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.
Planning Analytics for Excel ‘+’ Planning Analytics Workspace:
There are many versions of Planning analytics for Excel (PAX) from 2.0.1 till 2.0.48 latest version released, similarly we have many versions of planning Analytics Workspace(PAW) starting from 2.0.0 to 2.0.47.
Planning Analytics for Excel though installed, can only be used if Planning Analytics Workspace(PAW) is installed and running. So, the question to be answered is - will all versions of PAX work with all versions of PAW ? – Answer is NO. Yes, you read it right – not all versions of PAX are supported by every version of PAW. We have some versions which are supported and some versions which are Optimal, these are covered below.
Supported Versions :
Planning analytics for Excel (PAX) version will be supported by three versions of Planning Analytics Workspace(PAW), matching version, previous version and next version.
Here is an example, current PAX version is 2.0.45 and current PAW version being used is 2.0.45. PAX current version will be supported by PAW version 2.0.45 (matching), 2.0.44 ( previous version) and 2.0.46 (next “version”). I have considered two scenarios to explain this better.
Scenario (PAX upgrade):
Say, a decision has been taken to upgrade PAX version to latest version 2.0.48 from 2.0.45, with above explanation, new PAX will only be supported by PAW ( 2.0.47, 2.0.46, 2.0.48). As existing PAW (being used) is 2.0.45, new PAX is not supported. This upgrade activity PAX (2.048), must include PAW upgrade as well. Planning analytics Workspace (PAW )has to be upgraded from 2.0.45 to PAW (2.0.48, 2.0.48, 2.0.49).
Scenario (PAW upgrade):
Say, a decision has been taken to upgrade PAW version(2.0.45) to version 2.0.47 but PAX existing version is 2.0.45 being used by Users.
If the PAW is upgraded to 2.0.47, it will support PAX versions (2.0.47, 2.0.46, 2.0.48) only. If there is PAW upgrade then PAX must be upgraded to either 2.0.46/ 2.0.47/ 2.0.48 versions as part of PAW upgrade activity.
Best suited/ optimal version :
Planning analytics for Excel (PAX) version though supported by three versions( matching, previous, next) of PAW, optimal results are achieved with matching and next version of Planning Analytics Workspace(PAW).
Here is an example, current PAX version is 2.0.45 and current PAW version being used is 2.0.45. PAX current version, though supported by PAW (2.0.45, 2.0.44 and 2.0.46), optimal are (current and next versions) in this case optimal version is 2.0.45 and 2.0.46.
Planning Analytics ‘+’ Planning Analytics for Excel:
To check which PAX versions suit Planning Analytics version, we should always consider the bundled PAX/PAW package version as reference to PA.
For example, 2.0.43 PAX version is bundled with 2.0.7 PA version, 2.0.36 PAX is packaged with PA 2.0.6 version.
Supported and Optimal Versions :
Planning Analytics for Microsoft Excel will support three different long cadence versions of Planning Analytics.
Here is an example, PAX version 2.0.43 is bundled with 2.0.7 PA. PAX 2.0.43 will be supported by PA (2.0.7(bundled version), 2.0.6 (previous) and 2.0.5 (previous)). PAX 2.0.43 will not work well with older version, also note that PAA has been introduced in PA 2.0.5 version.
Below table might help with PAX and PA supported/optimal versions.
For more details click here.
Read some of my other blogs :
Predictive & Prescriptive-Analytics
Business-intelligence vs Business-Analytics
What is IBM Planning Analytics Local
IBM TM1 10.2 vs IBM Planning Analytics
Little known TM1 Feature - Ad hoc Consolidations
IBM PA Workspace Installation & Benefits for Windows 2016
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