Highlights & Triumphs: IBM TechXchange 2024

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 maintenance, troubleshooting, and year-end processes so your team can enjoy a well-deserved break without stress.

Automate Routine Tasks and Processes in TM1

• Use TM1’s automation capabilities to schedule recurring tasks like data loads, reconciliations, and report generation, ensuring everything runs smoothly while minimizing manual effort.

Ensure Proactive Monitoring and Downtime Prevention

• A TM1 support team can proactively monitor your environment, identify potential issues before they escalate, and ensure critical systems remain up and running during the festive season.

Outsource Last-Minute Reporting and Forecasting Support

• Avoid scrambling to meet year-end deadlines by outsourcing TM1 reporting tasks to a team that can handle changes, corrections, and urgent requests with expertise and speed.

Plan Ahead with a Holiday Support Coverage Model

• Partner with a TM1 managed services provider who offers holiday-specific coverage, ensuring your team has access to skilled resources when needed, without disrupting workflows or personal time.

Why TM1 support (Octane Blue) is the Perfect Solution 

That’s where Octane Blue comes in. Our comprehensive support service is designed to alleviate your holiday stress and ensure business continuity. With 40 hours of dedicated support, you can rest easy knowing that your TM1 environment is in expert hands.

What Does Octane Blue Offer? 

1. Proactive System Monitoring: Our team will keep a watchful eye on your TM1 environment, identifying and resolving potential issues before they escalate. 

2. Rapid Incident Response: Should any issues arise, our experienced support engineers will be on hand to diagnose and fix them promptly. 

3. Data Load and Reconciliation Support: We’ll assist with data load processes, ensuring accurate and timely data integration.

4. Security and Access Management: Our team will help maintain the security of your TM1 environment and manage user access rights. 

5. Security and Access Management: Our team will help maintain the security of your TM1 environment and manage user access rights.

6. Technical and Functional Support: We’ll provide expert guidance on a wide range of TM1 topics, from technical troubleshooting to functional best practices.

7. User Support: Our team will be available to assist your users with any questions or issues they may encounter. 

Frequently Asked Questions

• 40 hours. 

• Unused hours will be rolled over for one additional month. 

• No, Octane Blue is available on any TM1 site. 

• No, you can purchase Octane Blue on a one-time basis or as needed. 

• https://www.octanesolutions.com.au/tm1-support#switch

• Purchase now

• Book a meeting with us

Don’t let the holiday season stress you out. Let Octane Blue take care of your TM1 environment so that you can enjoy a peaceful and productive holiday. 

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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 currently offer this kind of custom conditional formatting for visualizations. However, with a little MDX magic and a few formatting tweaks, you can achieve this effect in just five simple steps. 

Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Custom Visualizations in PAW 

Step 1: Position the Version Dimension in the Column 

Start by positioning the Version dimension in the column of the Exploration view. This is where we will apply the MDX logic to derive the desired results. 

Step 2: Use MDX to Create Calculated Members 

Next, you'll need to update the MDX query by creating three calculated members to represent Actual vs Budget (AvB), Positive Variance, and Negative Variance. 

Here’s the MDX code: 

MDX code: 

WITH  

MEMBER [Version].[Version].[AvB] AS [Version].[Version].[Actual] - [Version].[Version].[Budget]  

MEMBER [Version].[Version].[Positive] AS IIF([Version].[Version].[AvB] > 0, [Version].[Version].[AvB], "") 

MEMBER [Version].[Version].[Negative] AS IIF([Version].[Version].[AvB] < 0, [Version].[Version].[AvB], "") 

Note: The AvB calculation could also be done using a consolidated member in the Version dimension, where the Budget has a negative weight. 

Step 3: Replace the MDX in the Row Axes 

Now, replace the MDX in the Row Axes relating to the Version dimension to show only the Positive and Negative calculated members, while excluding the AvB calculation (and any other member): 

MDX code: 

{ 

    EXCEPT( 

        { 

            [Version].[Version].[AvB], 

            [Version].[Version].[Positive], 

            [Version].[Version].[Negative] 

        },  

        { 

            [Version].[Version].[AvB] 

        },  

        ALL 

    ) 

} 

This MDX will generate a view that displays only Positive and Negative members in the Version dimension, leaving the non-relevant member (whether positive or negative) as blank, depending on the AvB value. 

Step 4: Convert the Exploration View into a Column Chart

Once the MDX has been applied, convert the Exploration view into a Column Chart. By default, PAW will show the columns for positive and negative values with its standard color scheme.  

