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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Preventative Maintenance to Maximize TM1 Performance

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Did you know doing some preventative maintenance can maximize TM1 performance? How often do you do preventative maintenance? Probably not often enough. If you are like most TM1 admins, you probably have a list of urgent and vital projects you need to complete before the 2019 budgeting and planning season begins. Chances are, preventative maintenance on your TM1 system won’t make it to the top of your to-do list.

Think of your TM1 environment the way you think of your car. You know regular oil changes, standard mileage-milestone checkups, and rotating your tires helps to make your car run better and helps to stave off critical issues. While you likely get these services done on your car, you probably don’t do them yourself. So why spend time you don’t have on vital performance tasks for your TM1 environment? Instead, let the team of TM1 experts at Revelwood do the work for you.

How do you might benefit from a TM1 health check? Ask yourself if your system is exhibiting any of these symptoms of a less-than-optimal environment:

  • Your TM1 system is running slower than you want it to
  • Your TM1 reports are taking too long to generate
  • You want to get a better understanding of the components in your TM1 environment and how they are linked together
  • You’ve hired new staff who would like more knowledge about your unique TM1 system.

For a limited time we’re offering a one-day complimentary health check on your TM1 system. Our process consists of:

  • A review of your system architecture
  • An analysis of your cubes and rules
  • An examination of your Turbo Integrator processes to see how efficient they are
  • Recommendations on how to optimize your reports
  • Recommendations on things you can do to improve the security of your TM1 environment.

IBM Planning Analytics is full of new features and functionality. Not sure where to start? Our team here at Revelwood can help. Contact us for more information at info@revelwood.com. And stay tuned for more Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks weekly in our Knowledge Center and in upcoming newsletters!

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Troubleshooting Planning Analytics for Excel

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Did you know there are some easy approaches to troubleshooting IBM Planning Analytics for Excel (PAx)?

Given that PAx is an Excel add-in, sometimes things go wrong. Do you know the basic steps to take when a user says that PAx isn’t working for them?

We at Revelwood have often seen two primary issues that appear at our clients:

  1. The “IBM Planning Analytics” ribbon doesn’t show up
  2. A user can connect in, but they cannot see anything in the task pane

So, let’s take a look at how to solve either of these two primary issues.

Issue 1 – The IBM Planning Analytics ribbon doesn’t show up

In our experience, this is almost always an issue of one of the three add-ins not showing up properly. PAx depends on 3 add-ins within excel. If you open “File”, “Options”, “Add-ins” in Excel, you should see the following list:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Troubleshooting PAx

Chances are that at least one of these three add-ins are missing. At the bottom of this window is a “Manage” option. If you are missing either of the “IBM Cognos Office…” items, you’ll want to select “Excel Add-ins” from the drop down. If you are missing “IBM Framework for Office”, you’ll want to select “COM Add-ins” from the dropdown.

  • IBM Cognos Office Reporting BI Addin (Excel Add-ins)
    • C:\Program Files (x86)\ibm\cognos\IBM for Microsoft Office\CognosOfficeBI.xll
  • IBM Cognos Office Reporting TM1 Addin (Excel Add-ins)
    • C:\Program Files (x86)\ibm\cognos\IBM for Microsoft Office\CognosOfficeTM1.xll
  • IBM Framework for Office (COM Add-ins)
    • C:\Program Files (x86)\ibm\cognos\IBM for Microsoft Office\CognosOfficeShim12.dll

NOTE: If you are running 64 bit, then those will all start with “C:\Program Files\” instead.

Issue 2 – Nothing is showing up in the task pane in Planning Analytics for Excel

Troubleshooting PAx - IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks

This usually happens when a client is far behind on the monthly PAx and Planning Analytics Workspace updates, and there have been some sizable Windows updates since your last update. If you are not applying updates at least once a quarter, make sure to get in touch with us to see if we can help in staying up to date!

Thankfully, the quick band-aid fix for this is quite simple. Excel comes with the ability to turn on “Optimize for Compatibility” for Excel 2016 and newer. To do this, click “File” and then “Options” and look at the beginning of the “General” section. If you have “When using multiple displays” under “User Interface Options”, select “Optimize for compatibility”.

IBM Planning Analytics is full of new features and functionality. Not sure where to start? Our team here at Revelwood can help. Contact us for more information at info@revelwood.com. And stay tuned for more Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks weekly in our Knowledge Center and in upcoming newsletters!

Read more blog posts on IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAx VBA API Calls

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Asymmetrical Axis in PAx

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Converting Reports to PAx

Did you know Revelwood offers a Customer Care program? Learn more. 

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Revelwood’s Performance Tune-Up Is Live!

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Revelwood’s Customer Care offering is now complete! I am excited to announce that the third prong in our suite of Customer Care services, the Performance Tune-Up, is ready to go. Our Performance Tune-Up, along with the other two services, System Administration as a Service and Help Desk, will make sure your TM1 or IBM Planning Analytics system doesn’t fail when you need it most. It’s all about providing you with the peace of mind that Revelwood has your back when you need us. You choose the level of service that fits you best and we take care of the rest.

