TM1 Forum

Could you please share your experience and opinion - are there any problems connecting with the fact that MM1 is not genuine COGNOS products? Does it have multiple installation components and multiple data sources underneath, create by various vendors, later acquired by COGNOS? Is there an impact from this to the TM1 performance and support?

If you would compare TM1 to Clarity - what would be pros and cons of each?

are there any problems connecting with the fact that MM1 is not genuine COGNOS products?

What do you mean by "Genuine Cognos Product"? Like Cognos planning ( Adaytum), Controler (Frango) or Finance ( Lex 2000)? Like these other tools, TM1 9.4 is now fully integrated with and acts as a data source for Cognos 8.4 BI

Does it have multiple installation components and multiple data sources underneath

TM1 is very easy to install. Also, it can interface with multiple data sources in a variety of formats, one of its many strengths.

Is there an impact from this to the TM1 performance and support?

TM1 has a large enthusiastic client base and Cognos has committed to continue supporting TM1 both as a stand alone application and as an integrated part of the product range.

If you would compare TM1 to Clarity - what would be pros and cons of each?

I do not know Clarity so I cannot comment, however, it sounds as though someone from Clarity has been trying to spread some FUD. Talk to a good TM1 certified partner for a balanced view. Where are you based?

I agree with Stephen, just wanted to answer your queries specifically

bonafiden wrote:Could you please share your experience and opinion - are there any problems connecting with the fact that MM1 is not genuine COGNOS products?

TM1 is indeed now a genuine Cognos (and by extension IBM) product as Stephen points out.

Does it have multiple installation components and multiple data sources underneath, create by various vendors, later acquired by COGNOS?

Sounds like the strengths of TM1 have been portrayed to you as weaknesses. TM1 has a thin client architecture. When you install you have the option of doing a full install - server and client, or just client. You can also have TM1 Web for internet deployment if you wish. The installation is very straight forward for anyone who is IT literate and understands even a little bit about client-server frameworks.

TM1 has been developed by a single vendor (Applix) for well over a decade. Some TM1 enthusiasts/partners have developed optional extras. Some of which the vendor has taken the idea of and devloped into TM1. As with the entire BI market there have also been some acquisitions along the way, but the core product development has always been the same vendor.

The multiple data sources is one of TM1's greatest strengths. Using Turbo Integrator you can easily plug into ODBC or ASCII sources to extract data for reporting. For example, pulling your General Ledger information from a SQL database is quite straightforward.

Is there an impact from this to the TM1 performance and support?

The general consensus seems to be that support has improved since the Cognos acquisition. It's still too early to see the impact of IBM/Cognos on the performance of TM1, but the hype sounds promising.

Martin

Would agree about support, i've had nothing but good dealings with them so far. Obviously enhancement requests or bug fixes might not be released too quickly, but that's to be expected.

Thank you so much for your replies, guys. We are in Horsham, PA. Any information about companies with successful TM1 use nearby will be great to know.

Not sure about end user companies, but there are at least two very good TM1 partners roughly in your area who may be able to help you out - Creeth Richman and Revelwood.

Or you can PM Mike Cowie here on the forum, he's with Creeth Richman.

Cheers,
Martin

bonafiden wrote:Thank you so much for your replies, guys. We are in Horsham, PA. Any information about companies with successful TM1 use nearby will be great to know.

Hi,

I've sent you a private message as well - as Martin mentioned we do quite a bit of work, in general, in the Northeast. Specifically I've worked with at least one TM1 client in the Willow Grove area, which I think is not far down the road from Horsham. As others point out above, the integration of TM1 with Cognos 8.4 BI is very real and I know that a lot of product development effort had been focused on this integration since TM1 was acquired by Cognos.

Regards,
Mike

Never heard of "Clarity", do you mean MS ProClarity?

ScottW wrote:Never heard of "Clarity", do you mean MS ProClarity?

Hi Scott,

Actually, I think it refers to this:
http://www.claritysystems.com/

Regards,
Mike