IBM Cognos TM1 Integration with IBM Cognos BI

Source:http://www.ironsidegroup.com/

March 6, 2012 by Dan Hess

 

IBM Cognos TM1 is fast becoming a critical component of the IBM business analytics suite of offerings. As the application becomes more prevalent in the industry, we are seeing more and more customers inquiring about the integration points between IBM Cognos TM1 and the IBM Cognos BI suite of tools. There are six common integration points between TM1 9.5.2 and IBM Cognos BI:
•IBM Cognos BI Security
•Utilization of previously developed TM1 Web content within the Cognos Connection interface through TM1 Portlets
•TM1 cubes as a data source within the IBM Cognos BI environment
•TM1 Widgets
•TM1 cubes as a source within the IBM Cognos BIA studio
•IBM Cognos TM1 Package Connector to access IBM Cognos Framework Manager packages

Utilizing IBM Cognos BI Security within a TM1 cube

One of the most common integration points between TM1 and BI is to leverage existing IBM Cognos BI security thru the use of the namespaces defined within the Cognos BI framework. Users who wish to access TM1 can pass through Cognos BI security picking up their appropriate permissions along the way. In the case of users who have not previously accessed TM1 or been manually added to TM1 security, the user is automatically created in the TM1 environment and added to existing groups (or added to newly created groups) based upon the users assignments.

TM1 Portlets within Cognos Connection

In order to utilize TM1 data within Cognos Connection pages, three portlets have been made available that can be added to the existing portlets found in the standard Cognos BI installation.
•TM1 Cube Viewer
•TM1 Navigation Viewer
•TM1 Websheet Viewer
These portlets provide a method for developers and end users to consume TM1 data within the Cognos Connection interface. This allows for the creation of portal pages that may contain information from multiple sources.
Installation of these additional portlets can be accomplished in two ways: Specific installation on individual Cognos servers or utilize the IBM Cognos TM1 Business Intelligence interoperability installation program.
Note: The Cognos TM1 Portlets 9.5.2 FP1 installer is for use with IBM Cognos 10.1.1 (Cognos 10 RP1).

TM1 as a Cognos Data Source

Data sources can be defined within IBM Cognos Connection to allow for the consumption of TM1 cubes within Query or Report Studio. These data sources are made ready for consumption by publishing packages within Framework Manager.
To make use of this functionality it is necessary to install the TM1 Client API files into an adjacent directory on the IBM Cognos BI servers. Depending on your environment and your use of compatibility mode versus Dynamic Query Mode you may need to install the 32 or 64 bit client files. Please feel free to contact us if your organization needs assistance in this area.

Accessing TM1 from Business Insight

TM1 data can be consumed within Business Insight. In order to take advantage of this, it is necessary to provide both TM1 and IBM Cognos BI the necessary connection information to allow for communication. End users will have the capability to select TM1 information from the source pane of the Business Insight studio and utilize the information within a dashboard.
Regarding installation: It will be necessary to modify the tm1_contribution.atom as well as the variables_TM1.xml file within your installation. On the TM1 side, it will be necessary to ensure that each TM1 server has a CAMPortalVariable defined within the Tm1s.cfg file.

Utilizing TM1 Widgets in Business Insight

TM1 Widgets allow content stored in TM1 cubes to be viewed in Business Insight in real time, utilizing dedicated TM1 viewer widgets. It is necessary to complete the installation steps outlined in the previous section to ensure that Business Insight has access to the appropriate TM1 sources. There are three types of widgets that can be added to a dashboard in Business Insight:
•TM1 Websheets – Allows you to view content developed in TM1 web as an html object in the BI studio.
•TM1 Cube views – Allows the user to display a saved view from a TM1 cube.
•TM1 Contributor – Points to TM1 Contributor web client and displays the interface within a widget on a page.
It should be noted that TM1 objects cannot interact with slide filters and select value filter widgets in the same manner as other objects. In the case of both the websheets and the cube views the end user is working with “static” content that has been created within TM1Web or TM1 Architect.

