Why migrate from ibm cognos planning to tm1 ?

Resources

Forecasts

Budget

Planning

Analysis

Enterprise Planning Goals

Trends

Cloud-Based Solutions

Management

Strategy

Analyze Data

Performance

Reporting

Migrating from Cognos Enterprise Planning (CEP) to Cognos TM1 10.2

White Paper – Jan 2015 2 | P a g e www.intellium.com.tr

Table of Contents

1. Brief History of Applications and Overview .................................................................................................... 3

2. IBM Cognos Enterprise Planning versus IBM Cognos TM1 ........................................................................ 4

2.1. Cognos Enterprise Planning (EP) Limitations ................................................................................................ 4

2.2. IBM Cognos Enterprise Planning versus IBM Cognos TM1 Architecture ...................................................... 4

2.3. IBM Cognos Enterprise Planning versus IBM Cognos TM1 ........................................................................... 5

3. Why Migrate to IBM Cognos TM1? ................................................................................................................. 7

4. IBM Cognos TM1................................................................................................................................................ 8

4.1. Mechanisms of IBM Cognos TM1 ................................................................................................................. 9

4.2. IBM Cognos TM1 Tools ................................................................................................................................. 9

4.2.1. IBM Cognos TM1 Performance Modeler .................................................................................................. 9

4.2.2. IBM Cognos TM1 Application Web ......................................................................................................... 11

4.2.3. IBM Cognos TM1 Web ............................................................................................................................ 12

4.2.4. IBM Cognos Insight ................................................................................................................................. 13

4.2.5. IBM Cognos TM1 Mobile Contributor ..................................................................................................... 13

4.2.6. IBM Cognos TM1 Scorecard .................................................................................................................... 14

5. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................................... 15

6. How Can Intellium Help You Migration? ....................................................................................................... 15

About Intellium Infomation Technology Ltd.. ........................................................................................................ 16


1. Brief History of Applications and Overview At first glance, IBM Cognos Enterprise Planning (Cognos EP), looks a lot like IBM Cognos TM1 (Cognos

TM1). They are both used for planning, analysis and reporting. But take a deeper dive into the technology,

and you‘ll see many differences.

First, a little about Cognos EP. Cognos EP is comprised of several largely web-based applications for

planning, analysis and reporting. The core technology was originally developed by Adaytum (which was

founded in 1998) and brought to market as Adaytum e-Planning. Then, in January 2003, Adaytum was

acquired by Cognos and the product was renamed Cognos Planning. It was integrated with Cognos‘ BI

offering in Cognos 8.3. In 2007, IBM acquired Cognos.

Cognos TM1 has a similar story of acquisition and integration. Cognos TM1 came out of a project at Exxon

Mobil in the mid 1980s. The original developer of Cognos TM1 founded Sinper Corporation, and brought

Cognos TM1 to market. In 1996 Sinper was purchased by Applix and in 2007, Applix was purchased by

Cognos. The IBM acquisition of Cognos took place shortly thereafter.

The original intent of both solutions was to free financial analysts and planners from ‗Excel hell‘ and move

them off of spreadsheet-based planning. Both Cognos EP and Cognos TM1 are OLAP-based and provide

multi-dimensional analysis and business rule-based scenario planning. Both have long track records of

success with thousands of clients worldwide.

But while there are high-level similarities, there are significant technical differences. Most notable, Cognos

EP and Cognos TM1 take different approaches to the application engine, calculation, speed and flexibility.

The most importance difference, however, is each technology‘s ability to handle large volumes of data.

Hands down, Cognos TM1 can handle much more data than EP can.

Cognos EP was the leading choice for budgeting and forecasting for financial analysts who would like to

streamline their financial planning process. However, the core of the Cognos EP application was built more

than a decade ago, and lacks the scalability and flexibility necessary to effectively manage increasing

volumes of financial data that are now common in most organizations. Scalability, speed and maintenance

challenges are often addressed by limiting the design to a lesser granular level.

