The most noted difference it the technological one: TM1 is so called in-memory OLAP while PowerCubes are basically red from disk saved database. That difference however is not obviously understandable from the customer point of view. So how the things really are?

PowerCubes can contain huge amounts of data that are transformed into multidimensional structure. They can be afterwards partitioned or divided into smaller subcubes for example for departmental users. The consolidation levels are precalculated in order to speedup data access on aggregates.

TM1 can create cubes with even more data than can be effectively stored in PowerCubes but it can use more interlinked smaller cubes as well stored in very fast RAM memory and recalculated “on-the-fly”. This requires different approach in all designing, modeling phase, report creating and data browsing phases.  PowerCubes are fast on high level data, but can be slowed down when user requires many combinations of low level data (e.g. when you drill-down in multi-level nested cross-tab). Since TM1 calculates data in real time it is very speedy in lower level data but some queries on high level of aggregation (all products, for all years and all customers) can have very long response time. So the designers and developers have to build solution that limits possibilities of users halting the system.

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