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The Future of IBM Cognos TM1

Posted by Jim Wood on May 13, 2015

IBM Cognos TM1 version 10 has now been around for a good while and has already gone through several minor and major updates. The move from version 10.1 to 10.2 itself was a significant change, even though it was within the same release stream. The key updates included the move from .Net to Java as the main platform and support for multi-threading queries.

Despite all these changes and updates, the underlying framework and structures remained the same. Despite the addition of CAFÉ, which delivered significant optimization of performance and flexibility for users over a wide area network, most interfaces have not changed for a number of years.

So the question has to be: What’s next for TM1?

IBM have been aware of some customer frustrations with the TM1 interfaces for quite some time. Performance Modeler and Application Web server were a step in the right direction but they were more aimed at the Cognos Enterprise Planning market for ease of transition. Interfaces such as Architect, which are still heavily relied upon, haven’t seen a major update since the start of version 9.

It seems that IBM plans to address these issues in the next release through a tool called “Prism”, which is currently in Alpha phase. It is not entirely clear and known what the new interface will look like as IBM is playing their cards close to their chest, however rumors have it that it will be a significant upgrade and will close the gap to some of the other analytics and visualization platforms. What has been confirmed thus far is that Prism will replace Architect and Perspectives.

IBM provided an overview of Prism at their IBM Vision 2015 conference in Orlando in May 2015

Is Prism going to be massive leap forward for TM1?

Hopefully yes. Even though only a small amount of information is available, it is clear that IBM is making a heavy push to further enhance the system and is determined to strengthen its position on the market by committing resources. This enhancement to the front-end of the tool would be a welcome and refreshing improvement that will go a long way in streamlining the overall usability. Time will tell if Prism will live up to its promise but the development seems to be moving in the right direction.

What do I need to do to make sure I’m aware of Prism will bring?

With the demonstration at IBM Vision 2015 in May, chances are a lot more information will be available in the near term as to the scope and look / feel of the system. You can always contact your IBM account representative / business partner and ask to be included on communication as new information becomes available. For those that want to be really close to the updates, you can sign up as Beta tester and gain a better understanding of what is coming and if / how it will impact your application and vision for the system.

Topics: TM1 Technology, IBM Cognos, IBM Cognos TM1, Performance Management