Step 5: Apply a Custom Color Palette 

To finalize the visualization, we’ll apply a custom color palette. Navigate to the visualization properties and create a color palette that includes only two colors: green for positive values and red for negative values. 

Conclusion 

With just a few lines of MDX and a bit of customization, you can significantly enhance PAW visualizations. This technique allows you to move beyond the standard out-of-the-box options, giving you the flexibility to create more intuitive and visually effective reports. Whether you're comparing Actual vs Budget or any other metrics, these methods help you build visuals that not only convey the necessary information but do so in a way that is easy to interpret at a glance. 

By leveraging MDX and PAW’s formatting tools, you can push the boundaries of your reporting and create dynamic, insightful dashboards tailored to your business needs. 

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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 work across existing systems using a single UI.

Understanding Digital Labor:

Digital labor refers to the use of digital technologies, including AI, automation, and robotics, to augment or replace human tasks and processes. It's a paradigm shift in how work is done, leveraging technology to enhance productivity, reduce errors, and enable humans to focus on more strategic and creative aspects of their roles.

"Companies that effectively apply intelligent automation across the enterprise expect to outshine peers in profitability, revenue growth, and efficiency over the next 3 years."

IBM WatsonsX Orchestrate and Digital Labor:

1. Workflow Automation for Operational Efficiency: One of the key pillars of digital labor is workflow automation, and WatsonsX Orchestrate excels in this domain. By automating intricate AI and data science workflows, the platform significantly reduces manual effort, streamlining processes and enhancing operational efficiency. This allows organizations to accomplish more with less, freeing up human resources for high-value tasks.

2. Collaboration for Enhanced Productivity: Digital labor is not about replacing human workers but augmenting their capabilities. WatsonsX Orchestrate fosters collaboration among cross-functional teams, bringing together data scientists, developers, and domain experts. This collaborative environment accelerates problem-solving, decision-making, and innovation, creating a synergistic relationship between digital labor and human expertise.

3. Scalability to Meet Growing Demands: As organizations scale their digital labor initiatives, scalability becomes a critical factor. WatsonsX Orchestrate provides the flexibility to scale horizontally and vertically, ensuring that the platform can seamlessly adapt to the growing demands of AI and data science projects. This scalability is essential for organizations aiming to expand their digital labor capabilities without compromising performance.

4. Model Monitoring and Management for Continuous Improvement: In the era of digital labor, continuous improvement is paramount. WatsonsX Orchestrate includes robust tools for monitoring and managing AI models in production. This ensures that digital labor processes based on AI models deliver consistent and reliable results over time. The platform's capabilities contribute to the iterative refinement of digital labor processes, optimizing outcomes and enhancing overall performance.

5. AI Explainability and Ethical Digital Labor: Transparent digital labor practices are crucial for building trust and ensuring ethical use of AI. WatsonsX Orchestrate provides tools for explaining AI model decisions, addressing the interpretability challenge often associated with complex AI systems. Additionally, the platform includes features for detecting biases, aligning digital labor practices with ethical standards and promoting fairness in decision-making.

   
   

   

   There are more than 2,000 activities that make up 800 full-time occupations that are part of knowledge work. However, only 5% of these full-time occupations could be fully automated using existing technology. That means that the 95% of remaining occupations require cognitive abilities.

Benefits for Businesses:

1. Accelerated Time-to-Value: By automating and streamlining AI and data science workflows, organizations can significantly reduce the time it takes to move from ideation to deployment, ultimately accelerating their time-to-value for AI initiatives.

2. Improved Collaboration: The collaborative features of WatsonsX Orchestrate facilitate better communication and knowledge sharing among teams, leading to more effective and impactful AI solutions.

3. Enhanced Governance and Compliance: The platform provides robust governance and compliance features, ensuring that organizations can meet regulatory requirements and maintain a high standard of data ethics.

4. Cost-Efficiency: With the ability to scale and the flexibility of deployment options, WatsonsX Orchestrate helps organizations optimize costs by aligning infrastructure with project requirements.

In the era of AI and data-driven decision-making, IBM WatsonsX Orchestrate stands out as a powerful solution for organizations looking to harness the full potential of their AI and data science initiatives. With its automation capabilities, collaborative environment, and emphasis on ethical AI, WatsonsX Orchestrate is poised to become a key player in the journey towards building intelligent, transparent, and scalable AI solutions. As businesses continue to navigate the complexities of the digital age, platforms like WatsonsX Orchestrate provide the tools needed to turn data into a strategic asset and drive innovation in the ever-evolving landscape of AI.

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