IBM Cognos TM1 Package Connector

The IBM Cognos TM1 Package Connector allows a developer to import data from IBM Cognos BI packages into a TM1 server through the use of TM1 Turbo Integrator processes. These IBM Cognos BI packages can be sourced from SAP Business Warehouse, relational or ODBC sources. This application is a separate install that must be installed on both the client machine containing the TM1 Architect tool and on the TM1 server itself.

The Future

IBM continues to enhance the integration points between IBM Cognos TM1 and IBM Cognos BI and provides a more seamless relationship between the two products. The true value of the relationship between the two tools becomes apparent when an architect considers the power of consolidated virtually instantaneous high level (OLAP) information combined with atomic level relational information. Stay tuned for future improvements to the IBM product family and the relationship between IBM Cognos TM1 and IBM Cognos BI in particular.
 

IBM Cognos Tabbed Report Design

Source:http://www.ironsidegroup.com/

November 14, 2011 by De Hsieh

Often times developers will get a request to create several different variations of a single report. While this can be done with user prompting or even multiple versions of a report, another option would be to create tabs within a report which would allow for the user to easily switch between variations. In this month’s tech tip we’ll go over how to create this using drill-throughs, a string variable and a conditional block.
The first step is to identify what tabs you’ll want to display. Each one of the tabs will need to be set up individually. In our example (sample included) we’ll use the seven days of the week.

Create a Query

Create a new query to be used solely to hold the tab values. Call it “Tab Query” and create data items for every tab that you’d like to appear. The expression definition should be a string encapsulated in single quotes.

The end result should appear as below.

Create a String Variable

Next let’s go ahead and create a string variable called “Tab Condition”. Define the expression as shown below:

if (ParamValue(‘TabChoice’) is null) then (‘Monday’) else (ParamValue(‘TabChoice’))

This expression will set a default tab value for the report.
Next, we will need to create a string value to correspond to every data item we created in the query.
Note: The values of this variable must exactly match the expression definition of the data items we created. It is not necessary to use single quotes when defining the values of the string variable.

Create a Hidden Value Prompt

Drag a value prompt onto the page. Name the parameter “TabChoice” within the prompt wizard and click “Finish”
Once created, within the properties menu, set the Box Type to “None” in order to make this prompt disappear.

Associate the Query to the Page

Navigate to the page explorer. Select the page we are working on and associate it to the Tab Query we created in the earlier steps.

Create Tabs

Navigate back to the report and drag a table object onto the page. Define it with 7 columns and 1 row. Drag Text Items into each one of these cells and name them appropriately with each day of the week. Add 20px of padding to each one of these cells.

Define a Conditional Block

Drag a conditional block below the table.
Set the block variable to “Tab Condition” that we created earlier.

Create Drill Throughs:

At this point we’ll need to save the report (call it Tab Example) in order to create a drill through to itself.

Once saved, select one of the tab text values and select Drill-Through Definitions from the left hand Properties pane. Point the drill-through to the Tab Example report.

Define parameters by passing data item values of the corresponding data item
For example, if you are defining the Sunday drill-through then select the Sunday Tab Item.

Repeat the drill through definitions for every tab value.

Select Variable Conditions and Produce Content

We are almost done. All that’s left to do is to develop your content.
Select the conditional block and change the Current Block property to different values. Each one of the values corresponds to a tab. Place your content within the conditional block and test!

Additional Considerations

It is a good idea to conditionally format the table cell (tab) to show active versus inactive tabs. This way users will always know which tab they are currently viewing.
Save frequently. Because this report drills through to itself, any changes made will not be reflected until the report is saved.

Sample Report

Included is a sample report xml which you can bring into Report Studio.  Tab Report Example
 

Source:http://www.ironsidegroup.com/

September 27, 2011 by Nate Romanek

 

You are here: Home / Newsletter / Making the Most of IBM Information On Demand (IOD)

Making the Most of IBM Information On Demand (IOD)

September 27, 2011 by Nate Romanek

It is that time of the year again! On October 23^rd – 27^th, IBM will be hosting its second annual Business Analytics Forum at IBM’s Information On Demand Conference in Las Vegas. This year’s docket includes over 200 Business Analytics sessions as well as 100′s of hands-on technical workshops. The topics will range from Business Analytics on the Cloud to to Business Analytics in Social Media, and much more in between. The presenters will include IBM’s best and brightest, as well as customers from organizations leading the way in Business Analytics. In addition to these presentations IBM also offers complimentary certification testing, industry specific birds-of-a-feather sessions to share experiences, and one-on-one executive visits.
The expansive content and learning opportunities at this event are very impressive. In previous years some of our customers have mentioned feeling overwhelmed and struggled to determine how to make the best use of their time. Here are a few quick tips to make the most out of this great opportunity

