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A Resolution You Should Actually Keep: Upgrade Your IBM Planning Analytics Environment

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Did you know that almost 80% of all New Year’s resolutions are associated with health?  As an IBM Planning Analytics user, it’s important to also think about your system’s health! This is why you should put “upgrading Planning Analytics” on your list of resolutions. Here’s why …

IBM recently announced some changing timelines to the forthcoming deprecation of Planning Analytics 2.0.9.x. For background, read our blog post, IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Upcoming Changes to Planning Analytics, or watch our on-demand webinar, Understanding the Migration from Legacy TM1 to Planning Analytics. 

Key Updates

  • IBM is extending the general support period for Planning Analytics 2.0.9.x until October 31, 2025.
  • Users can purchase extended support from IBM for an additional year through October 31, 2026.
  • Planning Analytics 2.1.x is now supported until April 30, 2027.

Implications for Users

Staying on unsupported versions can expose organizations to security vulnerabilities, lack of technical support and missed opportunities for leveraging new functionalities. You should assess your current Planning Analytics environment and develop a roadmap for upgrading to supported versions.

  1. 1. Evaluate Current Usage: Understand how your organization uses Planning Analytics and identify any customizations or dependencies that may affect the upgrade process.
  2. 2. Plan the Upgrade: Develop a comprehensive plan that includes timelines, resource allocation and testing phases to ensure a smooth transition.
  3. 3. Engage with Revelwood: We can help you access support resources and documentation to assist with the upgrade process and address any challenges that come up.

By proactively addressing these end-of-support dates, organizations can maintain the integrity of their financial planning systems and continue to benefit from IBM’s advancements in Planning Analytics.Need help?

Send a quick note to: info@revelwood.com.

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Popular IBM Planning Analytics Videos of 2024

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We all love analytics, right? We took a look at the analytics on our videos to see which ones you and your peers watched the most. Here are our most popular IBM Planning Analytics videos – both on-demand webinars and Tips & Tricks:

1. Understanding the New Planning Analytics Engine in IBM Planning Analytics

Planning Analytics Engine is the next version of IBM’s cloud-based Planning Analytics environment. The Engine uses Planning Analytics’ existing modeling and reporting approaches while also simplifying administrative functionality such as backups and database resource maintenance. Watch this on-demand webinar to learn about the new Planning Analytics Engine.

2. IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Create Database

Learn how to create a database efficiently. This video provides a step-by-step guide to setting up your database, ensuring a solid foundation for your data analysis and planning activities. Whether you are a beginner or are looking to refine your skills, these tips will help you create a robust and organized database.

3. IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: File Manager

In this video, we guide you through efficiently managing your files, streamlining your workflow and enhancing your data organization.

4. IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Backups

Watch this video to learn effective backup strategies to ensure your valuable information is always safe and recoverable.

5. IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: High Availability

Ensure uninterrupted access and seamless performance with our high availability tips to IBM Planning Analytics. Watch this video to learn essential strategies to maintain system resilience and reliability, which helps you to avoid downtime and keep your data secure.

Revelwood is an IBM Gold Business Partner with 25+ years of experience designing, developing, implementing and maintaining IBM Planning Analytics environments. Revelwood has helped clients in all sizes across all industries optimize and grow their use of Planning Analytics. Revelwood’s Planning Analytics team consists of experienced PA experts, including a multi-year IBM Champion.

Stay up to date with PA – sign up for our weekly Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and join our IBM Planning Analytics All-Stars group on LinkedIn.

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Export Dim Structure

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Selector Menu

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Thumb Cell Formatting

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Export Dim Structure

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Have you ever wanted to export a dimensional structure to an ASCII based text file in IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW)? PAW version 99 introduced the ability to export a dimension with a single click.

To export a dimension, right-click on the dimension name within a modeling workbench and select the option to Export members.  

Once selected, you will be prompted to define which hierarchy to export and the name of the csv file that will be created. The resulting file will contain the following information for each element:

  • Name
  • Parent (root elements will have a blank parent field)
  • Type
  • Weight
  • All defined attribute names and values (the attribute name will be prefixed with ATTR_N or ATTR_S to define the attribute as numeric or string)

Here is a snippet of an export file that shows a header record, a consolidated element, and two children:

“Member”,”Parent”,”Type”,”Weight”,ATTR_S_Manager”,”ATTR_S_Currency”

“Total Company”,””,”Consolidated”,”0″,”Total”,””

“001”,”Total Company”,”Numeric”,”1″,”John Smith”,”USD”

“002”,”Total Company”,”Numeric”,”1″,”Jane Doe”,”USD”

This feature will allow you to export your dimensional structures to files that can be used for reporting, auditing, and other areas where you need to display your structural information.