The release of Cognos TM1 has provided a wide range of services for developing timely, reliable and

dynamic forecasting and budgeting solutions. Users can now manipulate large data sets that support real-

time reporting and give management an improved perspective on their business operations, financial

metrics and operational metrics.

The Purpose of this whitepaper is to provide an overview of why and how to migrate from IBM Cognos EP

to IBM Cognos TM1.


2. IBM Cognos Enterprise Planning versus IBM Cognos TM1

2.1. Cognos Enterprise Planning (EP) Limitations

IBM Cognos EP also has a multiple cube architecture which generally supports complex planning needs –

but also has a few important limitations:

Calculations are limited to a single dimension.

Managing dimensions within Cognos EP can be challenging. In some instances, it becomes

necessary to manage dimensions with common elements separately, so when changes are made,

they need to occur in multiple places.

Cognos EP has Size Limitations that can require maintaining separate applications.

Cognos EP processes include admin links to move data from application to application along with

GTP (Go To Production) processes which can be time consuming and take up server resources.

Requires Publish process for the data to publish to tables that then can be used for BI Modeling for

Reporting.

No direct interface with IBM Cognos BI for Reporting and/or Scorecarding.

2.2. IBM Cognos Enterprise Planning versus IBM Cognos TM1 Architecture

Figure 1. IBM Cognos Enterprise Planning Architecture


Figure 2. IBM Cognos TM1 Architecture

The above diagrams show the difference between IBM Cognos EP and IBM Cognos TM1. It is easy to see

that Cognos TM1 is a significantly simpler architecture with streamlined processes, and provides improved

flexibility and tremendous increase in power utilizing TM1‘s 64-bit in memory-engine.

2.3. IBM Cognos Enterprise Planning versus IBM Cognos TM1

Side-by-Side Comparison Cognos Enterprise Planning IBM Cognos TM1

HANDLE LARGE CUBE

SIZESHANDLE MORE THAN 30

DIMENSIONS PER CUBE

No

Models are usually broken into

smaller cubes. 32 Bit Application

Yes

64 Bit in Memory

UNLIMITED VIEWS of Cubes No Yes

REAL TIME REACTION TO META

DATA CHANGES, DATA

REFRESH, CONTRIBUTIONS

No

Process required: Sync, GTP

and reconcile before any

revisions to models are visible to

users. Process can be lengthy

No

Process is not required.

Immediate results in cubes for any

enhancements or revisions.

LINKS REQUIRED TO

TRANSFER DATA BETWEEN

CUBES AND APPLICATIONS

Yes

Dlinks are necessary to setup to

transfer data between cubes in 1

model

No

Rules allow the calculations to

reference data in another cube, no

links required.



CALCULATIONS AT CUBE

LEVEL

No

Calculations are at a Dlist level

and links that feed the data into

the calculation.

Yes

Rules are defined at cube

level.Calculations are easy to

define and can reference

cubes/dimensions.

MAINTENANCE OF OBJECTS More

Objects to maintain in planning

Less

Objects to maintain, links and

allocation tables are not required.

SANDBOXES/PERSONALDRILL

THROUGH

Admin Required

Admin is required to setup a

whole new version of an

application/model for testing or

personal use.

End Users

can create their own versions on

the fly.

DRILL THROUGH Options available, harder to

setup.

TM1 drills can be defined by power

users and deployed.

ALIASES No Yes

Power users can use aliases as

another name for a data point

NEED FOR HIDDEN ITEMS FOR

CALCULATIONS

Yes No

TM1 rules allow for calculations to

reference cells in other cubes

eliminating a lot of hidden items

we have in planning

WEIGHTED AVERAGES Yes Yes

TM1 allows for TM1 allows for

separate Consolidation and Details

Rules making weighted averages

a breeze.

ROLLUPS CAN HAVE MULTIPLE

HIERARCHIES

No Yes

TM1 allows children to roll to

different parents within the same

dimension to provide multiple

views of the same data



PUBLISHING DATA FOR BI Yes

Process must be setup and

executed in order for data to

publish to tables for BI access.

