IBM Cloud

Don’t Upgrade IBM TM1! Move to the Cloud!

by
Reduced Support Costs
Upgrade IBM TM1
April 4, 2019

Are you an IBM Cognos Planning Analytics also referred to as Cognos TM1 client?  Did you know that TM1 version 10.2.2 is no longer supported after September 2019. (See Lifecycle of TM1 https://www-01.ibm.com/software/support/lifecycleapp/PLCDetail.wss?synkey=W204762F30868K79-K079999J59975R93-U084379N88437X84) Therefore, your choices are to:

  • Upgrade which is time consuming and may require technical consultants
  • Go unsupported and risk Microsoft sending you an update that breaks connection like to Excl
  • Move to IBM’s SaaS version of Planning Analytics in the cloud

    • For many clients Lodestar Solutions is now saying, ”Don’t Upgrade IBM TM1! Move to the Cloud!”

    LODESTAR SOLUTIONS NOW RECOMMENDS IBM’s ANALYTIC CLOUD /SAAS OFFERINGS

    If you have worked with Lodestar Solutions over the years you heard us caution clients against the cloud, because we didn’t think the cloud was a viable, and cost-effective solution for our on-premise TM1 and Cognos BI clients.  Well things change and IBM now has a SaaS offering that should be explored by on-premise clients. 

    WHAT’S CHANGED IN IBM CLOUD OFFERING

    Wondering why Lodestar Solutions has changed their mind?  IBM has drastically changed their SaaS cloud offering for Cognos Planning Analytics (TM1) and Cognos Analytics (BI).  They changed:

  • The contract terms for the clients.
  • The contracts themselves are available all externally here:
    http://www-03.ibm.com/software/sla/sladb.nsf/sla/sd
  • The most important changes were done at the Cloud Service Agreement here:
    https://www.ibm.com/support/customer/csol/contractexplorer/cloud/csa/us-en/9
  • And the General Terms for Cloud Services here:
    http://www-03.ibm.com/software/sla/sladb.nsf/sla/tou-gen-terms
  • Their pricing models.
  • The software itself.  Now TM1 and BI clouds can play nice together.
    • CLIENT SITUATION

    A long time TM1 client called Lodestar about a month ago asking about IBM’s cloud offering.  They had a new Director of IT and he wants SaaS.  This client had a small deployment of TM1 but knew they needed to upgrade to the latest version, or they would not be supported by IBM come September 2019.  The IT director did not want to pay to have consultants upgrade the system.  Meanwhile the finance team desperately wanted the new functionality of Cognos Planning Analytics including the powerful dashboarding capabilities of Workspace.  For this client to get Workspace functionality they would need to invest in more licensing but did not have the budget for IBM licensing.

    THE SOLUTION

    Lodestar Solutions, with the help of the IBM representative, was able to structure a purchase of the IBM Cloud offering for Planning Analytics so that the cost to the client was slightly higher than the renewal.  But the benefits for the client by moving to IBM’s cloud were huge! 

  • They did not have to upgrade their on-premise TM1 because IBM handles updates, back-ups.. in the cloud (SaaS) for Planning Analytics.
  • They now have the rights to use Cognos Planning Analytics Workspace to create dashboard on TM1 data.
  • No Audits by IBM to worry about because IBM monitors the cloud and if you set up more users than you have rights to, you are billed for the overage at a higher rate. https://lodestarsolutions.com/what-to-know-before-ibm-audits-your-ibm-cognos-analytics-and-planning-analytics-licenses/
  • No Processor Value Unit (PVU) compliance issues. (What is a PVU https://lodestarsolutions.com/how-to-calculate-your-ibm-pvu-rating/)
  • No ILMT to install to monitor your usage. (More information on ILMT https://lodestarsolutions.com/cognos-virtual-environment-needs-ilmt-tool/)
  • A lower annual cost increase than they had experience with on-premise support renewal because they negotiated a multi-year subscription
    • RECOMMENDATIONS

