By Bronyck Stokes Horrigan

IBM regularly releases new features to Planning Analytics, all driven by the IBM Planning Analytics roadmap. This roadmap is shaped by customer suggestions and requests and is available to view at any time, typically showing what’s planned over the next year.

We’ve reviewed what’s currently on the roadmap for 2026 and picked out the features we think will be most useful to both end users and developers, so you don’t have to.

You’ll find our top picks for each quarter below. Let us know which ones you think will be most beneficial in your role.

Q1

  • Responsive tile layout for Workspace books
    Workspace books will adapt to a wider range of screen sizes and resolutions. A clear quality-of-life improvement for users working across different devices.

  • PAaaS compliance with SOC 2 security standards
    SOC 2 is a requirement for many organisations, so it’s great to see this certification becoming available.

  • New calculation user interface
    A brand-new calculation UI supporting custom calculation expressions alongside existing standard options.
    Available in Cube Viewer and PAfE Universal Reports. The interface will also validate expressions and provide auto-complete assistance.

  • Sandbox support for PAfE Universal Reports
    The sandbox feature is coming to Planning Analytics for Excel Universal Reports.

  • 7-Zip support in Drive Explorer
    Compressing and expanding zip files will now support 7-Zip.

  • Improved guided imports for cubes and dimensions
    Enhancements to guided data and metadata imports, making the process easier and more intuitive.
    Key improvements include:

    • Mappings starting from source data columns

    • Ability to add members to new or existing dimensions

    • Importing attribute values

    • A guided process similar to TM1 Architect (for all you Architect fans)

  • Combined guided import for metadata and data
    Modelers and analysts can import metadata and data at the same time from Flat files and ODBC data sources

  • Reusable guided imports
    Guided imports can be saved, reused, and modified, to easily import data and metadata. 

Q2

  • Workspace announcements and alerts
    Administrators will be able to configure announcements and alerts for all Workspace users.

  • AI summaries of rules in Modeling Workbench
    The Modeling Workbench will generate AI summaries of rules and explain rule-based relationships between cubes.

  • Natural language explanations for TI processes
    Writing TI often involves repetitive tasks. This feature explains TI logic in natural language, making processes easier to understand and maintain.

  • Undo capability for cube data changes
    Planning Analytics for Excel and Modeling Workbench will support undoing data changes made in the cube viewer.

  • Checkmark formatting in cube views
    Rows and columns can be formatted as checkboxes, allowing users to flag items without typing data or using picklists.

  • Rich text and hyperlinks in cube views
    Enhanced text formatting and hyperlink support in:

    • Comments

    • Cube viewer

    • Single cell widgets

  • Full Workspace backup and restore
    Administrators will be able to back up and restore all Workspace content, configuration, and security.
    Environments can also be migrated between deployments.

  • Lifecycle Management improvements for Plans and Applications

    • Attachments provided by plan owners will be migrated

    • Contributor state data and attachments will not be migrated

Q3

  • Workspace book burst service
    Book bursting can be preconfigured and executed non-interactively, supporting large, complex, and automated bursting use cases.

  • TM1 11 to 12 migration tool in cloud environments
    Planning Analytics on Cloud customers can test database compatibility with TM1 12, the newest engine and likely future home of feederless rules.

  • Advanced sorting and filtering in cube viewer
    Users will be able to sort and filter across multiple rows and columns simultaneously.

  • Generative AI for TI process creation
    Use generative AI to automatically generate TI processes.

  • Fast-track migration from Dynamic to Universal Reports
    A new conversion utility will allow Dynamic Reports to be migrated quickly to Universal Reports.

  • Geography dimension generation
    Modelers can easily generate geography dimensions compatible with Workspace map visualisations.

Q4

  • Planning Analytics Workspace REST API
    A new REST API enabling scripting, automation, and integration with third-party tools.
    The initial release will include endpoints for:

    • User and group management

    • Lifecycle Management

    • Content access

  • Checkmark formatting in cube views
    Checkmark formatting for rows and columns will also be available here, allowing users to flag data without manual entry.

  • Slack and Teams notifications
    Notifications can be sent via Slack and Microsoft Teams instead of email.

  • Improved asset control for Plans and Applications
    Books and views selected for a Plan or Application can be stored directly within it. Assets can only be updated or removed by the owner, simplifying access and permissions on assets.

We’re curious, which feature are you most looking forward to?

If you’re thinking about what these roadmap items could mean for your users, model, or future upgrades, we’re always happy to help you make sense of it.

Get in touch with us to talk it through.

Read More Planning Analytics Updates & Insights