Perspectives and PAfE Both Enabled in Excel

[macsir]

Hi, I am considering to keep TM1 Perspectives addin (from 2.0.8 install) and PAfE (v55) both enabled in Excel when we deploy to end users.
Is there any disadvantage for doing so or any problem you are aware when using any of them in Excel? Thanks.

[Ajay]

Hi Macsir,

I'm not sure what your reasons for doing this are, but I remember when we began our upgrade, we initially felt it would be a step too far with users "having" to get used to the new front end within PAfE.

From a technical point of view, when we initially tried to use both, in our test bed, we ran into conflicts around the "CognosOfficeTM1.xll" and the "tm1p.xla" in the same Excel session, around certain functions on worksheets just not working properly. We felt that things just weren't "solid" enough to trust running with both.

The other thing we couldn't figure out was how Docker would behave with both. We knew that PAfE used it, but we didn't know how it would be affected if a non-Docker style application (tm1p.xla) would affect it (or not).

In the end we quickly decided, that users would have to move - "like it or lump it" - and looking back on that we are pleased we did not have both and stuck with PAfE (2.0.55). We are only using Architect from 2.0.9.1 for developers.

I guess one of the non-technical disadvantages are that you'll find it difficult to get users to transition from Perpectives to PAfE, if you give them both from day one.

Giving users access to PAfE will also give users the confidence to get started with PAW. I think it's neater when using PAfE to build some visualisations in PAW when you're used to PAfE......that's what we have found anyway. Our users have already had a sneak peak of PAW2.0.57 and are very much looking forward to getting their hands on it. So for us it has been positive to move away from Perspectives as far as end users are concerned.

Not sure if this helps in what you were looking for.

Ajay

[macsir]

Hi, Ajay

Thanks for the detailed info. The main reason I want to do this is that don't want to cause any inconvenience and panic to end users during this transition period when deploying although I will give out some training in advance.

Yes, I did have some snapshotting or slicing issues from Perspectives with PAfE enabled in the past. However, it seems that is NOT the case anymore now with PAfE v55. I would prefer to guide the users to disable Perspectives later once we truly stay with PAfE in the future or IBM abandons it.

I have already done the training for PAW v46 and release it to users. The feedback was good and they start to get hands on it.

[lotsaram]

The thing is you CAN have both Addins installed but you can only have one ACTIVE at a time as they will conflict with each other. Even though it sounds simple enough for most users this is too much to manage.

I would commit to rolling out PAfE and keep Perspectives available via Citrix or TS app for developers or users really wanting it.

[Ajay]

Hi Macsir,

In terms of:

Thanks for the detailed info. The main reason I want to do this is that don't want to cause any inconvenience and panic to end users during this transition period when deploying although I will give out some training in advance.

We found that you can mitigate this "inconvenience and panic" and overall general reluctance to change, by good communication early in the process of the upgrade and by appointing a select group of super users, who are well known in the user community, to be "PA Champions".

Start by giving them the early training and involvement in the new toolset, ahead of the new whole set of users. This will help with smoothing out the transition, and allow you to commit to PAfE.

Regards
Ajay

[macsir]

Thanks for sharing the experience, both. Yes, you are right. Better to commit to PAfE only. I will select a group of key users to start testing and disable Perspectives by default after installing PAfE.