Register for the sessions early as there are a limited number of available seats

Schedule some time to map out a plan of attack and register for desired sessions early. If the sessions are full you still have a couple options. First, reach out to your IBM rep and ask him to help get you added to the session. If that fails, ask for a one-on-one with the presenter. This is often times more valuable than the discussion you may have missed.

Make time for one-on-one sessions

With so many different sessions it is easy to fill up your schedule. I strongly suggest you leave some time for one-on-one conversations. Feel free to stop by our booth and ask us what we’d recommend. We can help you identify and coordinate time with the resources that would benefit you the most – either with an IBM executive or another customer. In my experience, choosing the right one-on-one resource can mean the difference between going home with some nice tidbits or going home with truly pertinent and invaluable information applicable to your line of business.

Ask your Ironside/IBM team about informal/after hours events

There will undoubtedly be a lot of unadvertised events. Stop by our booth or get in touch with your IBM rep to find out about some of the events that are going on. It’s a great opportunity to get to know other customers and your extended Ironside/IBM team in a fun and informal environment.
With some planning and by leveraging our team to assist you in building a meaningful schedule, you can take advantage of all BA Forum at IOD has to offer and make the most of your time there.
 

IBM Cognos Express: Addressing the Business Intelligence Needs of Mid-Size Companies

Source:http://www.ironsidegroup.com/

July 8, 2010 by Rebecca Ryan 

 

During 2009, IBM Cognos introduced Cognos Express, its “one-stop BI and planning solution purpose-built to meet the needs of midsize companies”. While large organizations have been implementing Business Intelligence solutions for years, mid-size organizations were often left in a quandary wondering whether to spend time and money on a solution that did not necessarily fit their needs. With a more streamlined implementation, web and excel based interfaces, and attractive pricing, Cognos Express is a promising step in closing the gap between mid-sized companies and enterprise Performance Management Software.

The Solution

Designed to be business user friendly, Cognos Express is divided into three modules called Express Reporter, Express Advisor, and Express Xcelerator. These linked modules share a centralized web-based Admin console. All three modules can be purchased, installed and configured either separately or together. Express Reporter offers self-service reporting and ad-hoc query. The second module, Express Advisor, allows users to translate raw data into sophisticated analysis and rich presentations as well as slice and dice and drill down into their data. Finally, Express Xcelerator is used for Excel based planning and business analysis.

The Strategy

Like any Business Intelligence project, developing an implementation strategy is vital to the projects’ success. There are three main factors to consider: who will be accessing the information, what information will they be looking for (i.e. what types of reports will they create or what types of analysis will they do), and is the data behind the reports clean and organized? Once these questions are addressed, the implementation strategy can be developed and applied. Although Cognos Express initiatives are often smaller projects, the strategy is standard across all Business Intelligence projects and just as important to consider. The Ironside Group can help your organization by leveraging our experience in various industries to help you make smarter business decisions and gain a competitive edge. Although an initial investment is necessary, careful investments make sense and will pay off in the end.

User Adoption

After the initial data preparation and BI content development has taken place, user adoption will become the focus of organizations who have newly implemented. In order for a project to be successful, the users must adapt and embrace the solution. The best way to ensure the success of the users is through user training. Ironside offers both public and private classes in several subject areas that customers will find useful. Remember to consider this when developing your strategy.

Many see Cognos Express as a new commitment by IBM to focus on mid-sized companies.
The all-in-one capabilities of Cognos Express provide mid-sized businesses with the ability to integrate their reporting, analysis, and planning needs into one easy-to-use medium. Combining this more flexible solution with the implementation strategy and training we’ve discussed are just a few of the key elements in ensuring the success of a BI project. As a Software Value Net partner of IBM, Ironside account managers and consultants are prepared and certified specifically in IBM Cognos Express sales and implementations. We have a proven track record with large and small organizations alike.
 

