Get news from our subject-matter experts

Every CFO I speak with is asking the same question: "We have the data, we have the planning system, so why does it still take three weeks to close the books - and another week to explain what happened?" The diagram below is the architecture we built at Octane - 5 layers, one flow. Users ask a question in plain English. It flows down through IBM watsonx Orchestrate (governed, audited, secured) into four specialist Finance Agents, each powered by Claude AI talking directly to IBM Planning Analytics TM1 via MCP Server - the Model Context Protocol. IBM Planning Analytics (TM1) is one of the most ...

How IBM Planning Analytics (PA) + Bob (IBM PA Agent) + IBM watsonx Orchestrate (WXO) unlock the two-track model - and give your team back 150 minutes a day If your team runs IBM Planning Analytics, read this. The planning engine is already there. The governed model is already there. The data your CFO needs to make faster decisions is already there. What is missing is the layer that runs it autonomously - so your analysts stop losing 150 minutes a day to work the system should already be doing. In June 2026, IBM shipped the IBM Planning Analytics Agent - known internally as Bob. The diagram ...

It is 6:00 PM on a Tuesday, and your CEO wants to see three different versions of next year's operational forecast before tomorrow's board meeting. Specifically, they need to know: what happens if APAC shipping costs go up 8%, the European sub-assembly plant delays its startup by two months, and the AUD drops to 0.64 against the USD—all at the same time. If you are running your finance operation on spreadsheet models, your night is already ruined. Here is what you will actually do: you will duplicate your master budget tab three times. You will rename them "High Case," "Base Case," and "Low ...

Picture a busy airport departure hall. Hundreds of travellers all heading to the same destination. Most are in the long queue. Shuffling forward. Checking their watches. Waiting for the line to move. And over to the right, a handful of people walk straight through. No queue. No wait. Full access. That is exactly where Finance and AI stands today. New research across more than 80 Selling, General and Administrative (SG&A) business processes shows that the gains from getting AI right in Finance are extraordinary: 44% Productivity gain across all SG&A functions 42% Finance cost cut over ...

Look—we've all been there. It’s 11 PM on a Thursday at the end of the quarter, and you’re staring at an inbox full of ad-hoc data requests. The VP of Sales wants a hyper-specific variance report for the APAC region, excluding two specific product lines. The Operations Director needs to know exactly how a 4% raw material cost increase cascades through the Q4 multi-level BOM forecast. The CEO is texting you about gross margin impacts if a new tariff hits tomorrow morning. You recently migrated the company to IBM Planning Analytics (TM1). You did the hard work. The calculation engine is blazing ...

From experimentation to enterprise value — how finance leaders can adopt autonomous AI without losing control. For the last two years, most finance teams have used AI to draft, summarise, and answer. Agentic AI changes the question entirely. Instead of asking "What can AI tell me?", the CFO now has to ask "What should AI be allowed to do?" That single shift — from AI as an assistant to AI as an actor — is the most consequential change to land on the finance function in a decade. And it lands squarely on the CFO's desk, because the CFO owns both sides of the equation: the upside of speed and ...

You have made the decision to migrate to IBM Planning Analytics (TM1) in the Cloud. You have mapped the architecture, and you are ready to leave your legacy spreadsheet grids behind. But for both IT and the CFO, the most critical bottleneck in a 2026 migration isn't getting the data into the cloud—it's getting it back out. How do you connect a multi-dimensional TM1 cube directly to a modern visualization tool like Microsoft Power BI, without breaking the reporting layer or relying on brittle, overnight batch scripts? Here is how the fastest-moving FP&A teams are solving the reporting ...

If you are a CFO or an IT Director managing an on-premise financial reporting system in 2026, you already know the pain. IT is spending a disproportionate amount of the week maintaining local servers and dealing with version control conflicts in legacy Excel add-ins. Meanwhile, Finance is battling the exhausting "double-close risk," manually reconciling data across disparate systems and praying a massive VLOOKUP macro doesn't break on day three of month-end. When leadership asks "what is IBM Planning Analytics?", they are usually looking for a better spreadsheet. But the reality is different: ...

The Close as the Definitive Proof of Concept Month-end close is the most complete use case for Agentic AI — requiring end-to-end workflow orchestration, complex reasoning, cross-system integration, and nuanced human-inthe-loop exception handling. It transforms the close from a manual, end-of-month scramble into an autonomous, continuous process. For decades, the financial close defined the rhythm of every finance function: a month-end sprint of chaotic reconciliations, chased approvals, and late-night journal entries consuming the entire controllership team for days. Finance professionals ...

“Your finance team today is probably the largest it's ever going to be.” That statement sparked plenty of discussion during my presentation at the Finance Transformation Summit Victoria 2026 at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne. For many years, finance transformation conversations have centred around automation, process improvement and digitalisation. This year felt different. The conversations were no longer about whether AI will impact finance. They were about how quickly organisations can implement it, where to start, and how to do it safely while maintaining governance and control. With more ...

AI in Finance : Governance Is Not a Feature. It Is the Foundation. Why ungoverned AI in finance is an audit risk, a compliance risk, and a strategic liability — and what a properly governed agentic finance stack actually looks like. There's a question I get asked at almost every CFO event I present at. It comes in different forms, but it's always the same underlying concern: 'If the AI is making decisions, who is accountable?" It's the right question. And the fact that so many senior finance leaders are asking it tells me that the governance conversation around AI in finance is still ...

Octane Hosts Auckland AI in Finance Summit: Why your next hire should be a AI agent ! The conversation around AI in finance has changed dramatically over the last 12 months. Finance leaders are no longer asking whether AI will impact their teams. They are asking how quickly they can implement it, how they govern it, and how they prepare their organisations for a future where AI becomes embedded into everyday finance operations. That was the focus of the recent Octane AI in Finance Summit, hosted at the beautiful Sofitel Auckland Viaduct Harbour, where more than 50 senior finance and business ...

How AI Transforms Your Financial Close — End to End Month-end close consumes 6 to 10 days of your finance team's time every single month. Here is what it looks like when AI takes on the heavy lifting — across all five phases of close. Let me start with a number that should bother every CFO: 6 to 10 days. That is what the average mid-to-large organisation loses each month to close activities — data loading, reconciliations, journal entries, intercompany matching, commentary, board pack production. Over a year, that is between 72 and 120 days of your most skilled finance people doing work that, ...

The AI Bill Shock Coming for Every CFO Token costs, uncontrolled AI spend, and the governance gap that will cost your organisation — if you don't act now. Every CFO I've spoken to in the last 12 months has signed off on at least one AI initiative. Most have signed off on several. Claude, Microsoft Copilot. ChatGPT Enterprise. AI features bundled into your ERP, your FP&A platform, your HR system. It's everywhere, it's accelerating, and for most organisations the cost of it is currently invisible. That invisibility is about to end. I'm not writing this to slow down your AI adoption. I'm ...

The Cost of Siloed Planning: Why Integrated Planning Matters The case for integrated planning — and why AI makes the absence of it more dangerous, not less. There's a story I use when I'm talking to CFOs about integrated planning. It's not a hypothetical. It's a company called Cochlear — a publicly listed medical device business. In a single trading day, the company lost approximately 40% of its market value recently. The reason wasn't fraud. It wasn't a product failure. It was a disconnect. Sales were declining. Inventory was building. The two facts were sitting in different systems, owned ...

Your Finance Team Is Already at Peak Headcount Three shifts reshaping finance — whether your organisation is ready or not. I've spent the better part of the last two decades inside finance functions — as an accountant, a systems architect, and now as someone who helps CFOs use AI to work smarter. I've sat through a lot of keynotes about the future of AI. I've also watched a lot of organisations be caught completely off-guard by shifts they could see coming but weren't prepared for. So let me be direct with you — peer to peer — about three things I believe every CFO needs to sit with right ...

Why the planning engine, the AI co-builder, and the orchestrator finally belong together, what the new operating model demands from finance leaders, and what every CFO should do about it in the next twelve months. Part 1. The twenty-year trade-off has just ended Every FP&A leader I talk to is living the same contradiction. The board wants faster scenarios. The audit committee wants more rigour. The chief executive wants insight by tomorrow morning. The CFO wants the number to survive an external audit. The business partners want a model that bends to their question. Finance wants a model ...

The Problem Every C-Suite Recognises but Few Have Solved Your organisation is not short on information. After a decade of digital transformation, most enterprises have built expansive repositories: policies, contracts, procedures, compliance frameworks, knowledge bases, operational runbooks, HR documentation, supplier records, regulatory filings. These assets represent years of institutional knowledge and millions of dollars of accumulated investment. And yet, when an employee needs an answer, a real, accurate, contextual answer, they still open a search bar, scroll through folders, send an ...

A complete practitioner's guide to IBM Planning Analytics Workflow — how it works, how to build one from scratch, and what's coming next that will change the game entirely. WHAT YOU WILL TAKE AWAY ✓ Why IBM Planning Analytics Workflow exists — and what problem it solves for FP&A teams ✓ The difference between Plans and Applications — and when to use each ✓ A step-by-step playbook for building a production-grade custom workflow ✓ Every confirmed update and upcoming feature on the 2026 roadmap Why Planning Cycles Break Without Workflow Every quarter, finance teams across the world do the ...

Agentic AI Acceleration in Finance: From Pilots to Execution in 90 Days The Answer that most CFO’s are looking for, AI in Finance, is to redesign finance as a governed, autonomous execution system, and we prove it in 90 days CFOs don’t have an AI problem. They have an execution problem. Across most enterprises, AI is being deployed at the surface—copilots, chat interfaces, and isolated automations—while the core execution layer of finance remains fragmented. The result is predictable: stalled initiatives, unclear ROI, and growing skepticism at the executive level. What users see is ...

If you are a CFO or finance director at an Australian mid-market company, you have spent the last 18 months watching every vendor on the planet tell you that AI will transform your function. You have sat through the demos. You have seen the slide decks. You have heard the promises. And you have probably noticed that most of it does not address the two questions that keep you up at night: Where does my data go? Can I trust this thing to make decisions on my behalf: legally? This guide is written from the perspective of a firm that has been doing enterprise finance technology in Australia for ...

If you are comparing TM1 and Power BI, you are asking the wrong question. These are not competing products. They solve fundamentally different problems. TM1 is a planning engine, and Power BI is a visualisation platform. Comparing them is like comparing an engine to a dashboard: one produces the power, and the other displays the information. The real question is: when do you use each, and how do you connect them? The Core Difference in One Sentence TM1 writes data. Power BI reads data. That is the entire architectural divide in eight words. IBM Planning Analytics (TM1) is a database where ...

IBM Planning Analytics (TM1) is a powerful enterprise planning and analytics platform used for budgeting, forecasting, and reporting. This premium roadmap is designed to take you from beginner to job-ready TM1 developer with practical skills, real-world use cases, and interview preparation. Phase 1: Fundamentals (Week 1–2) Understand OLAP concepts (Dimensions, Cubes, Measures) Explore TM1 Architecture (Server, PAW, TM1 Web) Install and navigate Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) Understand basic cube and dimension structures Phase 2: Core TM1 Development (Week 3–5) Create Dimensions, ...

IBM TM1 models can get messy fast, especially when you use alternate hierarchies and elements show up in multiple places. That's where the TM1DISTINCT MDX function quietly saves the day. Instead of blindly stripping out anything that "looks" duplicated, it understands TM1's hierarchies and only removes true duplicates – the exact same member in the exact same context The Problem: Why Regular DISTINCT Isn't Enough Imagine you're building a dynamic subset of Products. You pull all products under All Products, then union it with a special "Focus Products" consolidation. Now some products appear ...

