IBM TM1, Agentic AI & Finance Transformation Insights

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 ...