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What Are We Talking About When We Talk About Simulation?
We have been building simulation software for years. And I am still struck by how differently the word gets understood.
The controlling team thinks of a new budget version with changed assumptions. The risk manager thinks of Monte Carlo. And the CFO has in mind a number he can present to the board tomorrow.
In the context of corporate steering, simulation is something quite specific. A new situation arises: changed conditions, an impulse from the market, a request from management. You create a new scenario, enter assumptions about driver developments and possible measures, and within minutes you see how the key metrics change. Transparently and traceably, down to individual cause-and-effect relationships.
One of our customers put it this way: “We provided our stakeholders with a simulation platform, with a rolling supply of all relevant plan and actual data. Available at any time for ad-hoc requests from management, and for situations the standard processes do not cover.”
That was 2021, in the middle of Covid. Such situations have not become less frequent since.