Over the past two years, enterprise conversations around AI have been dominated by one theme: “We need a chatbot.” But here’s the uncomfortable truth, Most AI initiatives don’t fail because of poor models. They fail because the data behind those models is not trusted. Before organizations can scale AI, they must solve a more fundamental challenge: Can your business trust the data driving your decisions? The Illusion of AI Readiness Many enterprises believe they are AI-ready because they have: Data warehouses BI dashboards Reporting tools Multiple versions of the same KPI Manual data ...

Not all financial close platforms are equal. Here's exactly what to look for, what questions to ask, and why most vendors will struggle to answer them. The financial close software market looks more crowded and more confusing than it did five years ago. Task management tools, RPA platforms, ERP-native modules, AI copilots, and now agentic AI systems — all claiming to solve the same problem, all using similar language to describe very different capabilities. If you're evaluating options in 2026, you need a way to cut through the noise and ask the right questions. This guide gives you exactly ...

The difference between a chatbot, a copilot, and an agent isn't just technical. It changes everything about what AI can actually do for your close. If you've spent any time around technology in the last two years, you've heard the word AI used to describe everything from a spell-checker to a tool that can apparently run your entire finance operation. Most of it is noise. But underneath the noise, something genuinely significant is happening — and if you're a CFO, Financial Controller, or finance leader, it's worth understanding what it actually is, because the practical implications for your ...

The close has a structural problem. Here's what it actually is and why the solution isn't what most finance leaders think. 6–10 Business days lost to close every month 67% Of finance leaders cite close as their #1 stress source 30+ hours/month spent on manual reconciliations Let's be honest about something. You've probably tried to fix the close before. Maybe you hired more analysts. Maybe you invested in an RPA tool that automated a handful of repetitive tasks. Maybe you tightened up your close calendar, sent the chasers earlier, and ran a post-mortem after every painful period end. And yet. ...

When the Room Agrees: AI is Reshaping Finance — But Only If Your Foundation is Ready There are conferences where you hear ideas you've never encountered before. And there are conferences where the room puts language to things you've been seeing in practice — where the conversations happening on stage mirror almost exactly what you've been building with clients behind the scenes. Today's Gartner Finance & Accounting Symposium in Sydney was firmly the latter. I attended a standout panel session that brought together three of the sharpest finance leaders in the room: Matt Clifford, GM ...

Here’s a scenario I see playing out across organisations right now. Finance teams have invested significantly in TM1 — IBM Planning Analytics — but somewhere along the way, the platform stopped feeling like a competitive advantage and started feeling like a liability. Excel is creeping back in. Enhancements are taking months. The system goes down at the worst possible moment. And in many cases, the entire environment is held together by one or two people who are a single resignation away from becoming a crisis. I’ve spent the last twenty years working with TM1 environments across every size ...

How Octane FastClose is turning the month-end grind into a managed, automated, and human-controlled process — live today. Every month, without fail, your finance team disappears. Not on a retreat. Not on holiday. They vanish into the black hole of financial close — a gruelling 6 to 10 day sprint of spreadsheets, exception chasing, manual journal entries, and last-minute reconciliations. The statistics paint a stark picture. It is 2026, and teams are still copy-pasting between three systems to reconcile cash. Octane FastClose was built to change that. Why the Close Is Still Broken The ...

Why most TM1 environments underperform — and the four-step blueprint to fix it. When a finance team tells me their TM1 environment "doesn't work", I've learned to listen carefully — because the platform is rarely the real issue. What they actually mean is one of four things: Excel is creeping back in. Enhancements are taking months instead of days. The system goes down at the worst possible moment — mid-budget cycle or during month-end close. Or, most dangerously, the entire environment is held together by one or two people, and a single resignation away from a crisis. The root cause of all ...

TM1 v11 on-prem has served organizations well for years. It’s fast, flexible, and trusted. But the expectations around enterprise platforms have changed. Today, leadership teams want lower risk, predictable costs, and systems that evolve without constant reinvestment. That’s where Planning Analytics SaaS on AWS fits in—not as a new planning engine, but as a better way to run one. You Stop Running Infrastructure With on-prem TM1, you’re not just running a planning system—you’re running servers, storage, backups, patches, and disaster recovery. Even when nothing breaks, there’s ongoing effort ...

How IBM's latest platform updates advance agentic AI for regulated industries, compliance workflows and partner ecosystems Introduction The latest release of IBM watsonx Orchestrate represents a strategic inflection point in enterprise AI deployment. While much of the industry conversation centres on general-purpose chatbots and consumer-facing assistants, IBM has doubled down on what matters for regulated enterprises: governance, auditability, collaboration across agent ecosystems and practical automation in procurement, IT and HR workflows. This release introduces capabilities that address ...

IBM Planning Analytics (TM1) remains one of the most powerful planning and modelling engines used by Finance teams worldwide. Yet many organisations eventually experience frustration with their TM1 environments — slow performance, painful upgrades, rising support costs, and the quiet return of Excel. Contrary to popular belief, these challenges are rarely caused by TM1 itself. They are symptoms of a modernisation gap. The Hidden Drift Problem in TM1 Environments TM1 models often start clean, efficient, and purpose-built. Over time, however, incremental changes accumulate: New dimensions added ...

A dynamic dashboard interface displaying real-time insights. Discover how complex data can be transformed into actionable knowledge with dashboards designed for modern finance and analytics teams From Data Chaos to Clarity: The Need for Modern Dashboards In today’s enterprise world, finance and analytics professionals face an overwhelming flood of data from spreadsheets, legacy BI tools, and siloed systems. Numbers pile up, but clarity is often missing. That’s where the journey of building a modern dashboard begins — bringing order to chaos. I’ve seen situations where reporting delays, missed ...

Why IBM’s AI IDE matters for regulated enterprises, modernisation programs, and developer productivity. Introduction Enterprise software development is under pressure from every direction: modernisation mandates, cloud migration timelines, rising cybersecurity threats, and persistent talent shortages. At the same time, the systems that run the world—banking platforms, government services, supply chain systems, healthcare records, and airline operations—are often built on decades of accumulated code, tools, and operational processes. This creates a productivity and risk gap that conventional ...

Build Better AI Agents Faster with IBM WatsonX Orchestrate ADK As enterprises move AI agents from experimentation to real-world use, the challenge isn’t intelligence—it’s reliability, scalability, and trust. Turning a smart prototype into a production-ready system requires structure, visibility, and strong engineering foundations. This is exactly where IBM Watsonx Orchestrate Agent Development Kit (ADK) comes in. The ADK helps teams build AI agents that can reliably support business workflows, not just demos. It provides a guided, end-to-end approach to creating, testing, and deploying agents ...

Hard Lessons From 100+ Deployments Across IBM’s Ecosystem What I Wish I Had Understood Earlier – by Steny Sebastian, Principal Data and AI Platforms Over the past year, I have been deeply immersed in enterprise transformations. Not slideware. Not proofs of concept. Real systems operating in production across HR, finance, insurance, sales, and core operations. Many of these lessons emerged through close collaboration with IBM Product Managers, IBM APAC Technical and Sales Leader, IBM Client Engineering, and Octane AI engineers. Working together on real delivery challenges, sharing ...

Introduction IBM Planning Analytics Workspace 3.1.3 has made a noticeable difference to how I work with cube views every day. Instead of dragging views around and hoping I do not overwrite something important, I now use the built-in view selector to switch between different saved views in seconds. With Undo and Redo available directly in the cube view, it feels safe to try new layouts, pivots, and filters because I can always step back if the result is not what I expected. Together, these changes reduce friction in my analysis, keep my report layouts intact, and help me move much faster from ...

Over the last few years, enterprises have adopted AI largely as a task-level assistant chatbots, copilots, and isolated automation, improving productivity at the edges. As we approach 2026, this model is no longer sufficient. The next phase is Agentic AI, where AI systems are no longer passive responders but active participants in enterprise execution, capable of planning, coordinating, and acting across functions. This is where platforms like IBM WatsonX Orchestrate become central to enterprise growth and empowerment. From Isolated Automation to Orchestrated Intelligence Traditional AI ...

Dashboards: Distinction between Display and Use value in dashboards: You can now define Display and Use values in data modules. The Display values are the values that you can see in a dashboard UI; the Use values are primarily for filtering logic. Previously, defining the Display and Use values was possible only in FM packages. This feature brings the same capability to data modules and enhances consistency across dashboards and reporting. You can interact with readable values while filters apply precise underlying identifiers. For example, you can select a Customer ID value in the dashboard ...

Hello Octane clients, partners, and friends — and hello to our own Octane crew reading this too. As we wrap up 2025, we wanted to share a year-in-review that’s equal parts thank you, celebration, and “wait… did we really do all that?” 😄 This year was big. Big learning, big delivery, big growth, big laughs, and a few late nights fuelled by coffee, deadlines, and the occasional “just one more slide” moment. So here it is: the story of Octane 2025 — what we achieved, what we built, and why we’re genuinely pumped about what’s coming next. 🏆 Awards, Recognition, and Some Serious Global Moments ...

In the last few months, the tech world has been buzzing with one phrase — Agentic AI. From Stanford’s AI labs to Fortune 500 boardrooms, we’re seeing a powerful shift in how artificial intelligence is perceived and applied. Until now, AI has been largely reactive — it answered questions, summarised text, generated images or code. But Agentic AI takes a bold step forward. It doesn’t just respond — it acts. What Exactly Is Agentic AI? Think of Agentic AI as a system that can understand a goal, plan a route, and execute tasks autonomously — almost like a digital teammate that thinks, ...

If you’re a TM1 professional and have been near the finance or FP&A world lately, you’ve probably heard the buzzword of the season: Agentic AI. It sounds fancy and must have wondered why suddenly everyone is talking about it, but honestly, it’s just AI that doesn’t sit around waiting for you to poke it. It does things — proactively and automatically. And when you mix that with platforms like IBM Planning Analytics / TM1, things start getting interesting. So… What Exactly Is Agentic AI? Imagine if your TM1 rules, processes, and chores had a brain. Not just “if X then Y”, but something that ...

Procurement teams today are under pressure to move faster, reduce risk, and operate with greater transparency. Yet contract review — one of the most critical procurement responsibilities — remains slow, manual, and highly inconsistent across most organisations. A major enterprise client came to Octane facing exactly this challenge. Their procurement function was overwhelmed: contracts were buried in inboxes, reviews took hours, and comparing updated versions created delays and negotiation blind spots. Octane delivered a powerful, AI-enabled solution using IBM WatsonX Orchestrate — combining a ...

In the age of data-driven decision-making, a dashboard is more than just a collection of charts—it is a critical communication tool. It’s the lens through which stakeholders interpret performance, identify opportunities, and execute strategy. When designing these powerful visual narratives within a tool like IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW), a systematic approach is non-negotiable. This guide details a comprehensive framework and methodology for designing insightful and impactful dashboards, ensuring they don't just display data, but tell a compelling, actionable story. Part I: The ...

There are conferences — and then there’s IBM TechXchange. This year in Orlando felt like the perfect mix of innovation, community, sunshine, and serious momentum for the future of AI in the enterprise. And for me personally, it was a special one — attending as a 5th Year IBM Champion, surrounded by some of the brightest minds in the industry, and representing an Octane team that’s going global at full throttle. It wasn’t just another tech event. It was a reminder of just how fast the world of enterprise AI is moving — and how exciting the road ahead really is. A Full House… Literally Our ...

In today’s volatile business landscape, agility is no longer a competitive advantage—it’s a necessity. True agility means moving beyond fast response to actively anticipating market shifts and seamlessly aligning people, processes, and technology to act decisively. Enterprises possess vast troves of data, yet the ultimate differentiator is the ability to transform that data into actionable insights and automated, intelligent decisions. At Octane Analytics, we are driving this transformation across industries by evolving disconnected reporting tools into a unified, intelligent ecosystem ...