No

TM1 provides real time reporting.

REQUIRES 3RD PARTY

DATASTORE (SQL, ORACLE,

DB2) ETC.

Yes No

OLAP Bases No Yes

Table 1. IBM Cognos EP versus IBM Cognos TM1

3. Why Migrate to IBM Cognos TM1? IBM Cognos TM1 is an enterprise planning software platform that can transform your entire planning cycle

– from target setting and budgeting to reporting, scorecarding, analysis and forecasting.

Cognos TM1’s powerful database engine provides:

Enter data into plans and financial figures to view in financial reports almost immediately.

Users can slice a specific view of the data to be assessed directly through the familiar application of

Excel

A unique feature of sparse algorithm skips calculating those cells in a cube where there is no data

or where a result is not required in its rule engine. This greatly improves the performance of the

cubes and application to quickly perform other complex calculations in real-time.

Users can manage large amounts of data with the help of the 64-bit OLAP engine of Cognos TM1

and can increase the size of their RAM as and when required, to accommodate larger models in the

future. This helps to reduce further hardware costs.

Create personalized workspaces in the form of sandboxes using Cognos TM1 Contributor, which is

a web-based interface. All data entered in the cubes at different levels of hierarchy are reflected in

the TM1 contributor, once the application is deployed. The changes made in any of the sandboxes

by different users can be approved and reflected in the entire application visible to all users.

Dashboards, scorecarding, and charts are possible using Cognos Insight, a new feature introduced

in TM1 versions of 10.1 and higher. One can easily explore, analyze, visualize and share data and

the results obtained using such dashboards by creating custom applications.

The primary differentiators of IBM Cognos TM1:

Efficient calculation engine and method of storing data in RAM, so that the data is immediately

calculated and retrieved. As a result, data is available in real-time, reflecting the current state of the

database.

Scalability: Cognos TM1 cubes have the ability to hold numerous dimensions and elements, as well


as multiple, unlimited hierarchies of these elements.

Cognos TM1 includes Perspectives, a robust Excel add-in, which can be utilized for development of

an application, input to the database, and reporting.

Security is also strong, with the ability to secure each individual cube, dimension, or process,

including cell-level security.

Cognos TM1 Web has slice & dice, nesting, sandboxing and graphing features.

Cognos TM1 offers a robust, centrally-managed, planning, forecasting, reporting and analysis tool.

4. IBM Cognos TM1 IBM Cognos TM1 is an enterprise planning software platform that can transform your entire planning cycle

– from target setting and budgeting to reporting, scorecarding, analysis and forecasting. It is available as an

on-premise or in-cloud solution and also has extensive mobile capabilities. Integrated scorecards and

strategy management capabilities help you monitor performance metrics and align resources and initiatives

with corporate objectives and market events. The following descriptions describe these capabilities:

Powerful planning and analysis – Create and analyze sophisticated plans, budgets, and

forecasts, even those based on large data sets.

Integrated scorecards and strategy management – Model metrics to measure progress toward

objectives and link them dynamically to actions and forecasts.

Flexible modeling – Develop and deploy even the most complex planning and analysis models

using a guided modeling environment.

Engagement with more users – Engage users from across the organization in high-participation

planning and collaborate with remote and distributed users through a range of mobile devices,

including the Apple iPad.

Cloud-based deployment option – Provide all the functionality of the on-premise solution with

optional cloud-based deployment.

Following are benefits of IBM Cognos TM1:

Analyze: Cognos TM1 can help create ―what-if‖ planning scenarios for effective decision support.

The high-performance 64-bit in-memory, multi-dimensional OLAP engine of Cognos TM1 allows

users to analyze frequently changing data across millions of items.

