M-Factor’s M3 software service is a high-performance computing solution engineered from the ground up to meet the complex needs of today’s marketers.  It is based on our patent pending PrOLAP™ (Predictive OLAP) technology that weaves together historic and simulated data in an enterprise-class, scalable software application.  Built on the latest J2EE standards, M3 is typically hosted in our highly secure SAS 70, Type II certified facilities.  M3 is also available onsite though our "Remote Hosting" option.  M3’s distributed computing architecture is a robust solution to the following challenges:

Complexity

• Native support for a huge variety of advanced functions including:
  • Advanced reporting for current volume decompositions, "due-to" reports, elasticity analyses, etc.
  • Collaborative planning and management, including copying, merging, and importing plans
  • Cross-terms, competitive effects, cross-channel, supplementary effects
  • Comprehensive coverage of your entire business, across all channels, products, and markets
  • Multi-period and channel partner or retailer analysis
  • Coefficient and rate overrides to accommodate anticipated changes in the marketing environment
  • Mathematical optimization of plans and models (with requisite controls, of course)
    
• Fully configurable:
  • Seamlessly incorporate virtually any data stream such as POS, shipments, agency, and syndicated data
  • Leverage any algebraic representation of consumer demand (such as a marketing mix model).
  • Adapt to changes in the marketing environment on the fly:
    • Dynamically configurable drivers, variables, P&L, functions, hierarchies, etc.
    • Dynamically configurable computational methods and options
    • Dynamically configurable reports
    • Multiple synergy allocation methods, decomposition methods, etc.

Performance

• Performance advantages are derived through efficient use of memory-based caches of planning data using state-of-the-art storage and addressing techniques, minimizing memory utilization per operation.
  
• Massive vertical scalability is achieved through independent servers that can be hot-added to a running instance of M3.  It's built to support today's largest marketing organizations with thousands of products and markets. 
• Stability is delivered using multiple computational servers and intelligent, transactional job queuing.
  
• M3’s highly specialized database schema is performance tuned for each customer.

Accuracy

• Thousands of outputs, including scenario simulation and optimization and dozens of reporting methods, are tested daily against an automated suite of thousands of possible inputs and configurations which are updated as new features and options become available.  When your data or model changes, you can be sure the software is still right!
  
• M-Factor Professional Services uses the same techniques to test the validity of each customer implementation.

Security

• M-Factor has partnered with USi to develop a hosting and managed service environment that provides unprecedented levels of security and control around confidential planning and financial data.  USi is a world-class Managed Service Provider who ensures that our client applications are available and protected with the highest level of redundancy and security 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
  
• Within this highly secure environment, the M3 application is itself protected by SSL, configurable strong password authentication, strictly enforced user roles, and the M3 Data Security Layer.