Frequently Asked Questions
Industry associations know what driver their industry or sectors and the scenario they face. We capture this in a unique quantifiable format and use it for associations and members to create their business forecasts.
First we work with the association to create three forecast scenarios for the next 12 months for their industry and or sectors. These forecast scenarios are loaded onto our forecasting platform. Members can use these as the baseline to generate their own business forecasts on our Cloud. The association charges a subscription to members for this powerful value added service.
In an accredited forecast, the majority of the driver weight, e.g. 70%, goes to drivers that are consensus drivers and vouched for by their creators who are professional economists. These are called “accredited drivers” on the BlueWave Forecasting platform. Because these drivers are developed after discussion and consideration, they are be more robust and reliable. Non-accredited drivers are still developed by economists, but just not with the same rigor of the consensus method.
A forecast would usually have about 3 versions….sometimes a few more. Each version is a different scenario view, such as optimistic view, pessimistic view and expected view. Or a “what-if” type of scenario such as as “if we partner with this company or sell or expand etc., how would the driver values have to change and what would the effect be…generate the forecast and lets see. You can do this well on the BlueWave platform.
Forecasts should be credible. That means the selection of drivers, together with the driver data and the calculation methods – everything must be right. The BlueWave Forecasting platform has been certified by actuaries and accountants to perform and be as accurate as we claim it to be. Our staff are trained and accredited to give you the proper advice and support. We call this accredited forecasting. We can also train client forecasters who use our forecasting platform and offer a certification of Accredited Forecaster to people who undergo and pass this course.
Two reasons, both about credibility. You are probably not considered expert enough to develop drivers and so the values in your drivers will be questioned. Second, you could be thought to have an angle because you are using your forecast to get something. That’s why forecasts have had a credibility gap. And it’s why we developed our method, which is to keep level of expertise high and unquestioned, and third-party distance of the drivers from the forecaster. That way your forecast will have credibility and a better reception by stakeholders who must rely on it.
Yes, you can use your economic indicators/drivers. Just import them and they will be added to your list of drivers.
Secured with the latest AWS technology it’s very secure and 100% only editable and viewable by you. We are aware of privacy compliance requirements and we conform to requirements of each country.
Each country has its unique economic indicators such as GDP, inflation, etc. We have alliances with the leading economists in the countries we serve and their leading banks to provide consensus economic indicator forecast figures for their macro-economic indicators.
No. A Partner can only see the name of its clients and their contact and payment information.
We developed a unique driver-based forecasting method and the software technology to make it work. It’s patented, and it’s not that simple or easy to make a complex system easy for us non-rocket scientists to use. At BlueWave Forecasting, our focus is entirely on driver and scenario business forecasting that is good enough to be the platinum standard of reliable driver-based forecasts. We aim to be the best, and we were the first to coin the concept of business forecasts certified as accredited forecasts…this is what drives us. We offer training in forecasting and use of out forecasting platform where people who pass the courses will be certified as BlueWave Accredited Forecasting Professionals. This cadre of expert forecasting consultants will assist their clients who need professional forecasts.
You would have a consulting business that helps clients to: (1) develop and setup drivers and scenario’s for their business; (2) generate forecasts for clients to achieve different purposes; (3) setup client’s data so it’s available when needed; (4) advise clients on scenario’s and driver weights; (5) setup reports with custom fields that need to be forecast monthly or quarterly e.g. for different types and different departments and; (6) liaise with economists and industry experts and associations on behalf of your clients to develop and calibrate drivers and scenario’s that will plug-into future forecasts.
Yes they certainly do outsource, but only to professional and trustworthy consulting firms. This is common practice nowadays.
Yes it has, especially with statistical forecasting. With the turmoil and uncertainty, it makes more sense to use driver and scenario forecasting methods, because all the forces that affect a forecast over its time horizon can be incorporated, weighted and timed for seasonality and other known upcoming events. Using well thought-out consensus drivers and scenario’s and weighting these more in a forecast will most certainly generate a more robust and reliable forecast.
Simply take a minute to register and create your account. Then, select either the trial version or another plan and any additional items you want to add, and provide your billing details to continue. Remember, if you upgrade you can cancel at any time without penalties or fees.
