IBM Planning Analytics

Last updated
IBM Planning Analytics powered by TM1
Developer(s) IBM
Initial release1983;38 years ago (1983), as Sinper TM/1 1.0
Stable release
IBM Planning Analytics Local 2.0.9 / December 16, 2019;13 months ago (2019-12-16)
Operating system Microsoft Windows Server, Linux, UNIX
Available inEnglish, Brazilian Portuguese, Danish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian (Bokmål), Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish, Traditional Chinese
Type MOLAP
License Proprietary software
Website www.ibm.com/products/planning-analytics

IBM Planning Analytics powered by TM1 (formerly IBM Cognos TM1, formerly Applix TM1, formerly Sinper TM/1 [1] ) is a business performance management software suite designed to implement collaborative planning, budgeting and forecasting solutions, interactive "what-if" analyses, as well as analytical and reporting applications.

Contents

The database server component of the software platform retains its historical name TM1. Data is stored in in-memory multidimensional OLAP cubes, generally at the "leaf" level, and consolidated on demand. In addition to data, cubes can include encoded rules which define any on-demand calculations. By design, computations (typically aggregation along dimensional hierarchies using weighted summation) on the data are performed in near real-time, without the need to precalculate, due to a highly performant database design and calculation engine. These properties also allow the data to be updated frequently and by multiple users.

TM1 is an example of a class of software products which implement the principles of the functional database model. The IBM Planning Analytics platform, in addition to the TM1 database server, includes an ETL tool, server management and monitoring tools and a number of user front ends which provide capabilities designed for common business planning and budgeting requirements, including workflow, adjustments, commentary, etc.

The vendor currently offers the software both as a standalone on-premises product and in the SaaS model on the cloud.

History

While working at Exxon, Lilly Whaley suggested developing a planning system using the IBM mainframe time sharing option (TSO) to replace the previous IMS based planning system and thereby significantly reduce running costs. Manuel "Manny" Perez, who had been in IT for most of his career, took it upon himself to develop a prototype. Right away he realized that in order to provide the multidimensionality and interactivity necessary it would be necessary to keep the data structures in computer memory rather than on disk. [2]

The business potential of the planning system Perez had developed became apparent to him and he began to explore the possibilities of commercializing it. Back in early 1981, the IBM personal computer had not yet been announced and the Apple II® was not in significant use at corporations, so initially, Perez looked to implement on a public mainframe timesharing system. Just in time, the IBM personal computer was announced. It provided a low cost development environment which Manny was quick to take advantage of. [2]

When Visicalc was released, Perez became convinced that it was the ideal user interface for his visionary product: the Functional Database. With his friend Jose Sinai formed the Sinper Corporation in early 1983 and released his initial product, TM/1 (the "TM" in TM1 stands for "Table Manager"). Sinper was purchased by Applix in 1996, which was purchased by Cognos in late 2007, which was in itself acquired mere months later by IBM. [3] [2]

With its flagship TM1 product line, Applix was the purest OLAP vendor among publicly traded independent BI vendors prior to OLAP industry consolidation in 2007, and had the greatest growth rate. [4] [5]

On December 16, 2016 IBM released a rebranded and expanded version of the software (IBM Planning Analytics Local 2.0 'powered by' IBM TM1) with a 'restarted' version numbering. The data server component is still referred to as TM1 and retains numbering continued from prior versions, so Planning Analytics version 2.x includes TM1 version 11.x.

Current Components

See also

Related Research Articles

IBM Db2 Family Relational model database server

Db2 is a family of data management products, including database servers, developed by IBM. They initially supported the relational model, but were extended to support object-relational features and non-relational structures like JSON and XML. The brand name was originally styled as DB/2, then DB2 until 2017 and finally changed to its present form.

SPSS Statistical analysis software

SPSS Statistics is a software package used for interactive, or batched, statistical analysis. Long produced by SPSS Inc., it was acquired by IBM in 2009. Current versions have the brand name: IBM SPSS Statistics.

Online analytical processing, or OLAP, is an approach to answer multi-dimensional analytical (MDA) queries swiftly in computing. OLAP is part of the broader category of business intelligence, which also encompasses relational databases, report writing and data mining. Typical applications of OLAP include business reporting for sales, marketing, management reporting, business process management (BPM), budgeting and forecasting, financial reporting and similar areas, with new applications emerging, such as agriculture.

Cognos was an Ottawa, Ontario-based company making business intelligence (BI) and performance management (PM) software. Founded in 1969, at its peak Cognos employed almost 3,500 people and served more than 23,000 customers in over 135 countries until being acquired by IBM on January 31, 2008. While no longer an independent company, the Cognos name continues to be applied to IBM's line of business intelligence and performance management products.

Essbase is a multidimensional database management system (MDBMS) that provides a multidimensional database platform upon which to build analytic applications. Essbase began as a product of Arbor Software, which merged with Hyperion Software in 1998. Oracle Corporation acquired Hyperion Solutions Corporation in 2007, as of 2009 Oracle marketed Essbase as "Oracle Essbase" and more recently, Essbase is offered as part of the Oracle Analytics Cloud. Until late 2005 IBM also marketed an OEM version of Essbase as DB2 OLAP Server.