We are standing at the threshold of the most significant transformation in finance since the invention of the spreadsheet. Artificial Intelligence isn’t a future concept — it’s here — quietly rewriting how finance teams plan, decide, and perform. And yet, despite the global AI boom, 95% of enterprise AI initiatives fail to deliver measurable impact. Not because the technology falls short, but because most organisations stop too soon. They automate tasks but never redesign the system. At Octane Solutions, we’ve worked with over 100 finance teams across APAC — and we’ve seen what separates the ...

IBM Watsonx Orchestrate Use Cases? 1. Boost Productivity with Automation Automates repetitive , manual tasks ( e.g., pulling reports , scheduling meetings , and onboarding employees ). Frees up employees to focus on strategic, value-added work instead of admin tasks. Reduces human error in routine operations. 2. AI-Powered Digital Worker Works s a digital co-worker that executes tasks across applications. Employees can ask Orchestrate in natural language (e.g, "Create a sales pipeline report" or "Schedule candidate interviews"). No need for deep technical skills to use automation 3. ...

In the modern era of cloud computing, businesses are increasingly leveraging distributed architectures to meet the growing demand for faster, more efficient services. One of the key innovations that addresses this need is the concept of edge computing, where data processing occurs closer to the source of the data rather than relying on centralised cloud data centres. However, with the edge computing paradigm comes the challenge of connecting devices and systems distributed over a wide area and ensuring smooth communication between edge environments and the cloud. IBM’s Satellite Connector is ...

In a recent project with a leading media company in Australia, we set out to demonstrate how IBM Watsonx Orchestrate can revolutionise finance operations through the power of Generative AI. The Commercial Finance team, under constant pressure to deliver timely, accurate and insight-rich reports, needed a smarter way to move beyond manual data wrangling and deliver executive-ready outputs in record time. That’s where WatsonX Orchestrate came in. Unlike traditional BI or workflow automation tools, Watsonx Orchestrate leverages Generative AI to not only automate repetitive tasks but also to ...

The 8 Forces Reshaping the Future of Finance – and How Agentic AI Helps CFOs Lead Gartner has pin pointed 8 disruptive forces set to fundamentally transform the finance function. These changes—spanning technological advancements, organisational shifts, and regulatory upheavals- pose both risks and opportunities for CFOs. Success will belong to those who leverage Agentic AI, such as WatsonX Orchestrate, and Extended Planning & Analytics, like IBM Planning Analytics, to not merely adapt but to lead the transformation. Finance is standing at a critical juncture. Gartner emphasises that the ...

For years, finance leaders have debated when the time would come to embed Artificial Intelligence (AI) into their operations. That time is no longer in the future. AI has become a business imperative—a driver of efficiency, agility, and competitive advantage for CFOs under mounting pressure to deliver more with less. This is not just theory. It’s happening today. And Rinnai Australia is a standout example. In just 12 months, Rinnai has modernised its finance platform, embedding IBM Planning Analytics (PA) with support from Octane Software Solutions. The result? A finance function that has ...

IBM Planning Analytics has introduced new features that make development and administration tasks much easier. Two of the most impactful improvements are the ability to see variable values while debugging TI processes and the enhanced Database Explorer. 1. Hover to See Variable Values in TurboIntegrator Debugger Debugging TI processes used to mean adding log statements and rerunning processes just to see variable values. With the new hover help, simply move your mouse over a variable in the debugger, and its value is displayed (e.g., sCube = 'Asset_Input'). ✅ Benefit: Makes debugging much ...

Value_Is_String is a special, reserved local variable used internally by TurboIntegrator scripts. It is not necessary to explicitly declare or assign it within your script; TM1 automatically manages its value during data processing. Purpose of Value_Is_String The main role of Value_Is_String is to determine whether the data source value being processed is a string or a number. This helps in scenarios where different operations are needed depending on the data type, such as: Formatting output differently Validating data Applying specific calculations or conversions How does Value_Is_String ...

In an age where AI is often synonymous with machine learning, one of the most powerful, but often overlooked, tools in the AI toolbox is optimisation. At the heart of many real-world, high-stakes decisions lies a mathematical engine built to deliver the best possible outcome. And IBM ILOG CPLEX continues to be that engine of choice. As we move deeper into 2025, one hot trend is hybrid AI, the combination of predictive models with prescriptive optimisation. Why predict what might happen if you can also decide what should happen? That’s where CPLEX shines. Real-world impact: From supply chains ...

In today’s fast-moving business environment, automation isn’t just a nice-to-have — it’s essential. IBM Watsonx Orchestrate has already helped many organisations streamline tasks, save time and improve productivity across teams. However, with the introduction of the Agentic version of Watsonx Orchestrate, a noticeable shift is occurring in how companies approach automation. Unlike the Classic version, which relies on well-defined rules and task sequences, the Agentic approach introduces intelligent agents that understand goals, adapt to changing inputs, and even make decisions in real-time. ...

Problem Summary: Users encounter a "Logging on to the server failed" error when opening PAW reports when their }clientproperties have maximumports set to non-zero values (1-10). Root Cause: The issue stems from PA Workspace's modern architecture 2.1.5: The client makes multiple simultaneous requests to the TM1 Server for improved throughput Each request requires a separate connection The application uses asynchronous processing to enhance performance and user experience When maximumports is set too low (1-10), it restricts the number of concurrent connections the client can establish, causing ...

In a world where AI is becoming smarter and faster, one constant challenge remains: trust. We all want better forecasts, more accurate models, and faster insights. But as we scale machine learning and predictive analytics across the enterprise, a critical question emerges, Can we explain the results? That’s where IBM SPSS is quietly making a big impact in 2025. Why SPSS is still a game-changer You might think of SPSS as a tool for academic stats or survey analysis. However, its transformation in recent years positions it as a core enabler of responsible AI in businesses and government. With ...

What is ASCIIOutputOpen In IBM Planning Analytics (TM1), TurboIntegrator (TI) processes are essential for automating data operations. One of the most useful functions in TI scripting is ASCIIOutputOpen, which allows you to open a file for writing ASCII data. Whether you need to create a new file or append data to an existing one, this function provides the flexibility to control file access and modifications efficiently. Key Features of ASCIIOutputOpen Append or Overwrite: Choose whether to overwrite an existing file or add new data to the end. Shared Read Access: Enable other processes or ...

In one of our current projects for an enterprise client, we are actively designing and implementing an HR transformation solution using IBM Watsonx Orchestrate. The client’s HR function is under growing pressure to streamline operations, attract top talent and maintain employee engagement—while keeping costs under control. They’re not just looking to digitise existing processes, but to build a future-ready, intelligent HR ecosystem. That’s why we’ve turned to Agentic AI. Unlike traditional RPA or workflow tools, Agentic AI uses contextual understanding to make autonomous decisions while ...

Big news for Indian enterprises: IBM Planning Analytics as a Service is now officially available on AWS in India. This means faster performance, stronger data sovereignty, and AI-powered insights—all on a scalable cloud platform. At IBM India Services, together with Octane Software Solutions, we're excited to help you harness this opportunity. Why this AWS India expansion changes everything Ultra-low latency for real-time planning & analytics Local data residency for compliance with India's DPDP Act IBM Planning Analytics on AWS - cloud-powered FP&A at scale AI-enhanced insights ...

Looking for ways to monitor the health and status of your IBM Planning Analytics (PA) Application and Server? Here are some methods for automating monitoring and receiving alerts whenever issues arise in the backend of your PA applications. Before enabling these alerts, it's important to understand the key areas to monitor. Monitoring these aspects ensures your PA applications remain healthy, stable, and optimised for performance. NOTE: Your Access role should be Administrator to view and perform all the below. 1. Database Health Monitoring To assess the health of your PA applications and ...

As the role of the CFO evolves from financial steward to strategic architect, the expectations have never been higher. CFOs today are expected to: Deliver rapid, accurate close cycles. Ensure compliance across a complex regulatory landscape. Provide forward-looking insights that drive executive decisions. Lead finance transformation in a data-driven world. This shift demands more than spreadsheets and legacy consolidation tools. It calls for intelligent automation, real-time transparency, and strategic control. This is where IBM Controller steps in as a financial consolidation platform and a ...

We are witnessing a defining shift in enterprise technology—the rise of Agentic AI. At IBM THINK 2025 in Boston, the message from industry leaders was clear: the future belongs to intelligent systems that not only analye data but also act on it. As Ritika Gunnar, IBM’s VP of Product Management, powerfully put it: "These aren’t just dashboards. They’re doers" AI agents—autonomous, adaptive, and capable of reasoning—are no longer futuristic. They are here, and over 85% of enterprises already have some form of AI agent in place. What’s more impressive is that over 50% will deploy AI agents into ...

In today’s data-driven business landscape, finance teams need real-time visibility, accurate forecasting, and seamless workflows to stay competitive. Yet, many organisations struggle with disconnected systems—where accounting data lives in one platform (like Xero, NetSuite, etc) while budgeting and planning happen elsewhere (like IBM Planning Analytics). This disconnect creates inefficiencies, manual errors, and delays in decision-making. What if you could bridge the gap and bring your Xero accounting data directly into IBM Planning Analytics for deeper analysis, forecasting, and reporting? ...

The need for agile financial planning In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, organisations face unprecedented volatility, supply chain disruptions, fluctuating demand, inflationary pressures, and geopolitical uncertainties. Traditional financial planning methods, reliant on static spreadsheets and manual processes, are no longer sufficient. Businesses need real-time insights, predictive foresight, and the ability to pivot quickly in response to changing conditions. Enter IBM Planning Analytics with Watson’s AI Assistant, a cutting-edge solution that combines multidimensional ...

Revolutionising operations and customer interactions In today’s fast-paced and competitive business landscape, organisations are constantly looking for innovative ways to enhance efficiency, improve customer experiences, and make data-driven decisions. One of the most transformative technologies that is making waves across industries is the AI assistant. AI assistants—powered by natural language processing (NLP), machine learning, and automation—are transforming how businesses operate. From streamlining internal workflows to enhancing customer engagement, AI assistants are offering tangible ...

In a world where speed, scale, and trust define success, Octane has emerged as a leader in enterprise AI-driven transformation. Honoured with the 2025 IBM Partner Plus Award in APAC for automation, Octane’s groundbreaking use of IBM Watsonx Orchestrate is setting a new benchmark for how intelligent automation can empower business users and scale human productivity. The Award: Increasing performance through automation The IBM Partner Plus Award for Automation celebrates business partners who are delivering new levels of performance with speed, scale and security, enabling systems, business ...

There’s nothing quite like starting a new role at the forefront of innovation. My first week at Octane Software Solutions was nothing short of electrifying—the highlight was a full-house customer event buzzing with energy, visionary ideas, and the promise of AI-driven transformation. The focus?  IBM AI Platform, Watsonx Orchestrate, is poised to redefine how businesses harness automation, AI agents, and predictive intelligence to unlock unprecedented efficiency. Let me take you through this exhilarating journey and why Watsonx Orchestrate, paired with Octane’s expertise, is the future of ...

In today’s fast-paced business environment, companies are constantly looking for ways to streamline their operations, improve decision-making, and stay ahead of the competition. One of the tools that has gained significant attention in the world of business intelligence and analytics is IBM Planning Analytics, which harnesses the power of AI to enhance financial planning, forecasting, and reporting. One of the standout features of IBM Planning Analytics is its AI Assistant, an innovative tool that leverages artificial intelligence to provide smarter, more efficient planning and analytics ...