Choose your plan based on how many Business Units (BU) and Departments you expect to need. For example, if you have 2 BU’s and each has a finance, marketing and HR department, each with their own person doing their forecasts, then the Pro Version Plan is most suitable.
Like most free trial products, it does give you a taste of many features but with limitations. As a corporate user, we would suggest you go straight onto a Pro version subscription and get 100% of what you need. It is not expensive and you may cancel at any time without penalty.
Once you are registered and using the initial product you selected, you can go to My Account settings to increase or decrease the features on your plan.
For users of our product on this website, there are no upfront costs. Our partners who re-sell our product will pay a fee to get them setup and trained, so this applies only to the OEM, Server and White Label re-sale products.
Yes. You can change your plan easily at any time. When you change plans, you will be pro-rata credited for your previous plan, and start the new plan immediately. Changing plan is easily done on your dashboard page under My Account, or you can call our Support Desk and we’ll happily make the changes for you.
BlueWave Forecasting is web-based, so you only need a compatible browser and an internet connection for your computers (Mac or PC). There is no setup or installation required, it just works.
The only fees you will be charged are the monthly subscription fee for forecasting service and for any rolling drivers and scenarios you purchased.
No! We think you should stick around because you love using the BlueWave Forecasting platform, and not because we locked you into a contract. You can cancel your account at any time, and you won’t be billed again.
Your data will be kept for 9 months but access to it suspended until you re-subscribe. If you re-subscribe you will be charged a renewal fee being 70% of the time you were away. This is to defray the cost of keeping your data safe and secure and ready for you, if you return. If you return under a different email account then you will not be able to access what you saved in the past.
We accept Visa, Mastercard and Paypal.
Blue waves are a good analogy for forecasters because waves have energy, they are driven by the force of currents connected all around the world, tides from the moon, and “stuff” in the water. This is a good analogy for the different drivers that influence the outcome of a business forecast. So, we are BlueWave, because waves are interesting and below the pretty surface, there is unseen complexity…just like the drivers and scenarios.
The White-Label forecasting product is our online forecasting platform but without our branding. We offer this to Partners who would like to offer this to their clients for a fee, or for free. This is a value-added service offering that our clients can offer to their clients. There is a small setup cost and the monthly license fee is based on estimated number of users, and level of support to your company.
Once you have registered and paid, you will have access to your own Admin section where you can setup offerings and prices to clients. Then, just link your own branding such as your CSS file from your website. If you are going to charge your clients then you will link to your credit card vendor provider and that’s about it. Our Support Staff will assist you through the process and always be available to assist.
Our OEM server product is designed to be incorporated into almost any BI dashboards. It requires integrating into the dashboards and also mapping data that will be forecast. The process should take approximately 3 hours. Clients can do this themselves or can hire one of our trained partners to complete the process.
About Industry Scenarios
Represent Your Industry
About Forecasting With Industry Scenarios
About Licensing
About Security
About Teaming with BlueWave
About Pricing and Subscriptions
Industry scenarios give industry context. The forces that affect an industry affect all players connected to its ecosystem to a greater or lesser degree. For outsiders such as banks and investors and even for insiders, it’s very useful to have scenarios that describe and weight the forces in an industry.
We prefer to involve participants in an industry which include the businesses as well as their support structures such as industry associations and consultants. We do this through pilots where participants discuss and weight the forces and then test against actual data being forecast.
Some of the staff employed by industry associations have deep industry experience. Interaction with members also keeps the industry assumptions keyed-in to industry dynamics and happenings. It makes sense that industry associations would provide data that is standardized to their members for various uses including forecasting. At the same time, the association could earn revenue from this and lessen the fees burden to members.
Possibly yes but it depends on the goals of the association. What is usually true is that historically, associations have not developed quantifiable industry scenarios that their members can use for forecasting. It’s a fairly new concept and new technology and associations will start to realize that there is an additional gap they are well placed to fill for their members.
First we work with the association to create three forecast scenarios for the next 12 months for their industry. Our pilot process is a useful method for doing this task. These forecast scenarios are loaded onto our forecasting platform. Members can use these as the baseline to generate their own business forecasts on our forecasting Cloud. The association charges a subscription to members for this value-added service.