Revelwood is an IBM Gold Business Partner with 25+ years of experience designing, developing, implementing and maintaining IBM Planning Analytics environments. Revelwood has helped clients in all sizes across all industries optimize and grow their use of Planning Analytics. Revelwood’s Planning Analytics team consists of experienced PA experts, including a multi-year IBM Champion.

Stay up to date with PA – sign up for our weekly Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and join our IBM Planning Analytics All-Stars group on LinkedIn.

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Selector Menu

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Thumb Cell Formatting

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Exploration Icons

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Selector Menu

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You may already know that you can create a selector widget in IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) by simply dragging a context dimension outside your existing view. Once synchronized, this approach provides an easy way to create independent selectors that can be used with your existing PAW data pulls.

But what do you do in a situation when you have already hidden your exploration overview or converted your exploration into a chart? One approach is to reset the visualization into a fully expanded exploration, drag the dimension, and re-format the visualization. But did you know that an easier way exists?

PAW version 99 introduced an option to add a selector directly from the data tree (e.g., the left pane). This can be accessed by simply right-clicking on a dimension in the tree. Once selected, there will be two options: add selector tile and add selector list.

There are three types of tiles: single tile, multiple tiles, and range selection tile. There are three types of lists: single list, multiple lists and multiple selection list.

Once created, the properties area will allow you to define appearance aspects such as colors, fonts, and header information.

This approach will allow you to create easy-to-use selectors without having to undo any existing formatting that has been created.

Revelwood is an IBM Gold Business Partner with 25+ years of experience designing, developing, implementing and maintaining IBM Planning Analytics environments. Revelwood has helped clients in all sizes across all industries optimize and grow their use of Planning Analytics. Revelwood’s Planning Analytics team consists of experienced PA experts, including a multi-year IBM Champion.

Stay up to date with PA – sign up for our weekly Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and join our IBM Planning Analytics All-Stars group on LinkedIn.

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Thumb Cell Formatting

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Exploration Icons

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: High Availability in Version 12

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Thumb Cell Formatting

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Have you ever created an exploration in IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) and noticed the arrows at the beginning of your rows and columns? These are called thumb cells and are used as the equivalent of a “select all” button. For example, if I click on the down arrow at the top of my rows, then all elements in the rows will be highlighted.  

Below is an example of a view with two thumb cells: a row thumb that I clicked on (note the arrow pointing down) and a column thumb that I did not click on (note the arrow pointing right).

A screenshot of a computer Description automatically generated

Sometimes a thumb cell is great since it allows you to reference all of the elements in your exploration, but sometimes you may not want to see these additional gray boxes on the screen.  PAW version 99 introduced formatting options to modify the appearance of the thumb cells.

Within the format manager, you can modify the thumb options in both the column header and row header settings.

A screenshot of a computer Description automatically generated

Below is the same view with the row thumbs not showing and the column thumbs not showing the icon. You can see that that there is no longer a gray box above the rows and there is no longer an arrow icon to the left of the columns.

A screenshot of a data Description automatically generated

These formatting settings will allow you to customize the appearance of an exploration and, if preferred, eliminate boxes that may confuse your end users.

Revelwood is an IBM Gold Business Partner with 25+ years of experience designing, developing, implementing and maintaining IBM Planning Analytics environments. Revelwood has helped clients in all sizes across all industries optimize and grow their use of Planning Analytics. Revelwood’s Planning Analytics team consists of experienced PA experts, including a multi-year IBM Champion.

Stay up to date with PA – sign up for our weekly Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and join our IBM Planning Analytics All-Stars group on LinkedIn.

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Exploration Icons

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: High Availability in Version 12

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: ASCIIOUTPUT

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: High Availability in Version 12

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IBM’s Planning Analytics version 12 introduces a new feature known as high availability. It enables you to manage multiple database replicas in parallel, thereby enhancing both performance and reliability. 

Revelwood’s IBM Planning Analytics Practice Director Lee Lazarow explains high availability in one of our IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks videos.

How High Availability Works

Load balancing and fault tolerance is at the core of high availability. When a user submits a request—be it updating a data point, executing a TurboIntegrator script, or conducting some other processing—the request is directed to one of the database replicas, known as the leader replica.