The world of finance is evolving rapidly, and AI is no longer a futuristic concept—it’s a practical tool that can transform how finance teams operate. But for many organisations, the idea of integrating AI into their workflows can feel overwhelming. Where do you start? How do you ensure success? The answer lies in taking a gradual, strategic approach. With Watson Orchestrate and IBM Planning Analytics, you can start small, prove the value, and confidently scale your AI initiatives. At Octane, we guide you through this journey, from exploring use cases to delivering impactful projects. Why ...

Today, we’re excited to explore a game-changing function that enhances the versatility of your Planning Analytics platform. Imagine a tool that not only streamlines your data processes but also connects your Planning Analytics seamlessly with external systems. This innovation allows you to execute HTTP requests directly within your TurboIntegrator (TI) processes, transforming your Planning Analytics into an integral part of your interconnected ecosystem. Join us as we delve into the possibilities this function brings and how it can elevate your data management strategies to new heights. Why ...

The holiday season is a time for joy, relaxation, and quality time with loved ones. However, for many finance teams, it’s also a period of intense activity. Year-end closings, budgeting, and reporting deadlines can pile up, creating a stressful and demanding environment. Imagine spending your holiday season worrying about potential system outages, data load failures, or urgent user queries. It’s a scenario that can disrupt your well-deserved break and compromise your team’s productivity. Leverage Dedicated TM1 Support During the Holidays Engage a reliable TM1 support partner to handle system ...

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind, a high stakes balancing act that tested the limits of our team's resilience and expertise. We simultaneously managed two major client migrations. Both were for high profile large clients and part of their IBM Planning Analytics Modernisation initiative: The clients News Corp - News Corp Australia tells the stories that matter to 18.2 million Australians every month as an important part of News Corp, a diversified global media and information services company. From breaking news in the morning to deciding dinner that night, Australia trusts our brands ...

Attending IBM TechXchange in Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas was an exhilarating experience that showcased the cutting-edge IBM technologies shaping various industries today. The conference brought together technologists, IBM Champions, thought leaders, industry experts, and innovators eager to share insights and explore the latest advancements in IBM's technology portfolio. From AI to cloud computing, the event highlighted how these tools are transforming businesses, making operations more efficient, and ultimately driving better decision-making. As an IBM champion we were treated as VIPs with row ...

Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) offers a robust suite of visualizations, enabling users to create rich and compelling reports and dashboards with remarkable flexibility. However, even with these capabilities, you may occasionally encounter requirements that push the limits of what PAW provides out of the box. One such scenario I encountered was the need to create a column chart comparing Actual vs Budget variance. The twist? Any negative variance should be highlighted with a red bar, while positive variance should be displayed in green, as shown below: PAW’s default settings don't ...

In this blog post, we will showcase the process of exposing the transaction logging on Planning Analytics (PA) V12 on AWS to the users. Currently, in Planning Analytics there is no user interface (UI) option to access transaction logs directly from Planning Analytics Workspace. However, there is a workaround to expose transactions to a host server and access the logs. By following these steps, you can successfully access transaction logged in Planning Analytics V12 on AWS using REST API. Step 1: Creating an API Key in Planning Analytics Workspace The first step in this process is to create an ...

Effective management of Planning Analytics (TM1), particularly with tools like IBM’s TM1, can significantly enhance your organization’s financial planning and performance management. Here are some essential tips to help you optimize your Planning Analytics (TM1) processes: 1. Understand Your Business Needs Before diving into the technicalities, ensure you have a clear understanding of your business requirements. Identify key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics that are critical to your organization. This understanding will guide the configuration and customization of your Planning ...

For over a decade and a half, my life has been intertwined with the WRX Car Club of NSW, a vibrant community centered around a shared passion for Subaru's iconic rally-inspired cars. What began as a casual interest in high-performance vehicles evolved into a deeply enriching journey that has left an indelible mark on me and my family. I still remember the first time I attended a club event, a curious enthusiast drawn by the allure of the roaring engines and the camaraderie of fellow enthusiasts. It was a world unlike any other, where speed and adrenaline converged with a sense of belonging ...

In this blog post, I aim to demonstrate a simple yet effective technique to display the members returned by a set as a list in Excel. This serves as a quick and efficient method for analysing the results from your static or MDX-based sets. This approach offers an alternative to using the TM1ELLIST function in Planning Analytics for Excel (PAfE), which also returns an array of members based on MDX expression or a set. However, the TM1ELLIST function requires the user to manually enter the formula to view the results and it does not support hierarchies. When you add a SUBNM or TM1Set function ...

In the realm of digital transformation, the concept of digital labor has emerged as a game-changer for businesses seeking efficiency, agility, and innovation. IBM WatsonsX Orchestrate, a powerhouse in the AI and data orchestration space, takes center stage in this digital evolution. This blog explores the pivotal role played by WatsonsX Orchestrate in reshaping digital labor and how it empowers organizations to harness the full potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and data science. Orchestrate allows you to add and train new automations from a variety of sources, enabling users to easily ...

In a recent announcement, IBM unveiled changes to the Continuing Support program for Cognos TM1, impacting users of version 10.2.x. Effective April 30, 2024, Continuing Support for this version will cease to be provided. Let's delve into the details. What is Continuing Support? Continuing Support is a lifeline for users of older software versions, offering non-defect support for known issues even after the End of Support (EOS) date. It's akin to an extended warranty, ensuring users can navigate any hiccups they encounter post-EOS. However, for Cognos TM1 version 10.2.x, this safety net will ...

In an era defined by digital transformation and efficiency, businesses are increasingly turning to automation to streamline their operations. One such powerful tool in the realm of automation is IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA). In this blog post, we'll delve into the world of IBM RPA, exploring its key features, benefits, and how it is shaping the future of business processes. Understanding IBM RPA: Robotic Process Automation, or RPA, refers to the use of software robots or "bots" to automate repetitive, rule-based tasks within business processes. IBM RPA is a comprehensive solution ...

With the holiday season just around the corner, the air is buzzing with excitement as individuals eagerly anticipate spending quality time with their loved ones. As companies prepare for the annual shutdown, employees are gearing up for some much-needed rest and relaxation. However, amidst the festivities, it's essential to ensure that business operations continue to run smoothly, especially for those facing month-end reporting obligations. Maintaining Business Continuity: The holiday season is a time to unwind, reflect, and connect with family and friends. However, in finance, the show must ...

In today's digital age, businesses are constantly seeking ways to optimize their data management processes. One solution that has gained significant popularity is the migration of planning analytics to the cloud. This strategic move offers several advantages that businesses can leverage to enhance their data management capabilities. Why Cloud? One of the primary reasons why companies are making the switch to cloud-based planning analytics is the instant global presence it provides. By storing data in data centers located around the world, organizations can ensure that their data is accessible ...

In the ever-evolving world of data visualization and reporting, Power BI continues to shine as a leading tool, constantly enhancing its capabilities. The August update brings a slew of exciting features, focusing on making your reporting experience smoother, more precise, and more efficient than ever before. Let's dive into the game-changing updates: 1. New Layout Switcher Tired of the hassle of switching between web and mobile layouts while developing your reports? Say hello to the new layout switcher! Power BI has introduced intuitive buttons, thoughtfully positioned at the bottom of your ...

In today's data-driven world, making informed decisions is not just a competitive advantage; it's a necessity. Power BI, Microsoft's robust business intelligence tool, has emerged as a go-to solution for organizations across various industries. Whether you're a small business owner, part of a dynamic team, or part of a large enterprise, Power BI offers a range of options to cater to your unique data analysis and visualization needs. The Power BI Ecosystem In the realm of business intelligence and data analytics, Power BI stands tall as a dynamic and versatile tool that empowers organizations ...

In today’s highly connected world, IT systems are critical for the success of any business. But as with any technology, these systems can fail. When they do, the repercussions can be devastating. From lost data to lost customers, the impact of a failing IT system can be far-reaching and costly. Fortunately, there are steps businesses can take to avoid great failures of IT systems. By understanding the potential pitfalls and implementing strategies to prevent them, organizations can protect themselves from potentially catastrophic outcomes. 1. Establish a Plan for Regular Maintenance and ...

One of the standout features of Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) is its ability to create calculations in the Exploration view. This feature empowers users to perform advanced calculations without the need for technical expertise. Whether you're using PAW or PAfE (Planning Analytics for Excel), the Exploration view offers a range of powerful capabilities. The Exploration view supports a variety of functions, such as aggregations, mathematical operations, conditional logic, and custom calculations. This means you have the flexibility to perform complex calculations tailored to your specific ...

When business users inquire about Planning Analytics for Excel (PAfE) or TM1 Perspectives, I often resort to the widely recognized phrase 'Excel on steroids' to effectively convey its true power and potential. PAfE acts as a dynamic complement to their existing Excel skills, bridging the functional gaps between the two tools to boost productivity significantly. Rather than replacing Excel, PAfE expands its capabilities, empowering users to delve deeper into analysis and unlock untapped opportunities. This professional alliance between PAfE and Excel helps businesses leverage their existing ...

Process Mining and RPA are two powerful tools that can help organizations increase efficiency and reduce costs. When used together, they can provide unprecedented visibility and insight into organizational processes, allowing for greater scalability of RPA implementations and unlocking hidden value. With Process Mining, organizations can identify inefficiencies in their processes and use RPA to automate tasks and optimize operations. CFOs recognize the potential of this combination and view investments in Process Mining as a key factor in maximizing returns from RPA. In fact, a 2021 Gartner ...

With the introduction of hierarchies in IBM Planning Analytics, a new level of data analysis capability has been unlocked. This is by far one of the most significant enhancements to the Planning Analytics suite as far as the flexibility and usability of the application is concerned. Benefits of LEAVES Hierarchy One particular useful hierarchy is the LEAVES hierarchy. It offers several benefits beyond data analysis. One that stands out is that it is a “zero-maintenance” hierarchy as it automatically adds leaf level members as they are added in other hierarchies. It can also be used as a master ...

There’s never been a greater need for automation Are you looking for the perfect way to unlock hidden value from your business operations? Look no further than Process Mining and Robotic Process Automation (RPA). When these two powerful software tools are deployed in tandem, organizations can realize millions of dollars in savings and unprecedented operational efficiency. In this blog post, we'll explore how the two work together, what kind of results organizations are seeing, and how you can get started fast. Let's dive in! The current climate of soaring inflation and labor shortages ...

If you’re tired of manually updating your reports every time you need to add a new column in your Dynamic Reports, you're not alone. It can be time-consuming and tedious - not to mention frustrating - to have to constantly tweak and adjust your reports as your data changes. Luckily, there’s a way to make your life easier: Dynamizing Dynamic Reports. By using a hack to make your reports’ columns as dynamic as the rows, you can free up time and energy for other tasks - and make sure your reports are always up-to-date. Read on to learn how to make your reports more dynamic and efficient! The ...

In recent years, Octane has been expanding into new markets and introducing its business solutions to help organisations achieve their goals. Octane is an IBM Gold partner based out of Sydney Australia and operates in Australia, India, and UAE with clients located in all parts of the world. Octane's entry into Fiji presents a unique opportunity for businesses in the region to access the company's technological expertise and benefit from its innovative solutions. Octane runs a 24/7 Managed Service operation from its Indian delivery centers and would be training staff and setup a delivery ...

As the world moves towards more data-driven decision-making, businesses are increasingly looking for effective planning and budgeting solutions. IBM Planning Analytics is the go-to for businesses looking for a comprehensive set of tools to help them manage their budgeting and planning process. With Planning Analytics, businesses can access powerful analytics to make more informed decisions, leverage advanced features to create complex models, and gain better insights into their financial data. IBM is constantly improving the functionalities and features of the IBM Planning Analytics ...

