Oracle Crystal Ball has a complete set of functions that allows a modeler to extract information from both inputs (assumptions) and outputs (forecast). Used the right way, these special Crystal Ball functions can enable a whole new level of analytics that can feed other models (or subcomponents of the major model).
Understanding these is a must for anybody who is looking to use the developer kit.
Over the last 3 months, we have seen 3 of the 4 major players in the Excel Monte-Carlo Simulation arena introduce new releases. We hear a lot of talk about which tool is best and the truth is there is no perfect answer – it’s a personal thing dictated by user skill, preference and need.
For this reason, we have created a series of videos showing comparing how each tool is used to apply Monte-Carlo simulation to a model / spreadsheet. Our focus will be on :
To keep the playing field level, we have used a simple additive model, which is simply defining a series of distributions (i.e. costs, budget items…), summing them up and analyzing the resulting sensitivity analysis. We have kept things simple, so we are not correlating any of the variables nor using any fancy math.
As you will see, there are definite differences AND similarities regarding how these packages tackle building a model. We are going to focus on those relating to inserting and copying input distributions as well as defining and analyzing model outputs. The objective is to compare the ease, usability and efficiency of each tool and give people the opportunity to choose for themselves which tool reflects their needs and preferences better.
Is there a winner in this battle between Crystal Ball and ModelRisk? To quote that way-too-often-quoted reply: It depends. Some users will value certain technical capabilities over others. Some users will value user-friendliness over accuracy. If there is to be a group deployment of a MCA spreadsheet package, usability may trump technical capabilities overall. Does it matter if one package has more distributions to choose from if there are only three that are of interest for your particular class of stochastic problems? Would it matter what kind of correlation enforcement method is used if, as in many manufactured assemblies, there is practically no correlation between separate components? Probably not. But if they do (as in financial and insurance applications), there will be a clear winner.
Correlation behavior in ModelRisk is enforced with the use of copulas. Copulas offer more flexibility in accurately simulating real data scatter-plot patterns than do single-value correlation coefficients. While this advantage is clear for financial and insurance applications, its implementation in an MCA spreadsheet simulator can make the difference between universal adoption and rejection by a majority of the intended user group. Let us now use ModelRisk (MR) to enforce the correlation behavior between Duke Basketball offense scores and their opponents' scores, based on the '09/'10 historical data.