leaders tired of rebuilding the same analysis from scratch every time something changes.

What you'll walk away with:

● Why single-point forecasts leave you flat-footed the moment conditions shift

● A repeatable framework for maintaining 3-5 live scenarios without rebuilding from zero each time

● How to move from “give me until Thursday” to a same-day answer

● A live look at scenario toggling in a real planning system, powered by IBM Planning Analytics

● A free take-home 3-Scenario Starter Canvas, no strings attached

CPE Details:

● Field of Study: Finance

● Program Level: Basic

● Delivery Method: Group Internet Based

● Prerequisites/Advance Prep: None

● CPE Credit: 1.0 (50-minute hour, per NASBA guidelines)

This program is free; no purchase required to attend. Refund/Cancellation: Free program, no fees collected, no refund applicable. Cancel anytime via support@lodestarsolutions.com Complaints: Contact Lodestar Solutions at support@lodestarsolutions.com. Complaints re: NASBA National Registry sponsors may go to NASBA at www.nasbaregistry.org.

Lodestar Solutions is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. NASBA Sponsor ID: 167916

*WEBINAR 2/3 IN SERIES*

Most Planning Analytics rollouts hit the same wall. The model is solid, the admin knows exactly how it works, and then twenty budget owners get a link and no idea where to start. So the admin ends up chasing status by email and rebuilding the same answer twenty times.

Applications and Plans is how you stop doing that.

This is a guided tour, not a slide deck. In 30 minutes we walk through how to build an application, break the work into plans and tasks, assign contributors, set due dates, and track who has submitted and who has not. Each person logs in and sees their piece of the process, in order, with the context they need to complete it.

What you will see: how contributors experience a plan, how approval and review flow through it, how sandboxes fit in, and how much visibility you get into the cycle without asking anyone for an update.

Who should attend: Planning Analytics administrators and model developers, FP&A leaders, budget owners, and anyone who currently manages the planning cycle through spreadsheets and follow-up emails.

You will leave knowing whether Applications and Plans fits your current process, and where to start if it does.

Two people on your team sent the CEO two different numbers for the same month, from two tabs of the same file, both technically “right.” If that's ever happened to you, this session is for you. Join Heather L. Cole, one of only 32 IBM Lifetime Champions worldwide and Founder/CEO of Lodestar Solutions, for a free, CPE-credited session that puts a real number on what staying in a spreadsheet-based planning process is actually costing your organization, not a generic list of “signs,” a live calculation you can hold up against your own numbers. What you'll walk away with:

● The warning signs a spreadsheet process has become a liability, not a convenience

● How to calculate the true fully-loaded cost of staying in a manual, spreadsheet-driven process ● The real difference between tools that solve reporting and tools that solve planning

● A live look at a consolidated, single source of truth in practice, powered by IBM Planning Analytics

● A free take-home Planning Modernization Readiness Assessment, 30 questions, self-scoring, no strings attached

CPE Details:

● Field of Study: Finance

● Program Level: Basic

● Delivery Method: Group Internet Based

● Prerequisites/Advance Prep: None

● CPE Credit: 1.0 (50-minute hour, per NASBA guidelines)

This program is free; no purchase required to attend. Refund/Cancellation: Free program, no fees collected, no refund applicable. Cancel anytime via support@lodestarsolutions.com Complaints: Contact Lodestar Solutions at support@lodestarsolutions.com. Complaints re: NASBA National Registry sponsors may go to NASBA at www.nasbaregistry.org.

Lodestar Solutions is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. NASBA Sponsor ID: 167916

*WEBINAR 3/3 IN SERIES*

If you build reports in Planning Analytics for Excel, you have probably been picking between Exploration, Quick Report, Dynamic Report, and Custom Report for years. Each one does something the others do not, and choosing wrong means rebuilding.

Universal Reports collapse that decision.

In 30 minutes we show you what a Universal Report actually is, then put it side by side with the report types you use today. Where it does everything your Dynamic Reports do. Where it behaves differently. What formatting, formulas, and MDX carry over, and what does not.

Then the part everyone wants to know: what happens to the workbooks you already have.

We cover whether you need to convert them, what a conversion actually involves, and how to decide which reports are worth moving first.

Who should attend: PAfE report builders, Planning Analytics administrators, FP&A analysts who live in Excel, and anyone maintaining a library of legacy workbooks they inherited from someone else.

You will leave knowing when to reach for a Universal Report, when to stay put, and whether your existing workbooks need a migration plan.