Oracle Hyperion American software company

Hyperion Solutions Corporation was a software company located in Santa Clara, California, which was acquired by Oracle Corporation in 2007. Many of its products were targeted at the business intelligence (BI) and business performance management markets, and as of 2013 were developed and sold as Oracle Hyperion products. Hyperion Solutions was formed from the merger of Hyperion Software and Arbor Software in 1998.

Enterprise software, also known as enterprise application software (EAS), is computer software used to satisfy the needs of an organization rather than individual users. Such organizations include businesses, schools, interest-based user groups, clubs, charities, and governments. Enterprise software is an integral part of a (computer-based) information system; a collection of such software is called an enterprise system. These systems handle a chunk of operations in an organization with the aim of enhancing the business and management reporting tasks. The systems must process the information at a relatively high speed and can be deployed across a variety of networks.

Applix Inc. was a computer software company founded in 1983 based in Westborough, Massachusetts that published Applix TM1, a multi-dimensional online analytical processing (MOLAP) database server, and related presentation tools, including Applix Web and Applix Executive Viewer. Together, Applix TM1, Applix Web and Applix Executive Viewer were the three core components of the Applix Business Analytics Platform.

Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services, SSAS, is an online analytical processing (OLAP) and data mining tool in Microsoft SQL Server. SSAS is used as a tool by organizations to analyze and make sense of information possibly spread out across multiple databases, or in disparate tables or files. Microsoft has included a number of services in SQL Server related to business intelligence and data warehousing. These services include Integration Services, Reporting Services and Analysis Services. Analysis Services includes a group of OLAP and data mining capabilities and comes in two flavors - Multidimensional and Tabular.

System Architect

Unicom System Architect is an enterprise architecture tool that is used by the business and technology departments of corporations and government agencies to model their business operations and the systems, applications, and databases that support them. System Architect is used to build architectures using various frameworks including TOGAF, ArchiMate, DoDAF, MODAF and NAF. System Architect is developed by UNICOM Systems, a division of UNICOM Global, a United States-based company.

Business intelligence software is a type of application software designed to retrieve, analyze, transform and report data for business intelligence. The applications generally read data that has been previously stored, often - though not necessarily - in a data warehouse or data mart.

Palo (OLAP database)

Palo is a memory resident multidimensional database server and typically used as a business intelligence tool for controlling and budgeting purposes with spreadsheet software acting as the user interface. Beyond the multidimensional data concept, Palo enables multiple users to share one centralised data storage.

Cognos ReportNet (CRN) was a web-based software product for creating and managing ad hoc and custom-made reports. ReportNet was developed by the Ottawa-based company Cognos, an IBM company. The web-based reporting tool was launched in September 2003. Since IBM's acquisition of Cognos, ReportNet has been renamed IBM Cognos ReportNet like all other Cognos products.

The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of online analytical processing (OLAP) servers. Please see the individual products articles for further information.

Applixware is a suite of proprietary modular applications for Linux edited by Vistasource, Inc.

XLCubed

XLCubed is a business intelligence software and consulting services company. Established in 2001, XLCubed develops business intelligence software and provides business intelligence and performance management consulting services. The company is privately held and based out of the United Kingdom in the Thames Valley IT corridor.

IBM Cognos Analytics

IBM Cognos Business Intelligence is a web-based integrated business intelligence suite by IBM. It provides a toolset for reporting, analytics, scorecarding, and monitoring of events and metrics. The software consists of several components designed to meet the different information requirements in a company. IBM Cognos has components such as IBM Cognos Framework Manager, IBM Cognos Cube Designer, IBM Cognos Transformer.

Datawatch Corporation is an American software company that creates and sells self-service data preparation solutions. The entire platform includes Datawatch Monarch Complete, Monarch Server and Monarch Swarm.

Arcplan

Arcplan is a software for business intelligence (BI), budgeting, planning & forecasting (BP&F), business analytics and collaborative Business Intelligence. It is the enhancement of the enterprise software inSight® and dynaSight of the former German provider arcplan Information Services GmbH.

The functional database model is used to support analytics applications such as financial planning and performance management. The functional database model, or the functional model for short, is different from but complementary to the relational model. The functional model is also distinct from other similarly named concepts, including the DAPLEX functional database model and functional language databases.

References

  1. "InfoWorld". February 1988.
  2. 1 2 3 Beyond the Spreadsheet: The Story of TM1, Cubewise, retrieved 2021-01-18
  3. The Official History of TM1, Cubewise, retrieved 2018-05-07
  4. Nigel Pendse (2008-03-07). "Consolidations in the BI industry". The BI Verdict (The OLAP Report). Retrieved 2010-02-20.
  5. Carsten Bange (2008-11-14). "Commentary: The OLAP Revival". The BI Verdict (The OLAP Report). Retrieved 2010-02-20.