How to Implement a Dynamic Page Break Using an Optional Filter

Page Breaking is a useful feature to offer report consumers. However, it’s often difficult to do this if the item you want to break on is dynamic. Here we show you how to do this with cascading, optional prompts while page breaking on the lowest level chosen.

Step by Step Instructions:

The following set of instructions show a sample JavaScript implementation in a Cognos8.2 environment, using the Cognos provided Go Sales and Retailers package. It was tested on IE 6.0 and IE 7.0.  JavaScript will need to be upgraded for Cognos 8.3 and above.
1. To get started, let’s create a simple list report with the following fields:

2.  Create a prompt page with product line, product type and product as optional cascading value prompts; name each prompt object with name “pLine”, “pType” and “pProduct” respectively.
You will have the Product Type prompt cascaded by Product Line, and the Product prompt cascaded by Product Type.
Hint: to name each prompt object click on the object then on the right properties panel under Miscellaneous ->Name


3. Add  optional filters “ pLine, pType, pProduct”  to the report query:

4. Test the report to make sure it is working correctly at this point
5. Add a new hidden text box prompt onto prompt page. Name it as “pLevel”, set default value to “pALL”.  This text box prompt value will be used to determine the lowest prompt level that a user selects.  When the user hits the customized “Finish” button” (see below) a JavaScript function will go through each prompt and dynamically set this hidden text box prompt value to the corresponding level the user has selected.

6. Delete “Finish” button on prompt page. Drag a new HTML item and create a new custom “Finish”  button using the following HTML code:
<button type=”button” name=”finish99″ id=”finish99″ onclick=”assignParamValue()” style=”"
class=”bp” onmouseover=”" onmouseout=”" onkeypress=”return preventSubmitEvent(event);”>
Finish</button>
7. Add another HTML item onto prompt page and paste in the following JavaScript:



<script>
var f=document.forms["formWarpRequest"];
function assignParamValue()
{
var tmp=”";
if (f.elements["_oLstChoicespLine"])
{
if( f.elements["_oLstChoicespLine"].selectedIndex>=0 )
tmp=’pLine’;
}
if (f.elements["_oLstChoicespType"])
{
if( f.elements["_oLstChoicespType"].selectedIndex>=0)
tmp=’pType’;
}
if (f.elements["_oLstChoicespProduct"])
{
if( f.elements["_oLstChoicespProduct"].selectedIndex>=0)
tmp=’pProduct’;
}
if(tmp==”") tmp=’pALL’;
f.elements["_textEditBoxpLevel"].value = tmp;
//uncomment for debugging
//alert (‘Page set breaks by ‘+document.forms["formWarpRequest"].elements["_textEditBoxpLevel"].value);
promptButtonFinish(); //submit request
}
</script>
8. Now add a new data item to report query, name it as “pagebreak by”. Use the following expression:


if (?pLevel? =’pProduct’)
then ([gosales_goretailers].[Products].[Product name])
else if (?pLevel?=’pType’)
then ([gosales_goretailers].[Products].[Product type])
else if (?pLevel?=’pLine’)
then ([gosales_goretailers].[Products].[Product line])
else (‘ALL’)
9. Set up page breaking for the report and group it by the “pagebreak by “ data item you just created:

10. Click on Page1, then on Properties Panel click on “Master Detail Relationships”. Define the master detail relationship from “pagebreakby” to “pagebreakby”.

11. Go back to report page. Drag “pagebreak by” data item to report title area:

12. Run the report. If you select two product types then the report should return two pages.  The report title should also dynamically change base on page break:


Prompt page:

Sample Report Page 1:

Sample Report Page 2:


Source :http://www.ironsidegroup.com/
October 27, 2009 by Susan Ma

TM1 – The Mystery Unveiled

 