Amin Mohammad, the IBM Planning Analytics Practice Lead at Octane Solutions, is taking you through his top 12 capabilities of Planning Analytics, in 2023. These are his personal favorites and there could be more than what he is covering. He has decided to divide his list into PAFe and PAW, as they have their own unique capabilities, and to highlight them separately. Planning Analytics for Excel (PAfE) 1. Support for alternate hierarchies in TM1 Web and PAfE Starting with TM1 Set function, which has finally opened the option to use alternate hierarchies in TM1 web. it contains nine arguments ...

Have all the data but not the full picture ? Business Intelligence is not a software application but rather concept of accelerating and improving decision making; optimizing internal business processes; increasing operational efficiency; driving new revenues; and gaining competitive advantages over business rivals. BI systems should help companies identify market trends and spot business problems that need to be addressed. It encompasses displaying historical data as well as new data as its generated from source systems enabling analysis to support both tactical and strategic decision making ...

One of the interesting things about Octane Red and Blue is that there is no onboarding you can start to ticket on the first day of your subscription. Over time, we are studying tickets that the user creates and anticipate that the user will have the same ticket for the next month so we will create it in advance so that users will no longer make one, that is what we call recurring tickets. There is a lot of automation that we can introduce, and this will no longer require any human intervention needed during the process, and tasks that are ticketed will be automated. Preventative maintenance ...

If you are a TM1 user then you would have surely come across times when you required assistance in support or Development (DevOps) for your implementation. Thousands of companies use TM1 globally for financial and business performance reporting, calculation and presentation of KPIs, allocation, and apportionment, and as a tool for data collection. While having all that factors, a company may also experience pain points like costly consultants for TM1 Development and the struggle to hire a TM1 developer. We have released Octane Blue and Red which allows you access to TM1 developer and support ...

Six months after Tyro implemented Blackline software, Casper Deman, Tyro’s Finance Project lead, joins Octane’s Amendra Pratap, for a fireside chat to discuss life after Blackline. Let’s dive into the learnings from Caspar Deman while implementing Blackline Software in a high-growth organisation like Tyro. Download the full case study at the end of this article. Q. Why don't you give us a quick introduction to your interactions with Blackline Reconciliation? Casper: "I worked at News Corp for eight years. My last role at News Corp for the last probably a year and a half was heading up the ...

Warning: long term use of Excel is lethal for CFOs trying to make data-driven decision-making. Discover how Excel can’t excel when it comes to managing data and what can be done about it. The troubles with Excel are only beginning. Excel not only caps out at a million records, but it also rounds off large numbers using imprecise calculations which compromises the accuracy of your data. Excel is a single-user system. That means it only allows one person to input data at a time. There’s a high chance that someone entering the data does it without regard for storage, backup, and processing best ...

According to the BARC Report 2022, market leaders included SAP, TM1, Oracle, Workday, Board and Jedox. Other popular FP+A tools like Anaplan were rated as challengers. All FP+A software companies were rated on these dimensions: Planning and forecasting Ease of use for business users Portfolio evaluation Ad hoc query and reporting Analysis Infrastructure evaluation Dashboards Formatted reporting Advanced and predictive analytics Scoring Calculating the individual ratings for all criteria and all vendors produces two scores per company: the Portfolio Capabilities score and the Market Execution ...

Caspar Deman, Tyro’s Finance Project Lead, shares his top four tips when considering Blackline Reconciliation. Caspar offers practical advice for Financial Controllers and Financial Accountants, looking to make financial transformation in their organisations. Caspar advises companies adopting Blackline to think about the following: Get rid of error-prone manual consolidations Make it scalable (as early on as possible) Be ready for one-off integration challenges Manage expectations and timeline Download the full case study at the end of this article. 1. Get rid of error-prone manual ...

Instead of using historical sales data, CFOs making financial transformations are shifting to driver-based forecasting. In the Australian construction industry alone, market conditions have moved so quickly in the last 24 months, that history can no longer be trusted to tell the future. In the Australian construction industry alone, market conditions have moved so quickly in the last 24 months, that history can no longer be trusted to tell the future. Forecasting P+L and balance sheets based on actuals and historical data is proving less reliable. The historical data can’t capture the market ...

Australian construction companies that will thrive during the recent consolidation will blend corporate strategy and digital analytic strategy. CFOs will move away from traditional models to adopt digital strategic planning models that rely on data insights while making decisions. Aspen Medical CFO, Moazam Shah, noted some of the key competencies for finance professionals to thrive in a digital world, including knowledge of digital technologies, ability to articulate their use to a wider audience in the business, an ability to learn and adapt to changes in technologies, and to a motivation to ...

120 balance sheet reconciliations, stacks of spreadsheets, and lots of emails – month-end for Tyro Payments was a nightmare. That was until this fintech organisation adopted Blackline Reconciliation. In FY21 more than $25.5 billion in transactions were processed with Tyro, accounting for 24% of transaction volume Compound Annual Growth Rate. Considered the fifth largest payment processor with 600 employees, it only has about 18 people on the finance team. The rapid growth brought increased complexity, risk, and cost in their financial close and reporting processes. So naturally, the team was ...

Home Innovation Builders, Dyldam Developments, Hotondo Homes franchise, Tasmanian Constructions, ABD Group, BA Murphy, Pindan, and Inside Out Construction have all gone bust. It’s time CFOs from the construction embraced financial transformation. Construction giants like Probuild and Condev have collapsed. Many other construction companies are looking at downturns and the huge debt that’ll push them into a similar path to liquidation. Amendra Pratap, Managing Director at Octane, say: “The rate of construction companies falling and going bankrupt is at an all-time high. The major reason behind ...

This white paper was written to describe the level of self-service users can expect from TM1. Download the full white paper in PDF below. This white paper was written to describe the level of self-service users can expect from TM1. To understand what users can expect from TM1, imagine your organisation’s finance office is a house. In this house, users are busy building different kinds of rooms. Popular rooms include budgeting and forecasting. In an adjacent room, analysis of financials is taking place. Down the hallway a report is being created. In addition to the rooms, there is furniture ...

Balancing Flexibility and Standards - IBM Cognos TM1 Govern Data Discovery The world of data has infinite variety…and infinite requirements. No single analytics solution will please everyone. But it is possible to combine the strengths of complementary solutions to help meet the needs of both enterprise IT personnel who crave data governance and the end business users who are hungry for self-service. IBM offers different flavors of analytics to bring you the best side-by-side experience. In today’s blog, I would like to focus on IBM Cognos TM1 Planning Analytics - a unique union of data ...

What is it? Box plots have been around in PAW since version 2.0.63. The purpose of this visualization is to help the financial analysts to view the concentration or distribution of their financial data at a glance, including the summarized statistical information without requiring any sort of data science expertise or delving into the technicalities of writing complex statistical calculations to get this visualization. The benefit of this visualization is that it is quite simple to create, no statistical coding is required with PAW doing all the heavy lifting while the users simply ensure the ...

While reading the excerpts from various books and journals on science direct website, I couldn't help but start thinking of how IBM PA fares against these quality attributes of software, which has precisely led me to write this blog article hoping to share my thoughts with you. As I do this, I am also hoping that this will aid the CFOs and other decision-makers in choosing the right software for their organization based on these key traits. Before we start talking about software quality attributes also known as SQA, let us first understand what it takes to assess the quality of any software. ...

It’s an amazing feeling as we gear up to celebrate Octane’s 5th anniversary. What started as an idea and nurtured by me and my senior leaders is fast transforming into an established and growing enterprise. Five years is usually a significant milestone in a startup’s life as it pushes you into a grown-up zone. It’s been an exciting journey and the pandemic indeed threw some curveballs at us. From Macquarie to Octane I am often asked about the motivation to resign from Macquarie Group to start Octane. Macquarie was an excellent learning ground to nurture one’s entrepreneurial fire. I found a ...

Octane Software Solutions is a cutting edge technology and services provider to the Office of Finance. Octane is partnered with vendors like IBM and BlackLine to provide AI-based solutions to help finance teams automate their processes and increase their ability to provide business value to the enterprise. Qubedocs is an automated IBM Planning Analytics documenter. It generates automated documentation within minutes and ensures compliance and knowledge management within your organisation. So, we're excited to announce our partnership with QUBEdocs - a solution that takes the resources and ...

We have made it easier for your users to access Planning Analytics with Watson (TM1) Training. This week we launched our online training for Planning Analytics with Watson PAW and PAX; available online in instructor-led, 4-hour sessions. Planning Analytics with Watson (TM1) Training This training provides the ideal time for you to spend some of your allocated training budgets; often assigned but never utilised on something that you can actually apply in your workplace. We have made it easy for you to book your training online in a few easy steps. IBM has been consistently improving and adding ...

Have all the data but not the full picture ? Business Intelligence is not a software application but rather concept of accelerating and improving decision making; optimizing internal business processes; increasing operational efficiency; driving new revenues; and gaining competitive advantages over business rivals. BI systems should help companies identify market trends and spot business problems that need to be addressed. It encompasses displaying historical data as well as new data as its generated from source systems enabling analysis to support both tactical and strategic decision making ...

Starting 1 April 2021, "with Watson" will be added to the name of the IBM Planning Analytics solution. IBM® Planning Analytics with Watson will be the official product name represented on the IBM website, in the product login and documentation, as well as in marketing collateral. However, IBM TM1® text will be maintained in descriptions of planning analytics' capabilities, differentiators and benefits. What is the "Watson" in Planning Analytics with Watson? The cognitive help feature within Planning Analytics with Watson is the help system used in IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (Cloud). ...

The blogs brief about the challenge faced post enabling the Audit log in one of our client's environment. Once the audit log was turned on to capture the metadata changes, the Data Directory backup scheduled process started to fail. After some investigation, I found the cause was the temp file (i.e., tm1rawstore. ) generated by the audit log by default and placed in the data directory. The Temp file is used by audit log to record the events before moving it to a permanent file (i.e., tm1auditstore). Sometimes, you may even notice dimension related files (i.e., DimensionName.dim.), and these ...

IBM Planning Analytics provides the functionality of Data Spreading at Consolidations to users for faster planning and analysis in TM1 Architect, TM1 Perspectives, IBM PAW and TM1 Web. You can evenly distribute a value across a range of cells or increment all values in a range of cells by a percentage. The problem comes in when there are a greater number of users involved in Data Entry, and if the Dimensions in the Cube have more elements and intersections. For instance, if multiple users perform Data Spreading at the consolidated level at the same time, this slows down the overall ...

Ever wondered how good it would have been to merge multiple dynamic reports next to each other for doing your analysis from disparate reports, only to be realise that it can’t be possible? Fortunately, Power Query is here to our rescue and that’s what we will be looking at in this blog post. So, to start with, what is Power Query? Power Query, also known as Get & Transform in Excel 2016, is an Excel interface that finds data from wide range of data sources and performs data transformations using its ETL processing editor called Power Query Editor. Power Query then creates queries and ...

In my previous blog articles, I have covered various use cases of Dynamic Arrays(DA) and some of the capabilities it offers. In case you missed it, I would strongly recommend you go through them (see links below) before proceeding with reading this blog. What are Dynamic Array formulas and why you should use them Data Analysis using Dynamic Array formulas In continuation of that, I will cover another use case where I would further highlight the power of DA when used with PAfE. With that being said, ever since I learnt about Dynamic Arrays in Excel, I was very fascinated and always wondered ...