Model: Cognos TM1 enables real-time calculations and changes to the business models whenever

required, minimizing response times. Models built into Cognos TM1 help to access data that is

stored in other applications by using Turbo Integrator, SAP Connector, etc. Users can import data,

manage and sort dissimilar data and also minimize data redundancy while loading the data into the

Cognos TM1 model.

Collaborate: Cognos TM1 handles huge volumes of data, so a large number of business managers

– both financial and operational, can work on the Cognos TM1 applications and workflows

simultaneously, providing an expandable performance management solution in the real-time

market. Users find it familiar with the help of Cognos TM1‘s built-in components like Excel and Web

interfaces which require minimal IT assistance and training.


4.1. Mechanisms of IBM Cognos TM1

IBM Cognos TM1 is a powerful, flexible modeling tool that uses a high-performance 64-bit in-memory,

multi-dimensional OLAP engine. A feature similar to Cognos EP, Cognos TM1 also uses a multi-cube

architecture and supports complex cross-cube calculations. However, all calculations in the cubes are

performed rapidly by available in-memory architecture. The size of the memory is based on the system‘s

configuration where the Cognos TM1 server is installed.

Cognos TM1’s powerful database engine provides:

TM1 Contributor (web-based interface much similar to the EP Contributor Application)

TM1 Perspectives (Excel add-in which helps to connect to TM1 Applications using an Excel

interface)

Multiple hierarchies, parallel interaction, customized cube views and rapid deployment of model

objects

Built-in ETL tool in Turbo Integrator and role-based security

Built-in sandbox feature that facilitates easy ―what-if‖ planning scenarios in TM1 Contributor

TM1 Performance Modeler (available from Version 10.1 and higher) – provides graphical user

interface to make modelling more efficient and intuitive

TM1 Cognos Insight (available from Version 10.1 and higher) – creates dashboards that analyze

data, explore scenarios and influence decisions by creating managed workspaces

Mobile App for Cognos TM1 version 10.2 (available with Version 10.2) - connects to an IBM

Cognos TM1 Server and coexists with other desktop and web programs that connect to the same

server

TM1 on Cloud (available with Version 10.2)-- enables the development environment at no

additional cost that allows the user to test the application, new models, calculations, and user rights

before deploying to live users

4.2. IBM Cognos TM1 Tools

Cognos TM1 presents you with a wide variety of interface options through which you can model, enter data

and view your analyses.

You can find the valuable interfaces following sections;

4.2.1. IBM Cognos TM1 Performance Modeler

IBM Cognos TM1 Performance Modeler is a new component for building planning and analysis models in

the Cognos TM1 environment. It provides a graphical user interface to make modeling more efficient and

intuitive and all the existing powerful features of Cognos TM1 can be accessed from within Cognos TM1

Performance Modeler.


Figure 3. IBM Cognos TM1 Performance Modeler User Interface

Cognos TM1 Performance Modeler enables model authors to create applications using drag and drop

techniques more familiar to users of Cognos Planning. There is then the ability to deploy these models to

business users in a variety of ways also using simple drag and and drop techniques - something much

harder to achieve in previous versions of Cognos TM1 and removing the need for the synchronise and GTP

processes familiar to users of Cognos Planning.

Inbuilt workflow or continuous planning processes are supported with instant analysis of the data available

to Cognos Insight or Business Intelligence.


Figure 4. Budget Process workflow in IBM Cognos TM1 Performance Modeler User Interface

Figure 5. Inbuilt workflow in IBM Cognos TM1 Performance Modeler User Interface

4.2.2. IBM Cognos TM1 Application Web

Models are published on the web are also listed in the applications folder. An application folder consists out

of Cognos TM1 objects like cubes, cube views, subsets and chores. File references are shortcuts to

Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word or PDF files. The applications are automatically available in Cognos TM1

Web.


Figure 6. IBM Cognos TM1 Application Web User Interface

4.2.3. IBM Cognos TM1 Web

Standard TM1 Web Interface

Figure 7. IBM Cognos TM1 Web User Interface


4.2.4. IBM Cognos Insight

Cognos Insight is the personal business analytics desktop that transforms planning and analytics for the

individual contributor by accommodating the non-spreadsheet user.