Just about two years ago, before Cognos was acquired by IBM, Cognos did some acquiring of its own. Cognos purchased Applix and its flagship product, TM1. With the subsequent news regarding Cognos’ acquisition, TM1 and its integration into the Cognos suite of products became a minor press release. That’s about to change.
As industry analysts look at the emerging BI landscape, two common themes keep appearing:
1. Organizations recognize the value of increasing their use of Performance Planning.
2. Speed and virtually real time data access is becoming crucial to maintaining an organizations competitive advantage.
Not only will TM1 provide the technology to address these issues, but it will open up a whole new world of BI for your organization.
IBM Cognos TM1 is an in-memory MOLAP (Multidimensional Online Analytical Processing) database server most often used to implement collaborative planning, budgeting and forecasting solutions, as well as analytical and reporting applications. The technology is similar to PowerPlay (if you are an existing Cognos user) but with some VERY noticeable differences. First of all, TM1 supports “write-back” capability which enables users to edit values through a myriad of customer facing applications and modify values contained in the cube. This is what makes TM1 the ideal fit for planning and forecasting types of applications. Add plans or forecasts to a scenario dimension, and you’re off and running with Plan vs. Actual comparisons. It’s also great for “What-If” analysis, making it easy to examine complex changes while making adjustments for factors such as interest rates, fuel prices or exchange rates, not to mention ever-changing sales forecasts.
That’s not the only difference. TM1 is an “in-memory” 64 bit database. That means it’s extremely fast all the while supporting a large number of dimensions with an enormous number of members. Recently, 2 competitor cubes taking 8 and 2 hours respectively to build, were replaced with a single TM1 cube which built in 1 hour. Did I mention that it was fast? The competitor required 2 cubes because it couldn’t handle both the daily detail and the two year history in single cube, TM1 handled two years of daily details, and loaded in a fraction of the time.
TM1 has quite a number of other features as well:

• The ability to create or modify subsets or views of the data on the fly, which allows for custom groupings of members.
• Rules based calculations, for complex calculations.
• The application is server based, for large-scale implimentations.
• Values updated are immediately available to all users.

New products? Rearranged sales territories? Workforce realignment? No problem.
While TM1 includes an Excel and a web interface, it also can serve as a data source for Cognos 8. This opens up possibilities for using Report, Analysis, and Query Studios, and all the capabilities within those tools.
This is not a complete list of features by any means, but you can get the picture. Suddenly, there is a game-changing technology easily available for use as a multi-dimensional cube or even a reporting data mart. User requirements and functionality that once prevented the use of an OLAP application can now take full advantage of the speed and convenience of cube technology.

Source : http://www.ironsidegroup.com/

How to Enhance Text Box Prompts in IBM Cognos 8 with On-The-Fly Validation

One of the issues with using text box prompts is the possibility of receiving incorrect, misspelled, or non-existent entries. This allows the report to run and return unexpected data. Recognizing this, a user would have to return to the prompt page to re-enter values into the text box prompt. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a way to automatically validate entries against some specified rules while remaining on the prompt page?
In this example we’ll show you how to validate user entry of 3 digit numeric codes with a 5 code maximum.
You can change the code according to your own requirements.
This method will display error messages to the user when their entries do not conform to these rules.

Here is how:

1) Create a new IBM Cognos 8 Report Studio report.
2) Add a prompt page to your report.
3) From the Toolbox menu, drag a Text Box Prompt object onto your prompt page. The “Prompt Wizard” opens. Leave the default parameter name and click Finish.
4) Select the prompt object and assign it a name by navigating to the Properties area (bottom left of the page) and entering a value in the Name property, which can be found in the Miscellaneous section at the bottom of the list (this example uses a prompt object named “sPrompt” and this will be referenced in the JavaScript).

5) And now the fun part! Drag an HTML Item object directly to the right of the prompt. Assign its’ Description property the following value: prompt modifier.
TIP: Adding descriptions to your HTML Items makes it easier to identify them later when more than one is present in the report.

6) Now enter the following code into this HTML Item by either double-clicking it or select the HTML property:

<script> fW._textEditBoxsPrompt.onblur=validatePrompt; </script>

This code will make our prompt run the “validatePrompt” function every time it loses focus.
7) Now, we will add a second HTML Item to top of the page to hold our functions. Once the HTML Item is added to the report, describe the item by going to the Description property and typing in “functions”. Your prompt page should now look like the image below:

