BI Reporting from TM1 data source - Licensing?

[spiderwallet]

Hi All,

Hoping someone can point me in the correct direction, preferably a Cognos link? (wishful thinking i know).
I have read that Cognos BI users can use TM1 data sources for reporting in Cognos without requiring a TM1 license.

Again this has nothing to do with TM1 web, architect, framework manager, this is only for people who will only ever interact with TM1 data through a report, made available by a developer throught a package.

Thanks in advance!
SW.

[declanr]

Hoping someone can point me in the correct direction, preferably a Cognos link? (wishful thinking i know).
I have read that Cognos BI users can use TM1 data sources for reporting in Cognos without requiring a TM1 license.

As I understand it, once data is in BI it doesn't really matter where it came from, you are looking at BI data and need a BI licence to view it.

Again this has nothing to do with TM1 web, architect, framework manager, this is only for people who will only ever interact with TM1 data through a report, made available by a developer throught a package.

I did however make my previous comment on the basis that you would be using framework manager to import the data from TM1 to BI.

I make no effort to pretend I am at a licensing guru so I would recommend if you have any concerns like this that you phone your business partner or IBM (whoever your support agreement is with) and ask them, they should have some sales boffin around... just make sure you get their reply in writing!

[upali]

A question:

Can you copy just the TM1 cubes over to some location so that Framework Manager can read it, without the need for having a TM1 service running? If not, I wonder how can you achieve the said goal.

[declanr]

A question:

Can you copy just the TM1 cubes over to some location so that Framework Manager can read it, without the need for having a TM1 service running? If not, I wonder how can you achieve the said goal.

I'm intrigued as to why your tm1 service wouldn't be running... but that being said you could create SQL tables and output the data from your tm1 cubes to that in a TI process then just connect from BI to the SQL table. Seems to be adding an extra an unnecessary cog into the mechanism though.

[upali]

I'm intrigued as to why your tm1 service wouldn't be running...

If I don't have a TM1 license to run a TM1 server, which is the situation the OP is trying to achieve, isn't it?

[Alan Kirk]

I'm intrigued as to why your tm1 service wouldn't be running...

If I don't have a TM1 license to run a TM1 server, which is the situation the OP is trying to achieve, isn't it?

I would hope not because circumventing licencing is a subject that would fall foul of the Legal Issues Concerning Intellectual Property Rights policy meaning that this thread would need to be flushed.

However that's not how I read the original question.

I read it as the OP believing that the licencing of Cognos BI may give you a right to a TM1 data source without a separate licence for TM1. Which is not, to my understanding, the case... but I'm not a licencing guru either.

However I'm wondering whether the OP was thinking of (or had heard about) Cognos Express, which has a TM1 server built into the back end of it.

[spiderwallet]

I'm intrigued as to why your tm1 service wouldn't be running...

If I don't have a TM1 license to run a TM1 server, which is the situation the OP is trying to achieve, isn't it?

I would hope not because circumventing licencing is a subject that would fall foul of the Legal Issues Concerning Intellectual Property Rights policy meaning that this thread would need to be flushed.

However that's not how I read the original question.

I read it as the OP believing that the licencing of Cognos BI may give you a right to a TM1 data source without a separate licence for TM1. Which is not, to my understanding, the case... but I'm not a licencing guru either.

However I'm wondering whether the OP was thinking of (or had heard about) Cognos Express, which has a TM1 server built into the back end of it.

Thanks for the replies! Yes, Alan we have FM packages with TM1 cube objects in them (brought in through TM1 data source in Cognos BI). Once published anyone with access to that package in Cognos BI can essentially run a report against Tm1 data, unless the folder / package has restricted access, which ours does. I have heard that running reports from Cognos BI is fine and doesnt need a TM1 license (Obv needs a BI license) but when using TM1 data in other tools such as excel a license is required.

Was trying my luck that someone knew a IBM page which said this in writing.

SW.

[lotsaram]

A question:

Can you copy just the TM1 cubes over to some location so that Framework Manager can read it, without the need for having a TM1 service running? If not, I wonder how can you achieve the said goal.

Quite aside from any potential licensing problems, you obviously missed the memo that TM1 is an IN MEMORY application.

[PlanningDev]

The basics are this.

If you are accessing a TM1 Server through a TM1 Interface (Perspectives, Architect, Cognos Insight (Dont need a TM1 License if used standalone), TM1Web, TM1 Applications, Any Custom UI you may have built to leverage the TM1 API) then you need a TM1 license for that user.

If you are reading TM1 data through a non TM1 Interface (Any of the BI Interfaces (Analysis Studio, Report Studio, Query Studio, Workspace, Workspace Advanced, etc.) then you need only have a BI license with the capability to use the required BI Interface.

As an end user if I create content in BI an the source of the data is TM1 then I DO NOT need a TM1 license, I just need a BI license with the correct capabilities.

Now here is where it gets tricky. If you use BI CAM Authentication and create your BI Datasource with Pass Through authentication, then all users who access that data source would also need a valid login for TM1 which in turn would drive the need for a license.

The alternative way is that you need at least one TM1 License for the login account to the TM1 Datasource that all BI users would use to connect, this is setup in the BI Config for the data source. (This limits your ability to have data level security pass from TM1 to BI).

And now for the GIANT disclaimer.....I am not a representative of IBM and cannot speak to the exact specifics of licensing. Please do not rely on these statements in any way when determining the correct licensing for your environment.

[Alan Kirk]

The basics are this.

Whew, thank heavens for that! For a horrible moment there I was afraid that IBM may have overcomplicated things and made the licencing requirements opaque.

Perish the thought...

[spiderwallet]

The basics are this.

Thanks PlanningDev, I too have the same understanding, but again was hoping for a document of hard evidence, oh well to the IBM license rep it is.

I was afraid that IBM may have overcomplicated things and made the licencing requirements opaque.

.. even people at IBM dont know much about licensing... (just need to find the 1 person that does.. wish me luck)

Thanks guys!