Figure 8. IBM Cognos Insight User Interface

4.2.5. IBM Cognos TM1 Mobile Contributor

The new Cognos TM1 Mobile Contributor supports mobile users with a client designed specifically for the

Apple iPad. for analysis from Mobile.


Example Below;

Figure 9. IBM Cognos TM1 Mobile Contributor User Interface

4.2.6. IBM Cognos TM1 Scorecard

The scorecard feature provides users with a graphical display of the performance and connection of those

key metrics, using existing planning data. You can create a scorecard metric cube in Cognos TM1

applications.


Figure 10. IBM Cognos TM1 Scorecard User Interface

5. Conclusion Cognos EP provides intuitive interfaces, Excel-like features, and flexibility for enhanced budgeting and

forecasting. Cognos TM1 includes powerful features to better understand, anticipate and shape business

outcomes.

Intellium, a certified IBM partner, can manage your end-to-end migration without disrupting other

applications or operations. Intellium leverages a proven migration technology and our own expertise to help

enable a more secure and cost-effective migration of data. For all TM1 implementations, Intellium utilizes

best practices such as driver-based planning, rolling forecasts and profitability planning to enable rapid

implementation times. Intellium provides everything organizations need for business planning, budgeting,

forecasting, financial consolidation, reporting and performance management— on a single platform

6. How Can Intellium Help You Migration? Are you considering migration from IBM Cognos EP to IBM Cognos TM1?

You no longer have to look at your business through the rear view mirror. Intellium has certified and senior

consultants that have 7 - 15 years consulting experience. They are also successful finance and business

professionals. This combination of experience and skills will ensure that we help you with the right transition

plan so that your organisation can start clearly seeing what's ahead.

If you would like to know what the migration from Cognos EP to Cognos TM1 would mean for your

business, request a meeting with one of our subject matter experts to show you and your team the

differences between the two solutions. We will show you how transitioning to TM1 will improve efficiency

and performance within your organisation's overall planning and reporting process.


The key activities during the transition are:

Evaluate existing Cognos EP models (dimensions, cubes, calculations, d-links, contributor models,

access tables, admin-links, publish process, user security, maintenance processes, scheduled

chores, etc.).

Clearly define areas where Cognos TM1 technology can improve upon the existing Cognos EP

architecture. This could include anything from combining dimensions/cubes that were originally split

due to Cognos EP size limitations, re-writing calculations to utilise attributes/aliases, defining

Cognos TM1 subsets and hierarchies, using TI to replace Cognos EP macros and other ETL

processes, creating dynamic pick lists, creating new reports/active forms, provide drill-through,

create conditional security, etc.

Design/build models in Cognos TM1 that address all pain-points in Cognos EP and provides

additional Cognos TM1 functionality. Run the models concurrently to ensure accuracy.

Provide a roadmap to help you understand how you can leverage the new Cognos TM1

technologies to further improve their existing processes.

References: IBM Documentation site: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com

About Intellium Infomation Technology Ltd..

Intellium Infomation Technology Ltd. (Intellium) is a professional services company which was established by more than ten years experienced

founders in 2009 and focused on Corporate Performance Management, Business Intelligence & Data Management and Business Analytics.

Intellium provides consultancy services, turn-key project implementations, training and maintenance&support services to customers with a principle

of customer satisfaction to Turkey‘s and Middle East‘s leading companies. Intellium provides high-level and strategic consulting to organizations

with a team of highly skilled professionals focused on helping customers to maximize their investments. Intellium is a Turkey located company that

provides professional IT Services and Consultancy services in Turkey, EUROPE and EMEA Region. Intellium is IBM Business Partner with IBM

Cognos product solution. Intellium has partners in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Egypt to provide its solutions and services to the region.

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Why migrate from ibm cognos planning to tm1 ?

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