8 ) The following code will allow users to enter a maximum of five (5) numeric codes separated by commas. Any other characters that are encountered will throw an error. The section for a proper validation was purposely left blank to allow readers to enter their own success message or routine.
<script>
var fW=(typeof getFormWarpRequest == “function” ?
getFormWarpRequest() :document.forms["formWarpRequest"]);function validatePrompt()
{
str=fW._textEditBoxsPrompt.value; if (!(str==null||str==”"))
{
str=str.toUpperCase();
str= str.replace(/ /g, “”); // remove all spaces
str= str.replace(/,+/g, “,”); // replace multiple commas by one
str= str.replace(/,$/g, “”); // remove trailing comma
str= str.replace(/^,/g, “”); // remove leading comma
var patvalidchar = new RegExp(“^[0-9,]+$”);
var pat3char=new RegExp(“^([0-9]{1,3},)*$”); // 3 digit code
var pat5char=new RegExp(“^([0-9]{1,3},){0,5}$”); //more then 5 codes
// characters other than numbers were used…
if (patvalidchar.test(str)==false)
alert(“Codes may be comprised of only numbers.”);
// codes are more than 3 digits long and only numeric …
else
{
if (pat3char.test(str + “,”)==false)
alert(“Codes must be at least three digits.”);
// more than 5 codes were entered …
else
{
if (pat5char.test(str + “,”)==false)
alert(“Please enter no more than 5 codes”);
// Enter code here for successful validation …
else
{
return true;
}
}
}
}
// Enter code here if Text Box is Empty …
else
{
alert(“No values entered.”);
}
}
</script>
 ------------------

Source: Irongroupside.com

September 16, 2009 by Administrator

Comparison of OLAP Servers

The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of online analytical processing (OLAP) servers. Please see the individual products articles for further inforation.

eneral information

OLAP Server	Company		Latest stable version	Software license	License Pricing
Essbase	Oracle		11.1.2.1	Proprietary
icCube	MISConsulting SA		3.0.3	Proprietary	community/enterprise
Microsoft Analysis Services	Microsoft		2012	Proprietary
MicroStrategy Intelligence Server	MicroStrategy		9	Proprietary	-
Mondrian OLAP server	Pentaho		3.4.0	EPL	free
Oracle Database OLAP Option	Oracle		11g R2	Proprietary
Palo	Jedox		3.2 SR3	GPL v2 or EULA	-
SAS OLAP Server	SAS Institute		9.3	Proprietary	-
SAP NetWeaver BW	SAP		7.20	Proprietary	-
TM1	IBM		10.1.1	Proprietary	-

Data storage modes

OLAP Server	MOLAP	ROLAP	HOLAP	Offline
Essbase	Yes	Yes	Yes
icCube	Yes	No	No	Offline Cubes
Microsoft Analysis Services	Yes	Yes	Yes	Local cubes, PowerPivot for Excel
MicroStrategy Intelligence Server	Yes	Yes	Yes	MicroStrategy Office, Dynamic Dashboards
Mondrian OLAP server	No	Yes	No
Oracle Database OLAP Option	Yes	Yes	Yes
Palo	Yes	No	No
SAS OLAP Server	Yes	Yes	Yes
IBM TM1	Yes	No	No
IBM Cognos	Yes	No	Yes
SAP NetWeaver BW	Yes	Yes	No

APIs and query languages

APIs and query languages OLAP servers support.

OLAP Server	XML for Analysis	OLE DB for OLAP	MDX	Stored procedures	Custom functions	SQL	LINQ[11]	Visualization
Essbase	Yes	Yes	Yes	Java	Yes	No	Yes	?
icCube	Yes	Yes	Yes	Java	Yes	No	Yes	Java, Javascript
Microsoft Analysis Services	Yes	Yes	Yes	.NET[12]	Yes[13]	Yes[14]	Yes	?
MicroStrategy Intelligence Server	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
Mondrian OLAP server	Yes	Yes[15]	Yes	No	Yes[16]	No	Yes	?
Palo	Yes	Yes	Yes	Cube Rules, SVS Triggers	Yes	No	Yes	?
Oracle Database OLAP Option	No	Yes[17]	Yes[17]	Java, PL/SQL, OLAP DML	Yes	Yes[18]	No	?
SAS OLAP Server	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	?
SAP NetWeaver BW	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	?
TM1	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?