    A couple secrets to getting the best deal on moving to IBM’s SaaS offering

  • Time the purchase so you have time to test before support expires on your on-premise version
  • Consider signing at least a two-year deal which is billed annually to get the best rate
  • Consider using IBM Global financing for the purchase.  They sometimes have promotions for qualified clients at a 0% interest rate.  Who doesn’t love free money? https://www.ibm.com/financing
  • Contact Lodestar Solutions to help you determine if IBM SaaS offerings for Cognos Analytic BI and Cognos Planning Analytics (TM1) is a good fit for you.  Sales@lodestarsolutions.com

    • So, are you ready to have your system upgraded?  Ready to use the amazing functionality of workspace? Let Lodestar Solutions help in in the process.  From negotiating a great subscription to training you on the new functionality, we have you covered.  Save time and money.  Don’t Upgrade IBM TM1! Move to the Cloud!  Don’t wait until your renewal to discuss your options, contact us today 813-415-2910.

    Cloud Basics: Little Hazy On Cloud Computing? We Clear The Confusion

    by
    7/22/15

    Working with my business analytics clients as a coach, I am often asked questions like, “Should we be on the Cloud? What is the Cloud? What’s a SAAS Cloud? What are the benefits of the Cloud?” Can I at least get some cloud basics.  It became clear that many people are a little fuzzy if not very confused about the Cloud. I will now take a minute and clear the cloudiness.

    Cloud Basics

    Cloud Basics
    Cloud computing

    Cloud computing means storing along with accessing data and programs over the Internet instead of your computer's hard drive. The data and the software are stored “off premises” in a data center somewhere.

    What you need to know is there are different flavors of cloud. I’ll cover to two most common flavors we see in Business Analytics:

    1. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Cloud is where the business subscribes to an application that it will access over the Internet. (Think Salesforce.com.) Under the SAAS model you do not purchase the software as license, in other words it is not an asset and you don’t capitalize it. It’s more like renting it and it’s an operational expense to the organization. Note that if you stop paying and terminate the contact, you will not be able to access your data unless you downloaded it prior to termination. Some of the benefits the Cloud Software-as-a-Service model include:

    • No hardware requirements for the software
    • Less IT resources are needed, because vendor handles updates, backups…
    • Faster to get up and running because not software to install

    2. Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), is a Cloud offering where the business contracts with a company like IBM, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, to provide the infrastructures and servers upon which the software is installed. Basically, you are “renting out” their hardware. (For example, Netflix doesn’t have a massive data center. They use Amazon.) In this model, you purchase the software from the vendor and install it on the hosted Cloud environment. The software license is the same as the “on premise” software where you own the license. Additionally, if you want to move it out of the cloud later, you can. Furthermore, the purchase is a capital expense. With many software licenses, if you stop paying annual support, you can still use the license. You just can’t get patches, updates. Its better to call Computers In The City London tech support. They will show you some of the benefits of this model include:

    • No hardware requirements for the software
    • Less IT resources are needed
    • Faster to get up and running if you don’t have servers available
    • Faster to change the environment if you need more RAM.

    In comparison, software historically has been purchased as an “On Premise” license where you buy the license, which is a capital purchase, and you install it on hardware within your company’s environment. Typically, IT is then responsible for maintaining it and installing patches.

    Note that many business analytics companies like IBM are now offering Cloud solutions so Software-as-a-Service models made be worth looking into.

    http://www-01.ibm.com/software/analytics/cloud/resources.html

    As a business analytics coach, I strongly encourage you to be an educated consumer and if you are looking at the Cloud as an option, look at all the pro and cons, ask a lot of questions about the costs especially when you increase your usage. I will cover the things you should ask and know when evaluating cloud solutions in a later blog. If you have question please feel free to add a comment to this blog or contact Sales@LodestarSolutions.com. 

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