  1. 1. Role of the Leader Replica:
    • The leader executes all required changes, performs calculations, and manages processing tasks.
    • Once the leader completes these tasks successfully, it shares/sends the changes to all other replicas, ensuring that they are kept in sync.
  2. 2. Load Distribution:
    • By distributing user requests across multiple replicas, the system mitigates the risk of a single heavy processing task impacting overall performance. This load spreading enhances the user experience, particularly in environments with fluctuating demands.
  3. 3. Active Management of Replicas:
    • The engine takes an active role in monitoring and managing the health of each replica. If the leader becomes unavailable for any reason, another instance is automatically promoted to take over its responsibilities, ensuring continuity of service.
  4. 4. Dynamic Scaling:
    • One of the standout features of high availability is the ability to dynamically adjust the number of replicas based on current demands—all without requiring downtime. This flexibility is particularly useful for organizations with varying usage patterns:
      • During peak periods (e.g., month-end closings, budgeting cycles), you can scale up the number of replicas to accommodate increased user activity.
      • Conversely, during quieter periods, you can scale down, optimizing resource usage and costs.

Managing High Availability

Managing high availability in Planning Analytics is straightforward and user-friendly. Here’s a brief overview of how to configure and monitor this feature:

  1. 1. Accessing the Management Interface:
    • Within the administration interface, you can easily enable or disable high availability by selecting the relevant checkbox.
  2. 2. Configuring Replicas:
    • You can define the number of replicas you wish to create. As you increase the number of replicas, the system automatically adjusts memory usage based on your configuration. For instance:
      • If the original database requires 4 GB of memory, adding a replica would require an additional 4 GB.
  3. 3. Real-time Monitoring:
    • The system provides real-time feedback on memory usage and warns you if you attempt to allocate more replicas than your available resources can support. This proactive management ensures that you maintain optimal performance without overloading the system.

IBM Planning Analytics version 12’s high availability feature is an advancement in how organizations can manage their Planning Analytics environments. Users achieve greater efficiency, reliability and scalability by leveraging multiple replicas.

Revelwood is an IBM Gold Business Partner with 25+ years of experience designing, developing, implementing and maintaining IBM Planning Analytics environments. Revelwood has helped clients in all sizes across all industries optimize and grow their use of Planning Analytics. Revelwood’s Planning Analytics team consists of experienced PA experts, including a multi-year IBM Champion.

Stay up to date with PA – sign up for our weekly Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and join our IBM Planning Analytics All-Stars group on LinkedIn.

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: ASCIIOUTPUT

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Upcoming Changes to Planning Analytics

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Explorations and MDX

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: ASCIIOUTPUT

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One of our recent IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks videos and blog posts focused on IBM Planning Analytics file manager, and how it can be used to export files. With IBM Planning Analytics, version 12, you can use that approach. But you can also still use ASCII output to create files.

The change with version 12 is that the output path is going to be a little different. Watch Lee Lazarow, Revelwood’s IBM Planning Analytics practice leader, explain how to use ASCII output in version 12.

Lee shows you how to:

  • Modify a TurboIntegrator script for specific paths
  • Create new folders with ASCII output

You’ll also learn the pros and cons of automatic folder creation.

Revelwood is an IBM Gold Business Partner with 25+ years of experience designing, developing, implementing and maintaining IBM Planning Analytics environments. Revelwood has helped clients in all sizes across all industries optimize and grow their use of Planning Analytics. Revelwood’s Planning Analytics team consists of experienced PA experts, including a multi-year IBM Champion.

Stay up to date with PA – sign up for our weekly Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and join our IBM Planning Analytics All-Stars group on LinkedIn.

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Upcoming Changes to Planning Analytics

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Explorations and MDX

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: New Videos

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Upcoming Changes to Planning Analytics

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In a recent webinar, Understanding the Migration from Legacy TM1 to Planning Analytics, we dove deep into some significant upcoming changes in IBM’s Planning Analytics environment, focusing on how these changes will affect both cloud and on-premise users. Here’s a breakdown of the key points discussed:

Why are these changes happening?

IBM is evolving its Planning Analytics ecosystem, with a primary shift coming for cloud customers. IBM has stated that, effective November 16, 2024, the Rich Tier desktop will no longer be accessible to Cloud Modelers. 