OLAP features

OLAP Server	Parent-child hierarchies	Multiple time hierarchies	Semi-additive measures	Write-back	Measure Groups	Partitioning
Essbase	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
icCube	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Planned
Microsoft Analysis Services	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
MicroStrategy Intelligence Server	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes
Mondrian OLAP server	Yes	Yes	No	Planned	?	No
Oracle Database OLAP Option	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	?	Yes
Palo	Yes	?	?	Yes	?	?
TM1	Yes	Yes[21]	Yes	Yes	?	No
IBM Cognos	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	Yes
SAS OLAP Server	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
SAP NetWeaver BW	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes

System limits

OLAP Server	# cubes	# measures	# dimensions	# hierarchies in dimension	# levels in hierarchy	# dimension members
Essbase	?	?	?	256	?	20,000,000 (ASO), 1,000,000 (BSO)
icCube	2,147,483,647	2,147,483,647	2,147,483,647	2,147,483,647	2,147,483,647	2,147,483,647
Microsoft Analysis Services[23]	2,147,483,647	2,147,483,647	2,147,483,647	2,147,483,647	2,147,483,647	2,147,483,647
MicroStrategy Intelligence Server	Unrestricted1	Unrestricted1	Unrestricted1	Unrestricted1	Unrestricted1	Unrestricted1
SAS OLAP Server[24]	Unrestricted1	1024	128	128	19	4,294,967,296

¹ Please update as 'unrestricted', is just not possible

Security

OLAP Server	Authentication	Network encryption	On-the-Fly1	Data access
				Cell security	Dimension security	Visual totals
Essbase	Essbase authentication, LDAP authentication	SSL	?	Yes	Yes	Yes
icCube	HTTP Basic/Form Authentication, Windows SSO (NTLM,Kerberos)	SSL	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Microsoft Analysis Services	NTLM, Kerberos	SSL and SSPI	?	Yes	Yes	Yes
MicroStrategy Intelligence Server	Host authentication, database authentication, LDAP, Microsoft Active Directory, NTLM, SiteMinder, Tivoli, SAP, Kerberos	SSL, AES[25]	?	Yes	Yes	Yes
Oracle Database OLAP Option	Oracle Database authentication	SSL	?	Yes	Yes	?
Palo	Palo authentication, LDAP, Microsoft Active Directory	SSL	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
SAS OLAP Server[26]	Host authentication,SAS token authentication, LDAP, Microsoft Active Directory	Yes[27]	?	Yes	Yes	Yes

¹ On-the-Fly : The ability to define authentication dynamically via programmatic interfaces. New users do not require restarting the server or redefining the security.

Operating systems

The OLAP servers can run on the following operating systems:

OLAP Server	Windows	Linux	UNIX	z/OS
Essbase	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
icCube	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Microsoft Analysis Services	Yes	No	No	No
MicroStrategy Intelligence Server	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Mondrian OLAP server	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Oracle Database OLAP Option	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Palo	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
SAS OLAP Server	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
SAP NetWeaver BW	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
TM1	Yes	Yes	Yes	No

Note (1):The server availability depends on Java Virtual Machine not on the operating system

Support information

OLAP Server	Issue Tracking System			Source code
Essbase	myOracle Support			Closed
icCube	Bugzilla			Open
Microsoft Analysis Services	Connect			Closed
MicroStrategy Intelligence Server	MicroStrategy Resource Center			Closed
Mondrian OLAP server	Jira			Open
Oracle Database OLAP Option	myOracle Support			Closed
Palo	Mantis			Open
SAS OLAP Server	Support			Closed
SAP NetWeaver BW	OSS			Closed
TM1	IBM Service Request			Closed

What is IBM Cognos TM1 ?

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IBM Cognos TM1 (formerly Applix TM1) is enterprise planning software used to implement collaborative planning, budgeting and forecasting solutions, as well as analytical and reporting applications. Data in IBM Cognos TM1 is stored and represented as multidimensional OLAP cubes, with data being stored at the "leaf" level. Computations on the leaf data are performed in real-time (for example, to aggregate numbers up a dimensional hierarchy). IBM Cognos TM1 includes a data orchestration environment for accessing external data and systems, as well as capabilities designed for common business planning and budgeting requirements (e.g. workflow, top-down adjustments).