The Blog shows how to use TM1 Rest API to extract, filter, select only specific details/properties from the dimensions, all the metadata extracted from TM1 Rest API will be in JSON. If this is your first time on TM1 Rest API, then it is recommended to visit the link below which covers the introduction and helps with getting started on TM1 Rest API. https://blog.octanesolutions.com.au/introduction-to-tm1-rest-api Here, we will be using Go_New_Store TM1 Sample Instance in windows environment and Chrome Browser with JSONView Extension https://:/api/v1/ AdminHost: The Server name where the Admin ...

With the recent update from TM1 to Planning Analytics, IBM has introduced PAW (Planning Analytics Workspace) which can be utilized to Develop Dashboard, Reports, Graphs, Workbooks, Views etc., as per any individual’s Requirements. But if these Workbooks and Views are accidently deleted, then it will be impossible to restore them unless you have a backup of those objects. Also, IBM does not take backups of these Books and Views developed in PAW. Hence its necessary for us to have a backup procedure and Restore them if required. To perform this backup and Restore activity, make sure you have ...

The much awaited major release of Workspace is out now. The new version Planning Analytics Workspace 2.0.57 is available for download for on premise installs. Cloud version will follow in Mid October. Planning Analytics Workspace was released on 11th December 2015. This new look and feel and the features like workflow, AI forecasting, the rich visualisations and virtual dimensions + the features TM1 was born with - the write back, On the fly Consolidations and excel integration will now take TM1 to the next level... TM1 is putting the final nail in the coffin for its competitors! Here is a ...

How to create reports using dynamic array formulas in Planning Analytics TM1 In our previous blog (https://blog.octanesolutions.com.au/what-are-dynamic-array-formulas-and-why-you-should-use-them), we discussed about Dynamic Array formulas and highlighted the key reasons and advantages to start using DA formulas. In this blog, we will try to create a few intuitive reports based on custom reports built on PAfE. The data set we will be using is shows the employee details in “Employee” cube with the following dimensionality: Dimension Measure Year Department Version Name/Desc Sr.No Current Salary ...

What are Dynamic Array formulas and why you should use them? In this blog article (and few other upcoming blogs), I am going to write about the capabilities of Dynamic Array (DA) functions with examples and demonstrate to you some great features it has that I believe can empower the PA Analysts to do all differently sorts of data analysis in a simpler and much more intuitive way, thereby enhancing their productivity. To start off, lets first understand what Dynamic Array functions actually are? To put it simply, the DA functions are those functions that leverages Excel’s latest DA calculation ...

2020 has been an interesting year for us ! Celebrations This month Octane celebrates our 4th anniversary. Never imagined that we would be celebrating with our team members across different geographies via online gifts and Teams meetings. Normally we fly in all our team members to one location for the weekend and have a great time bonding. However with the global pandemic we had to adapt as the rest of the world is. The journey so far On the whole, reflecting back on the journey so far on our anniversary 2020 certainly has thrown in an riveting challenge. Having started from a small shared ...

We might often get a request from users that TM1 session has logged. As per the client requirement and standards, need to increase or decrease the session timeout. Changing the session timeout is a trade-off, it should not be too big or too small. If it’s too big then many inactive sessions can lead to server performance issues. If it is too small, then the user experience might be affected. Each application of TM1 has its separate session timeout parameter. Jump into the respective section, depending upon your need. TM1Web 1. Go to \IBM\cognos\tm1_64\webapps\tm1web\WEB-INF\configuration and ...

Renaming the element name – SwapAliasWithPrincipalName In Realtime Scenarios, sometimes we get the requirement to correct/update the Principal element name(s) in a Dimension. This would relatively be easy if the dimension is being used in one cube. In case where the dimension is used in multiple cubes, updating element name(s) without affecting the data of all the cubes, is a bit challenging. Either we export data of the cube and change the element name(s), then import the data and validate cube before and after the element change. Or deploy the Bedrock process, which requires the reboot of ...

Many Developers like to stay away from the topic call Feeders in TM1 / Planning Analytics world but on the other side we cannot avoid Feeders as it plays the most crucial role while Modelling the data flow. Sometimes, dealing with Feeders may result in 2 major issues: 1. Over Feeding - Performance issue. - RAM consumption. 2. Under Feeding - Totalling issue To avoid this there is a small concept called Feeder-Less Feeding where we can avoid writing Feeders and Feeder related issues.   About: Feeder-Less Feeding is a Concept of Modelling the data in such a way where you write a Rule in TM1 ...

DataFusion is a TM1 connector developed by Octane. It was borne out of the frustration clients were facing extracting data out of their IBM Planning Analytics application into other enterprise Reporting tools like Power BI, Tableau and Qlik. Typically this was set up as a manual task that required an IT or Finance person to drop a csv and upload into Reporting tools. This created a number of issues. Firstly it required the operator to ensure that the correct slab of data has been captured and uploaded. It also created a risk as end users would have to rely on operator to perform this task on ...

REST stands for REpresentational State Transfer. It is web standard-based architecture and uses HTTP Protocol. TM1 REST API is a type of web service which can be used to perform create, read, update, and delete operations on TM1 objects or data. Therefore, we can maintain a TM1 model, manage TI processes, chores, dimensions and query data that is stored in the model. TM1 REST API provides an Open Data Protocol (OData) Version 4 compliant interface to TM1 server, which allows clients to query and update data sources that are hosted by TM1 Server. The OData standard defines a set of rules and ...

I recently came across a problem statement at a client site and thought it would make good content to share for my blog article so without further ado here it goes... Background: The customer uses PA Local with native TM1 security and has recently added a new TM1 instance. As we are aware, to be able to login to PAW, the user’s login credentials must be same on all TM1 servers. Now the challenge was the users normally change their passwords from TM1Web login page which means they have to login twice to change their passwords – one for each server. I considered this a little problematic ...

In this article I would like to share a very useful tip on how we can use different methods to adding images in Planning Analytics Workspace; one that is very well known, one that is lesser-known and one that is relatively unknown. I intend to touch base on the first two methods while focusing more on the latter one. But before I begin, as I write this blog article, there has been more than 2 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 130,00 deaths and I wish to take a moment on behalf of Octane Software Solutions and express our deepest condolences with all those and their ...

In light of the heightened level of concern related to the spread of Coronavirus (COVIS-19) we want to provide an update on the actions Octane is taking to safeguard the health-being of our clients, our associates and their families. All of our 7 offices around Australia, India and Middle East are continuing to serve the needs of our clients. For your and our safety we are following the guidelines in respective countries public health authorities. We are monitoring the situation daily and continue to take guidance from public health authorities. There are number of steps we have taken as part ...

Gone days, where we had no control/alerts mechanism on the TM1 database, CPU/memory it consumes, react at the nick of the moment before TM1 server crashes. I am sure all TM1 lovers, administrators and business users who had these experiences in the past would connect to what I am referring to. For all new Planning Analytics users, in earlier versions of TM1/ Planning Analytics, we had little overview on how much on RAM/ memory can a TM1 instance use/utilize or have an inbuilt alter mechanism. TM1 Database Alert Mechanism: Issue: Most of you know, TM1 Server loves memory/RAM, more memory ...

This blog explains a few TM1 tasks which can be automated using AutoHotKey. For those who don't already know, AutoHotKey is open-source scripting language used for automation. 1. Run TM1 Process history from TM1 Serverlog : With the help of AutoHotKey, we can read each line of a text file by using loop function and content is stored automatically in an in-built variable of function. We can also read filenames inside a folder using same function and again filenames will be stored in an in-built variable. Therefore, by making use of this we can extract Tm1 process information from Tm1 Serverlog ...

IBM has identified a defect within the code introduced in TM1 10.2.2 Fixpack 7, part of all other releases before 2.0.9. This defect causes data loss within the cubes even after performing SaveDataAll activity with in TM1 server. Let us get into the details. What is the defect : Possibility of losing data even after SaveDataAll activity is performed. This defect (APAR PH19984) has been identified recently by IBM. This will only trigger when below conditions are met. No-SaveDataAll : If SavedataAll not performed since TM1 Server was rebooted. Lock Contention : Lock contention specific to ...

Octane turned 3 this year and to put icing on the cake Octane just attained the status of IBM Gold Business Partner. Sounds a bit of founder’s cliche, however it really has been an extraordinary journey. It all started with a passion to fill a gap in the market. Biggest task though was building a team that is equally passionate and sold on the idea of transforming how a vendor could play a more strategic role in partnering with clients to shape their Data and Business Intelligence objectives to deliver actionable insights. After having interacted with most of the vendors in this space over 15 ...

IBM has been recommending its users to move to Planning Analytics for Excel (PAX) from TM1 Perspective and/or from TM1 Web. This blog is dedicated to clients who have either recently adopted PAX or contemplating too and sharing steps on how to trace/watch TI process status while running process using Planning Analytics for Excel. Steps below should be followed to run processes and to check TI process status. 1. Once you connect to Planning Analytics for Excel, you will be able to see cubes on the right-hand side, else you may need to click on Task Pane. 2. Click on the middle icon as shown ...

IBM, with the intention of adding new features to Planning Analytics ( TM1) and to its Visualization and reporting tools Planning Analytics Workspace and Planning Analytics for Excel new release are happening at regular intervals. New version for Planning Analytics Workspace, Planning Analytics for Excel comes out every 15-40 days, for Planning analytics new version comes out every 3-6 months. In this blog, I will be discussing about the version combinations to be used between these tools to get better/optimum results in terms of utilization, performance, compatibility and bugs fixes. ...

If you are thinking of moving to Planning Analytics, then this document can help you in selecting the best Operating System (OS) for your PA installation. Planning Analytics currently supports operating systems listed below: Windows Linux At Octane, we have the expertise of working on both Windows and Linux environments and number of clients asked which one is the best-fit for their organisation? Although its looks like a simple question but hard to answer, we would like to highlight some aids of both to help you to select the best-fit for your organization. WINDOWS Versions Supported for ...

Before you read further, please note, this blog details secure Gateway connection used for Planning Analytics deployed “on-cloud” Software as a Service (SaaS) offering. This blog details steps on how to renew secure gateway Token, either before or after the Token has expired. What is IBM Secure Gateway: IBM Secure Gateway for IBM Cloud service provides a quick, easy and secure solution for establishing link between Planning Analytics on cloud and a data source; Typically, an RDBMS source for example IBM DB2, Oracle database, SQL server, Teradata etc. Data source/s can reside either ...

IBM, in Planning Analytics Workspace’s 2.0.45 release however has addressed some limitations by extending the flexibility to users to upload the fonts and color themes of their choice in Workspace and apply it in their visualisations. One of the common complaints that I constantly hear from users and have myself put up with when using Planning Analytics Workspace is its lack of available fonts and color pallets for its visualisations. The lack of this flexibility put a hard restriction on designing intuitive interfaces and dashboards as we’re limited by only a certain fonts or color ...

This article talks about different extensions/files seen in Data directory and how they are co-related to front-end objects that we see in architect. Since, TM1 is an in-memory tool so all objects seen like cube, dimension, TI process etc seen in Architect are saved in data directory with a specific extension and in a specific way to differentiate them from the other objects. By understanding these extensions/files, it comes easier in finding objects and deciding which objects are needed to be considered to backup or moving a specific set of changes. Consider the case of taking an entire data ...

Since the launch of Planning Analytics few years back, IBM has been recommending its users to move to Planning Analytics for Excel (PAX) from TM1 Perspective and TM1 Web. As every day new users migrate to adopt PAX, it’s prudent that I share my experiences. This blog will be part of a series where I would try to highlight and make users aware of different aspects of this migration. This one specifically details a bug I encountered during one of the projects in which our Clients was using PAX and steps taken to mitigate the issue. What was the problem: Scenario: when a Planning Analytics User ...

