PowerConnect Comparison table (on-premise vs IBM Cloud)
PowerConnect connects Microsoft Power BI to IBM Planning Analytics (TM1) instances regardless of where they are hosted: self-hosted (on-premise or on a private cloud such as AWS, Azure or Google Cloud) or on IBM Cloud (PA Cloud and PAaaS).
The PowerConnect App Server always talks to TM1 through the TM1 REST API and runs on its own Windows server, so it never needs direct access to the TM1 file system. What changes from one environment to another is which TM1 account PowerConnect connects with, and whether user-level TM1 security can be enforced in Power BI.
Features that differ by environment
Environment | TM1 account used | Impersonation (user-level TM1 security) | Who can build Power BI reports | All other PowerConnect features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
PA self-hosted (v11), CAM or Native security | Use an admin account. If CAM, Outbound requests go to the IBM Cognos Analytics gateway configured in tm1s.cfg | ✔️ | Any Power BI user with a TM1 account | ✔️ |
IBM PA Cloud (v11) | Non-interactive account set up in the PowerConnect Admin Portal | ✔️ | Any Power BI user with a TM1 account | ✔️ |
IBM PAaaS (v12) | TM1 admin account | ❌ | TM1 administrators only | ✔️ |
Why these differ
Impersonation is how PowerConnect enforces each user's IBM Planning Analytics security in Power BI. The connection is first established with an administrator account, then PowerConnect impersonates the Power BI user so that they only see the data they are entitled to. This relies on the native TM1 impersonation mechanism, which is not available on TM1 v12.
Consequence on PAaaS (v12): because impersonation is not available, only TM1 administrators can use PowerConnect with Power BI Desktop. The administrators build the dashboards, secure the data inside the report, and then share it with the Power BI users.
All other PowerConnect features
These work the same way in every environment:
Connecting to TM1 cubes and views through the TM1 REST API
MDX queries
Power BI Desktop and Power BI Service
Scheduled dataset refresh through the Microsoft Power BI On-Premises Data Gateway
Managing environments, connections and credentials in the PowerConnect Admin Portal
Filter out not relevant attributes in the PowerConnect Admin Portal
Test your MDXs against TM1 directly on the PowerConnect Admin Portal
OAuth2 authentication to Microsoft and SSL on the PowerConnect App Server