IBM TechXchange is IBM's annual technical learning conference, built around practical, skills-focused training rather than sales pitches. Over four days, attendees can work through guided lab exercises, sit for professional certification exams, preview upcoming product plans, and talk one-on-one with the people who actually build IBM's tools. Session tracks span artificial intelligence, data, cloud, infrastructure, and security.

IBm TechXchange is a great fit for technical professionals of all kinds — software developers, system administrators, data and AI practitioners, architects, and security specialists — especially those working in or around the IBM ecosystem. Click HERE to learn more and check out the itinerary.

Interested in attending? Contact our team at support@lodestarsolutions.com to secure an event pass.

A One-Day CFO Mastermind | November 10, 2026 | Chicago, IL
In partnership with IBM · Complimentary · By invitation · 20 seats · Up to 5 CPE

Your strategy changed. Did your plan? This invitation-only mastermind brings together 20 CEOs, CFOs, and senior finance leaders for one focused working day at the IBM Chicago office on Wacker Drive. Together we'll tackle the questions boards are asking now: is the plan built for this year's strategy, are finance, sales, and operations working from the same numbers, and what is AI actually returning? Every framework is demonstrated live in IBM Planning Analytics, including a full session dedicated to AI budget governance.

This isn't a vendor demo or a lecture hall. You'll work in small peer groups on a live challenge you bring with you and leave with a pressure-tested strategy, a framework for closing the Alignment Tax, a way to track AI spend inside your planning model, and a completed 90-day roadmap. Facilitated by Heather Cole, founder and CEO of Lodestar Solutions and one of only 32 IBM Worldwide Lifetime Champions, the day is built for leaders who own the number and answer for it.

Attendance is complimentary. IBM and Lodestar cover the program, venue, and materials. Attendees can earn up to 5 hours of group-live CPE credit, and full-day participation (9:30 AM to 3:30 PM CT) is expected. Every application is reviewed personally, and applications close October 31 or when the 20th seat is filled.

Lodestar Solutions clients are invited to join us for a quarterly IBM Cognos Analytics User group. Please email Mike Bernaiche at mbernaiche@lodestarsolutions.com if you have not received the link to join.

If you own an on-prem Cognos Analytics environment, you have probably been told SaaS is the future. What you have not gotten is a straight answer about what it actually means for your reports, your security model, your budget, and your team.

This session is that conversation. In 45 minutes we walk through the ten objections we hear most often from IT and finance teams before they migrate: security and data residency, loss of control over the environment, what happens to years of custom reports and dashboards, authentication and single sign-on, integration with existing data sources, and cost surprises down the road. No spin. Where SaaS solves the problem, we say so. Where it does not, we say that too.

Who should attend: Cognos Analytics administrators, report authors, BI and reporting managers, finance leaders, and the IT staff who keep the environment running.

You will leave knowing which objections hold up, which ones are outdated, and what questions to ask before you commit to a migration timeline.

In partnership with IBM and TD SYNNEX · Complimentary · By invitation · Capped at 25 seats · Up to 16.5 CPE

Your strategy changed. Did your plan? This invitation-only mastermind brings together 25 CEOs, CFOs, and senior finance leaders for two working days on the questions boards are asking now: is our forecast built for this year's strategy, which initiatives deserve a place in the plan, and what is AI actually returning? Hosted at the TD SYNNEX Innovation Center in Clearwater, every framework is paired with a live demonstration in IBM Planning Analytics. When the room asks what happens if an assumption moves, we move it.

This isn't a vendor demo or a panel you sit and watch. You'll work in small peer groups on a live challenge you bring with you, and you'll leave with a strategy-to-plan diagnostic, a framework for deciding what earns a place in your budget (AI included), a board-ready way to present and defend your numbers, and a completed 90-day roadmap. Facilitated by Heather Cole, founder and CEO of Lodestar Solutions and one of only 32 IBM Worldwide Lifetime Champions, the program is built for leaders who own the number and answer for it.

Attendance is complimentary. IBM and Lodestar cover the program, venue, and materials for both days. Attendees can earn up to 16.5 hours of group-live CPE credit in Finance and Business Management & Organization, nearly half of a CPA's annual requirement. Seats are reviewed and confirmed personally, and applications close October 31 or when the 25th seat is filled.

Lodestar Solutions clients are invited to join us for a quarterly IBM Planning Analytics User group. Please email Mike Bernaiche at mailto:mbernaiche@lodestarsolutions.com if you have not received the link to join.