This blog broaches all steps on how to install IBM Secure Gateway Client. IBM Secure Gateway Client installation is one of the crucial steps towards setting up secure gateway connection between Planning Analytics Workspace (On-Cloud) and RDBMS (relational database) on-premise or on-cloud. What is IBM Secure Gateway : IBM Secure Gateway for IBM Cloud service provides a quick, easy, and secure solution establishing a link between Planning Analytics on cloud and a data source. Data source can reside on an “on-premise” network or on “cloud”. Data sources like RDBMS, for example IBM DB2, Oracle ...

IBM Watson™ Studio is a platform for businesses to prepare and analyse data as well as build and train AI and machine learning models in a flexible hybrid cloud environment. IBM Watson™ Studio enables your data scientists, application developers and subject matter experts work together easier and collaborate with the wider business, to deliver faster insights in a governed way. Watch the below for another brief intro Available in on the desktop which contains the most popular portions of Watson Studio Cloud to your Microsoft Windows or Apple Mac PC with IBM SPSS® Modeler, notebooks and IBM ...

As you plan to adopt IBM Planning Analytics cloud, it’s important to understand what it takes. This blog highlights areas you will be involved-in when you upgrade from on-premise TM1 10.x.x to Planning Analytics on Cloud. The good thing about cloud is that it comes with TM1/PA and all of its components like Planning Analytics Workspace, TM1 Web installed and configured. Meaning lesser effort. Also, all future release upgrades are taken care by IBM keeping you up to date with the latest and greatest. So let’s quickly look at the steps as you set yourself up: Welcome Kit Once the cloud servers ...

IBM Planning Analytics (TM1) vs Anaplan There has been a lot of chatter lately around IBM Planning Analytics (powered by TM1) vs Anaplan. Anaplan is a relatively new player in the market and has recently listed on NYSE. Reported Revenue in 2019 of USD 240.6M (interestingly also reported an operating loss of USD 128.3M). Compared to IBM which has a 2018 revenue of USD 79.5 Billion (there is no clear information on how much of this was from the Analytics area) with a net profit of 8.7 b). The size of global Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) is around 3.9 Billion and expected to grow to ...

This Blog details IBM Planning Analytics On-Cloud and On-Premise deployment options. It focusses & highlights key points which should help you make the decision; “whether to adopt Cloud Or stay on Premise” IBM Planning Analytics: As part of their continuous endeavour to improve application interface and better customer experience, IBM rebranded TM1 to Planning Analytics couple of years back which came with many new features and a completely new interface. With this release (PA 2.x version as it has been called), IBM is letting clients choose Planning Analytics as Local SW or as Software ...

Yes .. You read it right !! … IBM is ready to start “End of Support” for TM1 10.2.x version by 30th September 2019. IF you are a User / Owner / Stakeholder of any application which is on TM1 10.x versions then yes this would mean an immediate attention needed and would need necessary action. What does End of Support Mean ? Though End of Support (EoS) doesn’t mean your application will stop functioning but involves other risks. Few are listed below. No further development to this version. No further enhancement happening to this version.. No bug fixes. No new code updates. No more Standard ...

PM Hub – Why go Hub-less? As a part of Planning Analytics for Excel version 2.0.42 release on 13th May 2019, the PAX has gone PMHub-less, meaning it no longer requires Performance Management Hub, also known as PMHub. So what does that mean for you? But before that let’s first understand what roles does PMHub play in IBM Planning Analytics architecture framework. What is Performance Management Hub? To put it simply, it is a web based application in Application layer within a typical server framework and a web based user interface that provides necessary application services wherein ...

PAW Local Distributed is an upgrade to Planning Analytics Local Workspace that can be deployed in a container orchestration engine using either Docker Swarm by Docker or Kubernetes - an open source by Google, for high availability, fail-over, scalability, and fault tolerance in multiple application servers or virtual or even cloud machines. Architecture: The Planning Analytics Workspace Distributed is run on a Swarm mode by deploying the application on multiple Docker nodes (with unique node ids) also known as Swarm. Docker Engine CLI could be used to create a swarm and deploy and manage the ...

In the latest version of PAX (2.0.44) as well as PAW (2.0.44), IBM has added a new capability to allow the views to be shared between PAW and PAX using Planning Analytics Workspace Content Store. What does this mean for us? We can now save the views in content store and share it across to be accessed from either PAW or PAX which was not possible earlier. This further strengthens the integration and make the PAX and PAW interoperation even more seamless which a good step as far as usability and software portability is concerned. Steps to access the views from PAW content store from PAX: We ...

This article shows how to drill down to the next level in a visualization within Microsoft Power BI, when a filter is applied using a Slicer. This could be applied even if multiple selections are made within the slicer. For example – We have a car with 3 model series (L Series, S Series, T Series) in the slicer. Business requires to show the values at this level when no selection is made. Once a selection is made, the visual should show the next level in the hierarchy. Visualisation without any filter selected (Shows the top level): Visualisation with single filter selected (Shows the next ...

In this article, we will be seeing how to take a complete backup of IBM PAW and, also how to restore/revert the complete PAW Application using a backup. Environment: Windows Server 2012 R2 IBM PAW Version: 2.0.37 VMware: Oracle VMware Prerequisite Virtual machine for PAW should be up and running. Make sure to use the Root User ID for below steps. (What is Root User ID? Well, the user ID used for installing IBM PAW in that System and that user ID we are referring it has Root User ID here. In Case, if you are not sure which is root User ID then find which User folder the PAW VM is placed) Now, ...

With a variety of business intelligence applications at your disposal, it’s worth investigating the best and comparing your needs against each product to get the best return on your investment. Here are three ‘must-haves’. 1. Customisable workspace With a business intelligence application like IBM Planning Analytics, you can enjoy a single and consistent environment in which to manage your KPIs. So whether you need to measure business performance, evaluate and alter plans, expose gaps or test-drive the impact of potential scenarios on your business activity, you can do so in an interactive, ...

Despite the rampant growth of new data, constantly evolving technologies and the digitalisation of entire sectors, there are a few facets of business that will never be eliminated entirely: volatility, uncertainty and risk. But with business intelligence tools, you can keep your organisation on the right track and reduce the inherent risks of day-to-day operations. Here’s how. A complete, all-in-one business tool When seeking out a business intelligence tool to adopt in your organisation, you’ll want one with speed, agility and flexibility, so it provides a return on your investment. With IBM ...

The role of financial planners and analysts has expanded from assessing and reporting to data science. That’s why there’s a very real need to adopt the best financial planning software. Financial planners and analysts are now expected to have comprehensive knowledge of to access and collect information from business intelligence (BI), enterprise resource planning (ERP) and other data sources. But without the right software to support them, their struggles are compounded. The financial team’s daily struggles There are many issues that financial planners and analysts face on a daily basis, ...

The right business intelligence software can help companies beat out the competition and become market leaders in their industry. We reveal how to leverage three key benefits of business intelligence software - and overcome some potential drawbacks! 1. Integration across disparate business systems In order to derive the best strategic insights, you typically need to analyse data from across a number of different systems. Your company’s operational results, for example, require a financial perspective. That means your business intelligence solution should be able to integrate data from various ...

Whenever User enters data in Websheet (Form), last entered data will be present on Form. If User needs to enter new record, it becomes tedious to clear data from each of the text box, if Form comprises good number of text boxes. This will not be best way of utilizing User services. To avoid or improve efficiency of User, TM1 can be designed in better way using multiple Cubes. Create 2 named cubes, lookup cube (Test_Lookup) and cube which contains data (Test_Emp) Below are details of Dimensionality and structure of cubes Input Form where User can create new record, update record. Clear Button: ...

Most of the times business would like to generate reports in different formats to show data in different periods. They might be interested to display each set of data in different fonts, colors with capability of Row expansion. The easiest way to develop those kind of reports is, using TM1 Active Forms. To achieve this functionality using Active Forms, developer should know how to make each data set independent of each other so that none of them have influence of other. Let’s see how to create multiple active forms in single websheet as shown below: Above both data sets are displayed using ...

Picking the right business intelligence tools for your organisation is essential in the current era of big data. With information coming from all angles, it’s imperative to leverage the best software to make sense of your data and parse it into actionable, meaningful decision-making. Why do you need business intelligence tools? In their most basic form, business intelligence tools allow you to ‘see’ your data. This means you can watch how your data creates patterns and correlations. That information – including statistics and current trends – can then be used to formulate plans for the ...

In our hyper-connected business world, organisations are often siloed and sometimes spread across multiple locations. Combine that with the fact that the majority of employees are ‘hooked in’ to company-wide systems via their smart devices, and you have a raft of users able to access data and alter it. The problem? This often creates version-control issues that not only impact productivity and the effectiveness of your business intelligence (BI), but can harm your reputation and profitability. What is a ‘single version of the truth’? When discussing ‘truths’ in the form of BI, it’s important ...

Writing rules can save a lot of trouble also can be tedious sometime, but what’s more troublesome than writing rules?! feeders ofcourse. One or the other time we all have wandered in the “feeder”land thinking if there was a way out. No matter how efficient we think we write the feeders, there are times it can mysteriously lead to underfeeding or overfeeding. So, this blog explains the scenarios of how feeding a consolidation, feed from a consolidation work and how it contributes to overfeeding. And this can help to take different approach next time you think of feeders and make it not so ...

Predictive analytics: Predictive analytics is the practice of extracting information from existing data sets in order to determine patterns and predict future outcomes and trends. A way to predict the future using data from the past. Predictive analytics brings together advanced analytics capabilities spanning ad-hoc statistical analysis, predictive modelling, data mining, text analytics, optimization, real-time scoring and machine learning. These are tools that help organizations discover patterns within the data and go beyond knowing what has happened to anticipate what is probable to ...

This article talks about Business Intelligence and Business Analytics, things in common and about differences between one another. This blog also talks about the paybacks for an organization once these are adopted. Let’s start ... Though Business Intelligence and Business Analytics sound similar and are being used interchangeably by many, they do have differences. Business Intelligence ( BI ) :- Term Business Intelligence, though exist for long, have been used by wider audience from late 90s . Intelligence with in Business comes from the data being captured. Business Intelligence has been ...

As we have entered to this era of Data, we might be thinking that why is this Data Science field is so popular ?, why are companies and multinationals investing so much on this field of Data Science?. The answer is simple, because they are making profit out of it. This field has become very crucial and popular in todays market. Now let’s see the definition of Data science, according to Wikipedia Data science is a multi-disciplinary field that uses scientific methods, processes, algorithms and systems to extract knowledge and insights from structured and unstructured data. Some of the common ...

There’s no question that more and more enterprises are employing analytics tools to help in their strategic business intelligence decisions. But there’s a problem - not all source data is of a high quality. Poor-quality data likely can’t be validated and labelled, and more importantly, organisations can’t derive any actionable, reliable insights from it. So how can you be confident your source data is not only accurate, but able to inform your business intelligence decisions? It starts with high-quality software. Finding the right software for business intelligence There are numerous business ...

Smart businesses are seeking out new ways to leverage the benefits of their big data analytics programs, and the self-service model is coming up trumps. By placing the onus directly on business users, enterprises are empowering customers with insights-driven dashboards, reports, and more. But it’s not the only bonus. Arguably an even greater upside for organisations is that it alleviates the talent shortage that often comes with big data. With most companies only employing a handful of data experts who can deliver analytics insights to customers, the self-service model means they are freed up ...

Many businesses have already turned to Octane and partnered with us to help turn their data into meaningful insights. So if you've wanted to connect your Planning Analytics to Power BI, you're not alone and now with us you can. Octane has developed a way you can work directly with IBM Planning Analytics (powered by TM1) and Microsoft Power BI! We've had a number of clients who have wanted to integrate Planning Analytics and Power BI without using external proprietary software we at Octane can say that we've answered the market's call. Planning Analytics powered by TM1 is one of the worlds ...