While our goal is to make you self-sufficient with respect to your solution and processes, we understand that there are times where a second set of hands is very important. Whether you want us to handle all or part of your system administration or you want to take advantage of our “phone a friend” option or if you want recurring check points to ensure your system is continually tweaked and updated so it changes with your business, Revelwood has you covered. Now I want to focus a bit on our final Customer Care offering, the Performance Tune-Up.

To maintain peak performance levels, Revelwood offers recurring, scheduled maintenance of your Planning Analytics application. This is accomplished through a combination of interviews and detailed technical reviews of your cube models, business processes and technical environment. The Tune-Up includes Annual and Quarterly components which cover general technical and business topics that may affect the health of your system.

Annual Tune-Up services are completed once per year and focus on general business concerns/changes and the technical health of your overall solution. Quarterly Tune-Up services provide a deep dive into one model per quarter and focus on five key components which are measured across five overarching categories. Revelwood will review your model’s performance, maintainability, integrity, usability and security for your TurboIntegrator processes, entry templates, rules, model structure and reports.

Everyone knows that proper maintenance is the key to maintaining overall good health and performance. You don’t think twice about going to a mechanic for scheduled tune-ups or heading to your doctor for routine well visits. So why would you assume that your TM1/Planning Analytics solution will simply take care of itself?

With constant changes to your processes and system usage, how can you afford NOT to include Revelwood’s Performance Tune-Up as part of your normal maintenance routine? Without proper care and feeding, your solution may not be ready when you need it most. Don’t let your investment suffer a slow decline. Let Revelwood’s Performance Tune-Up offering help you ensure continued success tomorrow.

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New Customer Care Offering: System Administration as a Service for TM1 Users

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As part of our expanded Customer Care program, we’ve recently launched a new System Administration as a Service (SAaaS) offering for TM1 users and IBM Planning Analytics users. This new program enables you to tap into our many years of experience, staff expertise and managed services infrastructure. We’ll free up your team from the labors of TM1 administration, while handling your general and cycle maintenance needs.

TM1 users and Planning Analytics users can chose from two options:

Fully Outsourced Coverage for TM1 Users

 We’ll take over your entire administration function. Our team will be fully responsible for ensuring your business cycles are managed from start to finish and that your TM1 environment or Planning Analytics environment is running in top condition. TM1 users will realize a number of benefits from this plan, including:

  • Reducing your SG&A expense
  • Allowing you to focus on your business and core competencies, rather than admin tasks
  • Eliminating the need for you to keep track of all the changes, patches, and updates from IBM
  • Providing uninterrupted service, freeing you from planning around vacations and unexpected absences

Backup/Supplemental Coverage for TM1 Users

We’ll serve as your extra set of hands when you need us. Whether its your busy season or you are taking vacation, we’re here so that your TM1 environment is always up and running. The benefits of this program include:

  • Access your expert technical staff when you need to
  • Augmenting your internal staff
  • Filling any skill or knowledge gaps
  • Ensuring continuity of business processes
  • Freeing your part-time admin to allow them to focus on their primary role
  • Gaining incremental assistance without adding incremental headcount

Our System Administration as a Service offering is one of several in our newly expanded Customer Care program. Our other Customer Care services include a Performance Tune-Up and a Help Desk offering.

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New Performance Tune-Up Service for TM1 & IBM Planning Analytics Users

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In response to customer requests, we’ve been expanding our Customer Care program. The newest option is a Performance Tune-Up. Proper maintenance of your TM1/Planning Analytics environment is the key to overall good health and performance. Think of our team as your “mechanics” for your solution. You take your car to the auto shop for regular tune-ups. Why not do the same for TM1/Planning Analytics?

We’ve designed this service to make sure your system is running at its best. It is a recurring, scheduled maintenance program consisting of annual tune-ups and quarterly tune-ups. We’ll conduct interviews with your users and detailed technical reviews of your cube models, reports, business processes and the overall environment.

The Performance Tune-Up accomplishes many things, including:

  • Verifying that your TM1/Planning Analytics solution is maintaining peak performance levels and meeting your business and technical requirements
  • Confirming you are up-to-date with the latest IBM technology and leveraging new features and capabilities
  • Ensuring a positive end-user experience

We also offer other services for customer care. These include a subscription-based dedicated TM1/Planning Analytics Help Desk and a System Administration as a Service (SAaaS) offering. Our dedicated TM1 Planning Analytics Help Desk helps you diagnose, troubleshoot and resolve bugs and other issues related to your entire TM1/Planning Analytics environment – including all of your customizations and configurations. Our SAaaS solution is designed to free up your team from the labors of TM1 administration and comes in two options: fully out-sourced coverage and backup/supplemental coverage.

Let our expert team at Revelwood free up your time by taking advantage of our Customer Care program today!

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