If you’re on-premise, the current version (2.0.9.x) has an end-of-support date in April 2025. The supported versions beyond that will no longer include these legacy tools, aligning on-premise with the changes in the cloud environment.

Planning Analytics Legacy Tools

The legacy tools, as described in the webinar, include familiar names like Architect, Perspectives, and Performance Modeler, among others. These tools have been integral to the work of many organizations for years. However, due to the evolution of the technology and the shift to new REST API calls (which aren’t fully compatible with the older APIs), these tools are being deprecated.

The Shift to New Tools: Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) & Planning Analytics for Excel (PAfE)

As IBM phases out these legacy tools, they are being replaced by PAW and PAfE (formerly PAx).

  • PAW: This is the new web-based interface that will handle everything from reporting and input to development and administration. It’s a one-stop-shop for users in the new environment.
  • PAfE: If you’ve been using Excel for your reporting and input, you’ll transition to PAfE, a tool that’s deeply integrated with Excel but supports the new Planning Analytics features.

What does this change mean for you?

The removal of the legacy tools is not just a cosmetic change. It will fundamentally alter how users interact with IBM Planning Analytics. While the tools themselves are being replaced, the approach you take will also shift:

  1. 1. Legacy Environment: In the old setup, web tools (like TM1 Web) were mainly consumer-based—used for reporting and data input—while Perspectives and other Excel tools were multipurpose, handling reporting, input, development, and administration.
  2. 2. New Environment: In the new world, IBM flips this model on its head. Excel/PAfE will now be used primarily for reporting and input, while PAW will handle everything, including developer tasks and administration. This shift in usage may feel daunting, but it centralizes more complex tasks into a powerful, web-based interface.

Cloud vs. On-Premise: What’s the difference?

  • Cloud users will experience the most immediate and direct impact. Since IBM controls cloud infrastructure, the transition will be more abrupt—“deprecated” in the cloud means these tools will be removed entirely.
  • On-premise users will also need to make the switch but can do so at their own pace. While the tools will no longer be supported, you’ll still have access to them for a while. However, it’s worth planning for the future, as staying on unsupported versions isn’t sustainable.

What’s Next?

While change is always challenging, this transition brings many advantages. The newer tools (PAW and PAx) are better integrated with modern technologies, offering greater flexibility, improved performance, and a more seamless user experience.

For organizations, the key takeaway is to start planning now. Whether you’re on the cloud or on-premise, this shift is coming, and adapting early will ensure a smoother transition. Understanding the new tools, retraining staff, and updating workflows will be essential to staying ahead of the curve.

The deprecation of legacy tools in IBM Planning Analytics marks the end of an era, but it also signals the start of something new and more advanced. While the transition might seem overwhelming at first, these updates position your organization for a more scalable, efficient, and future-proof analytics environment.

Stay tuned for further announcements and updates from IBM and consider reaching out to us at info@revelwood.com for personalized guidance on how to best prepare for these changes.

Revelwood is an IBM Gold Business Partner with 25+ years of experience designing, developing, implementing and maintaining IBM Planning Analytics environments. Revelwood has helped clients in all sizes across all industries optimize and grow their use of Planning Analytics. Revelwood’s Planning Analytics team consists of experienced PA experts, including a multi-year IBM Champion.

Stay up to date with PA – sign up for our weekly Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and join our IBM Planning Analytics All-Stars group on LinkedIn.

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Explorations and MDX

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: New Videos

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: File Manager

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: File Manager

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Did you know that IBM Planning Analytics v 12 made changes to how users manage files? One of the biggest changes in version 12 was the removal of Microsoft Windows – which manage users rely on to manage file. 

For example, many of our clients use text files. They use these files to upload data or to create output files for exports. But fear not! Even though MS Windows have been removed, you can still manage files. What has changed is the approach to managing files.

Planning Analytics users will now use a new tool called File Manager to manage files. You can access File Manager through a modeling workbench. 

Watch one of our latest IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks videos to learn how to use File Manager. You’ll see Lee Lazarow, Revelwood’s IBM Planning Analytics practice lead, and a 2024 IBM Champion, manage files by starting with a new workbench. 

Lee will show you how easy it is to sort files by name, by file size, or by when it was last updated. 

IBM Planning Analytics’ File Manager, available in version 12, makes it easy to upload, download, manage and use any of the files you need for your Planning Analytics environment.

IBM Planning Analytics, which TM1 is the engine for, 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 IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Process Indent Script Button

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Workbench Go To Rule

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: VSTACK_HSTACK

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