Yesterday I was fortunate to attend an IBM partner day based on IBM Cloud Private for Data or ICPD and thought to write this blog for you who might not know what the platform is or does. This platform balances the individual data needs of your business by providing an integrated self-service, agile, enterprise-ready platform to significantly improve the governance around the collection, organisation, dissemination and analysis of your data but this isn't the best part. ICPD utilises modern microservices applications to enhance your data assets and analysis with machine learning (ML) and ...

What's interesting to note is that Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) version 2.0.40 and 2.0.41 are combined so that the release of Planning Analytics Workspace 2.0.41 aligns with the IBM Planning Analytics for Microsoft Excel (PAX) release. With several fixes applied to both PAW and PAX in this version; this post will focus more on the enhancements and features. However, should you want to review the fixes, you can find those here. Features: With this release, you will now be able to create and edit drill through rules and processes in Workspace. Also finding users who don't have any ...

The long-awaited release of Planning Analytics 2.0.7 is finally here! I know a lot of you like me were eagerly awaiting this release and in particular wanting to get into the nitty-gritty details of all the documentation and testing. Luckily for those that are not, I have summarised it all into the below — so happy reading there's lots for you and your team to consider. With this release comes some significant enhancements which I'll get to in the section below. We will also part with several items which are marked for depreciation, replaced in some shape or form. As IBM advises: Updates to ...

Forward-thinking enterprises are using business intelligence and analytics to navigate through their digital transformation – one that could see them expand both physically and fiscally at a rapid pace. The ability to harness this data and use it to make business decisions, however, poses challenges. This is particularly true for organisations that haven’t previously had the technology nor the manpower to sift through all the historical data they’ve accumulated in their daily activities. Think about it – by 2020 it’s predicted there will be 5,200GB of data for every individual on the planet. ...

The prevalence of artificial intelligence (AI) can be felt across countless industries, with the technology helping businesses modernise through automation, business analytics, strategy and more. Even governments are recognising how critical AI is to the future of enterprise, with the 2018-19 Australian federal budget committing $29.9 million over four years to bolstering our AI and machine learning (ML) capabilities. So it’s clear that AI is here to stay. But how can you use AI to derive actionable business insights? After all, the point of adopting any technology should be to use it to your ...

In this article we will quickly go through the steps required to make your excel calculation mode defaulted to ‘Manual’. When working on websheets, it is advisable to keep the calculation mode to Manual to prevent repeated recalculation of formulas for any cell change when the calculation mode is Automatic. The default calculation mode could be set to Manual by following the below steps: Step 1: Close all excel workbooks and open a new workbook. Step 2: Change the Excel calculation mode to Manual (File - Options - Formulas) Step 3: Save the workbook in ...

You heard it right – Is your organisation still on TM1 10.2.X and haven’t upgraded to PA? If yes, this is the blog for you as your existing TM1 application is prone to Multiple Security Vulnerabilities … Blog tries to reflect upon the cause and effect of the issue/s, possible interim remediation plan/s and the foolproof solution. Security Vulnerabilities Customers who are still using the IBM Cognos TM1 10.2 and IBM Cognos TM1 10.2.2 are prone to unauthenticated attacks, excessive stack memory issues and other threats. Listed below are the security Vulnerabilities; OpenSSL could allow a remote ...

Thank you if you have come back for more! Hope our last blogs of this series Unravelling TM1 : Lesser Known Facets – Part A & Part B were meaningful. In this part we will unearth & explore few more of these lesser known gems. As always, if you like what we do and want to associate; subscribe to our Blogs at http://blog.octanesolutions.com.au TIP 7: Uses of User-Defined Global Variables User-Defined Global Variables declared within a TI using functions StringGlobalVariable (for string variables) and NumericGlobalVariable (for numeric variables) though rarely used and meant for specific ...

Business trip to Australia… the prospect itself is enough to make a dead man stand up and dance. More so as Swetha, Sasi & I were travelling to be in 2 of the worlds “best cities to live in. We visited Perth & Sydney; No..no 3 cities in fact, we transited via Melbourne airport. I know what you thinking, but it does count as we got to “check-in” Facebook... Haha, see SMART!! Before I start, very important to note the itinerary we were on as it boosted our flaunt status back in India! Why ?? Well it had so many check points and an envious schedule which had us touching 4 countries & ...

This Tuesday (25th Sep 2018) Octane Solutions proudly hosted a meeting for Senior Finance, IT Executives and Experts representing various companies and industries. The event was kicked-of by Mr. Amendra Pratap (MD, Octane Solutions) and Mr. Thomas Maddocks (ANZ Software Sales Leader - Commercial, IBM). This was followed by a solution demonstration conducted by Mr. Kevin Jessop (Lead FPM Solution Specialist, IBM) and a panel discussion. Thank you to all who attended our Executive Breakfast event; We were pleasantly overwhelmed with the response and excitement in the room. Redefining Planning ...

Thank you if you have come back for more! Hope our last blog Unraveling TM1 : Lesser Known Facets – Part A was meaningful. In this part we will unearth & explore few more of these lesser known gems. As always, if you like what we do and want to associate; subscribe to our Blogs at http://blog.octanesolutions.com.au Function TM1RPTROW We know TM1RPTROW is a salient function when building demand and rolling forecasts in Planning and Budgeting models Although everyone is aware of the fact that parameters like Dimension Subset, MDX Expressions are a part of TM1RPTROW, developers tend to ...

No matter how much we think we know about TM1, there are always these set of conditions that make you think “what-if there was a better way”??!! For example, not having to write a bunch of codes just to delete the subsets after using it in a Source View Or not writing the same area definition twice. What-if this could be done with less or no coding at all! This blog and its subsequent part will focus on showcasing few of such many lesser known features in TM1. These little tricks and tips are a step towards better code management and of course peace of mind. TIP 1. One area definition for two ...

Welcome back, for those who had read Part A of this blog, hope you would have tested Parallel Interaction and benefitted from it. For those who haven’t, you can read it at http://blog.octanesolutions.com.au/caveat-around-concurrent-data-loads-part-a This blog builds upon the previous one and focusses on improving performance by Parallel Interaction, it highlights TM1 facets worth consideration while an object is locking. Synopsys Tips towards improvements around support for concurrent read/write and/or parallel execution of turbo integrator process enabling higher efficiencies and ...

IBM has recently launched its Planning Analytics version 2.0.5 (on 25th June 2018); this article captures highlights of what’s new, improved and denounced. New / Improved/ Deprecated Features & Fixes: - New: Planning Analytics Administration agent. Totally new, part of IBM’s strategy to brand PAW as a Single interface for all types of users. In this release, once PAA agent has been configured, it enhances Planning Analytics Workspace user’s interaction with metadata and data. Helps users to drag and drop dimension members to achieve new Dimensions, Attributes. Users can drag and drop ...

I want to keep this blog very simple so that people who do not know the concept of blockchain can understand it. Target audience – anyone who can read English. What is a Blockchain? In very simple terms blockchain is a chain of blocks where a block means data. A more sophisticated definition was given by Don & Alex Tapscott, authors Blockchain Revolution (2016): "Blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value." Most of you might think, there we go again, why another ...

One of the most neglected and least prioritised activity among the grand scheme of development, in my opinion, is applying correct formats to data, both in cubes as well as standard web reports. In all fairness, if you’re one of my kind (occasionally-fall-into-a-slack type) who often miss out on this detail, then you have arrived at the right place. In my defence, I still feel that given the number of data points that one must apply formatting, it is only natural to miss a few, which then gets picked by business in live environment. Well, this blog is all about how you save yourself from such ...

In TM1, if a TM1 Cube has huge of volume of data and rule calculation, there is possibility that TM1 takes longer time to open a cube view, to look at the issue with performance would be TM1 View Caches (Stargate Views). The Stargate view contains only the data for a defined section of a cube and does not contain the formatting information and browser settings that are in a view object. The purpose of a Stargate view is to allow quicker access to the cube data. To fine tune and control the Stargate Views, TM1 provides couple of settings namely VMM (View Maximum Memory) and VMT (View Minimum ...

With users unceasingly (almost perennially) demanding higher data upload speed and concurrent transfers, this blog offers insight and considerations one should keep in mind while simultaneously executing a Turbo Integrator (TI) process. It also highlights steps to avoid TI looping and/or thrashing. Synopsys Consider a single user loading data into a cube from source (such as ODBC, Text files, another Cube, etc.) via a TI process for a specific data segment such as a given scenario, period & component, may not experience any wait times. However, when it comes to concurrent users ...

While working for a particular client project, I was asked to review an existing long running Turbo Integrator (TI) process and find out ways to optimise its processing time, without compromising on the business functionality. Synopsis: A process was created to adjust the amount between cost centres and products based on defined From and To mapping in a mapping cube. A simple example could be, amount from one cost centre be adjusted to multiple centres within its division or a consolidation of centre within a division mapped to same consolidation but for a different product. To achieve this, ...

In this blog, would like to introduce you to a new feature called "Compare Sandboxes"; this feature, an extension to Planning Analytics Workspace’s existing capability, shall be available both on Cloud and in Local versions. What is a Sandbox? (Jump to “Feature Explained” section if you are an existing TM1 user & know this well) A Sandbox lets you create your own personal workspace, your own version where you can enter & store data-value-changes without impacting the base (actual) data. A sandbox is not a copy of the base data, but a separate overlay or a layer of your own data values ...

The last 3 weeks has been great in that it has showed an avenue that I had yet to explore in Planning Analytics, debugging. To say it has been highly frustrating at times is an understatement, however I know I only get stressed when I’m learning a difficult concept. It sometimes hard when looking at code that isn't' documented, exactly why this or that piece of code is necessary. Debugging work has benefited me in understanding and developing a methodology to enable me to learn the overall logic and flow of a model/system. Understanding and being able to follow personalised instead of best ...

If you haven't seen already the latest version of Cognos Analytics is now available for you to download. Luckily you won't need to read the about the latest changes. You can view this youtube clip which will explain what's new in it's reporting, dashboarding, stories and the portal for IBM Cognos Analytics 11.0.11. If you don't have the time some advanced features include using custom polygons and points for mapping. Also included is data caching in dashboards and stories, as well as support for Portal Pages, and controlling object visibility. To download the software you can find the ...

Let me preface this blog by saying that my trip to India was so insightful, culturally rich and filled with great people that it was hands down the work trip of a life time. Amendra may have had other plans but for me this trip was about creating new connections and deepening my understanding of our cross border colleagues from all our offices. Upon reflection I can easily say that we weren't colleagues for very long and are now people I consider friends. Well some of them, in-particular those who didn't want to Shoot me?! I still don't know where the finger guns came from but I suspect thats ...

Most who are still on Cognos Business Intelligence software version 10.2.x would know that the software version was due End of Service this April 2018. It was quite dreading for existing users who had not planned an upgrade to Cognos Analytics (or C11 as it is called within IBM) just yet as it wasn’t really a straight forward version upgrade but a complete overhaul in the way you would interact with Cognos BI; more intuitive, user friendly and insightful but requires a bit of learning and a little more unlearning. GOOD NEWS!! IBM has just announced a new support option – Continuing Support ...

In this blog, let me explain you about one of the hidden/unused feature from IBM Cognos TM1. Before we start, let me ask you a question - Have you ever come across below requirements or related issues while working with TM1? Urgent requirement - Management needs new consolidation within a Canned report to meet their business needs. An Ad hoc requirement from business to get new consolidation member at the earliest. An alternative roll-up request from the Boss - for a better analysis using existing data. Stakeholders request to have additional consolidations which may be part of ad hoc ...