Cognos Express

[Whorty1970]

Hi All, I'm new to this forum and I have had a look around but can't find an answer to my query, hence this topic.

I work for a company who are looking to replace their Excel planning and forecast models with something 'better'. I know Cognos EP very well having implemented it at many companies but I think this might be out of their budget. Looking around at alternatives, Cognos Express seems to offer a good slution at the right kind of cost level.

Only problem is, I can't find out what Express really gives! I've seen all the marketing shpiel about it taking an hour to install, drag and drop budgets etc but what I don't see is how to create the rules/calculations for those models.

I understand what TM1 can do (to a certain extent) and I know Express is based on TM1 but there must be a difference due to the price. So what EXACTLY does Express (planning and the BI) give me, and what is missing compared to say CEP and teh full Cognos BI tools?

So, for example, can I create d-lists (or similar) with all the calcs (e.g. are there Bifs), d-cubes, d-links etc etc. Are cubes stored as SQL tables?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Regards, Whorty

[David Usherwood]

I understand what TM1 can do (to a certain extent) and I know Express is based on TM1 but there must be a difference due to the price. So what EXACTLY does Express (planning and the BI) give me, and what is missing compared to say CEP and teh full Cognos BI tools?

I like 'must'...
Excelerator is TM1 with nothing taken out (technically - the licensing is somewhat different). If you are experienced in building planning apps with TM1 then you can do that with Excelerator with ease.

However, you're not. As you make clear, you have an EP background. Many EP-ers have found the migration to TM1 quite challenging as the tools are so very different. You won't find any of the specifics you mention. There's Contributor, but it's TM1 Contributor, which looks similar to EP Contributor but isn't the same at all (and in my view, not all that good).

So I think you'll have a fairly tough time. But the product is fine for the job in hand.
HTH

[ADW]

Whorty,

We are currently implementing Cognos Express at the moment. There are restrictions on the number of licences, and number of instances per server (and everything is on 1 server!). From the TM1 perspective there doesn't appear to be a lot missing. From the BI perspective I believe there are some studios that you don't get, also, some MS Office connectivity that is missing (GO Office?).

I know it's quite confusing understanding what you are getting and what you are not, as the consulting firms seem to have a hard time understanding/explaining it too!!

There are no longer d-lists, d-links etc, and in my opinion this is a good thing! You still create dimensions and then create cubes based on those dimensions. Turbo Integrator processes are used to input data (replacing file maps and d-links) and rules are created to move data from one cube to another (replacing d-link, rules can also be a lot more sophisticated).

Erm..not sure what else to say about it. Someone else might have some other thoughts.

[stephen waters]

Whorty,

I know it's quite confusing understanding what you are getting and what you are not, as the consulting firms seem to have a hard time understanding/explaining it too!!

If your consulting firm can't explain that is probably because they don't understand TM1 ( though admittedly IBM dont make it easy!).

Adding to what others have said:
- Enterprise TM1 and the TM1 database within Cognos Express ( the "IBM Cognos Analytical Server") are virtually identical from a technical point of view and Cognos Express TM1 has no restrictions in terms of functionality and power.
- Enterprise TM1 includes Architect, the Excel add-in, TM1 Web interfaces and the Contributor data collection and workflow tool.
These front ends are split into different components in CX, bought separately
- CX Excelerator module contains Architect, the Excel add-in and TM1 Web
- CX Planner module contains Contributor data collection and workflow tool
Cognos Express TM1 is licensed for a maximum of 32 processor cores and 100 users (either per module or overall, depending on the situation)

CX Reporter? A cut down version of full Cognos Enterprise BI, containing the Query and Report studios

CX Advisor The former Temtec Executive Viewer, nice fast grid based front end for TM1 with some graphing and nice data visualisation ( maps, heat maps etc)

Other replies have talked about CP vs TM1 for budgeting, they are very different products and needs different mindsets but effectively TM1 can do most things that CP can do and other things as well.

One big difference is "reporting". IBM and consultants coming from a CP or Cognos BI background will say you need BI\CX Reporter. However, most finance departments are very happy to use the Exel interface and TM1 web interface for reporting, both internally and externally. Our customers are mainly finance so we sell a lot of CX Xcelerator but very little CX Reporter.

Other differences not yet mentioned?
- CX is difficult and fragile to install compared with Enterprise TM1 and adds an unneccessary extra security layer.
- CX 9.5 uses TM1 9.5.1 which does not support Excel 2010 and does not have the latest functionality in 9.5.2

[jim wood]

CX is difficult and fragile to install compared with Enterprise TM1 and adds an unneccessary extra security layer.

After installing and working with CX myself over the last few months I concur with Stephen. The installation can be a little awkward. It's nothing that isn't fixable mind but it does take a lot longer than it should.

[moby91]

There is a PDF document by IBM Cognos on deploying IBM Cognos Express, outlining how to move content developed in TM1 to Cognos Express Xcelerator, see for instance

http://www.listec.de/Download-document/ ... Guide.html


There is a PDF document by IBM Cognos outlining the capabilities and restrictions between Cognos Express vs Cognos BI and TM1, see for instance

http://olap-business.de/app/download/43 ... Matrix.pdf

[Whorty1970]

Thanks guys, some excellent info there. I now have a much better understanding

One piece of functionality that the finance team are keen on (I do wish salesmen didn't get to the users first!) is breakback/back-calc - something that is quite nice in CEP. Can Express do something similar? Say set a starting value in period 1, set a % growth to period 12, then fixed the last period and let it calc back (or something similar).

Also, are there any public docs on setting up models in TM1/Express? Say with examples of formula/rules etc so I can get a feel for the possible complexities to build a model.

Again, thanks for all the comments so far, very much appreciated.

[ADW]

Whorty,

Plenty of data spreading and breakback functionality, including growth % and proportional spreading etc. Not sure about public docs, but the IBM help guides are pretty decent, and other than that this forum has been very helpful.

[rmackenzie]

I've done a few implementations with CE and it is a great value alternative to 'enterprise' TM1 especially in terms of the variety and scope of the front-ends you can have. Also, it is good that IBM didn't hobble the engine-room. One of the main problems you might find, is that once you have your first model up and running and in production, you don't have the ability to run a development or test server. You need to have a think about the development model going into the future as at some point you will find yourself 'testing in production' and this will only cause tears before bedtime if there business-critical processes supported by the model.

Also, are there any public docs on setting up models in TM1/Express? Say with examples of formula/rules etc so I can get a feel for the possible complexities to build a model.

Check out this thread which has a workaround for accessing the actual source material you might want to look at. Any decent TM1 consultancy (be careful about what skillsets they actually have) will be able to demo PoC stuff which should give you food for thought.

[Andy Key]

One of the main problems you might find, is that once you have your first model up and running and in production, you don't have the ability to run a development or test server.

Hasn't this changed? I thought you could now buy Non-Prod CX Servers.

[ADW]

We have Prod and Dev servers for CX. We had to buy another 'Connector' (whatever that is)

[rmackenzie]

Hasn't this changed? I thought you could now buy Non-Prod CX Servers.

We have Prod and Dev servers for CX. We had to buy another 'Connector' (whatever that is)

Glad to hear it!