Vector Space Inc.

Vector Space Inc. has been acquired by Application Consulting Group Inc, a New Jersey-based Business Inteligence consulting company.

This acquisition will bring substantial new resources to Vector Space’s activities, enhancing its ability to deliver outstanding Applix TM1(TM) solutions to its customers.

The press release is attached

Writing about the origins of TM1, I realized that I knew very little about the developments that led up to the invention and introduction of this seminal tool. So I decided to take a detour in this account of the origins of spreadsheet OLAP. I called Manny Perez, who filled in some of the details, as follows:

In the mid-80s, Manny was managing a departmental IT group at Exxon International Company. Oil supply and demand planning were an overwhelmingly manual process, with paper, pencil and calculators. The only computer assistance was a rudimentary mainframe system that helped add up numbers from different offices.

The system was expensive and had few features; it seemed to Manny that it could be improved. With a degree in mathematics, it was clear to him that this was a Read the rest of this entry »

I wish I had a penny for every person who has asked me what Applix TM1 is and why we like it so much. Even enthusiastic users often know little of its origins. I thought readers of this website might want to know a little more –. I meant to write a short piece, but it just grew — so I’ve split it into parts. Let me know what you think. . . . David
###In the beginning there was the spreadsheet
TM1 began as a part of the spreadsheet “revolution” in 1984. Dan Bricklin had invented the spreadsheet with VisiCalc in 1979; Lotus 1-2-3 followed in 1983. This new type of computer application exponentially increased the ability of users to apply computer power to problems of their choice without expert intervention. Modelled on a simple grid of paper, the spreadsheet was easy to grasp and easy to use. Read the rest of this entry »

I mentioned the new open source OLAP server PALO (OLAP backwards) in an earlier post. This TM1 workalike is still at an early stage, but any new offering in this area - especially if it is free - is of great interest to spreadsheet OLAP users.

In this post; I will give readers some idea of what this software offers, what it promises and what it lacks. I’ve put together some screenshots and added some thoughts on this entry.

Some of the people behind PALO were earlier involved with MIS AG’s spreadsheet product Alea, and PALO looks quite similar. There’s a long history here which may be worth telling elsewhere, but what matters in this context is that the designers of this software “get it” about how OLAP and spreadsheets should work together.

What’s more, the product is not cheap, it’s actually free - released under the orthodox Gnu Public License (GPL) which Read the rest of this entry »