Loading plan and actual data into the same InfoCube

Here is a document  about loading plan and actual financial data into the same InfoCube. The process seems to be easy, but update mode and aggregation issues make me consider different way of loading such a data.

The actual data need to be loaded with delta update mode, plan data (e.g., 0VTYPE 20) can only use full update and the previous load need to be deleted to avoid duplicated data. I consider 3 loading options:

1. Automatic removal of the previous load after data loading using InfoPackage.

To use this option we need to modify the InfoPakage that is used to load data. In the DataTarget tab we choose Automatic Loading of Similar/Identical Requests from the InfoCube and then Delete Existing Requests, Full or Initial Requests, Same or More Comprehensive.

Now we can schedule the job or add the load to a process chain. After the update, Same or More Comprehensive requests will be deleted.

2. Delete previous load in the process chain.

The second option is to build a process chain (TCode: RSPC) to load data and add deletion of the previous load of plan data using Delete Overlapping Requests from InfoCube option.

3. Remove previous data via ABAP program using DELETE_FACTS.

This option requires including in a process chain an ABAP program that performs selective deletion of the data (TCode to generate the program: DELETE_FACTS).

I must also take into consideration data aggregation. If I have both actual and plan data in one InfoCube I can not aggregate the Cube. One of the option is to create two InfoCubes, the first for actual data (delta update) and the second for plan data (full update), and aggregate the first one. The second option is to remove plan data from our InfoCube before aggregating the InfoCube. I think I will choose the option with two InfoProviders because it appears to be more flexible to maintain.

What is your experience with loading plan and actual data? Which loading option do you prefer and how do you solve the aggregation issue? Feel free to comment the post and share your opinion with us.

Note: The overall issue is related not only with plan values but also with down payments, overall plan values, variances and accrual calculations. For these values only a full update is possible.