The Fastest Way to Bring TM1 Hierarchies Into Power BI
A direct, code-free way to move complex TM1 hierarchies into Power BI without restructuring or rebuilding anything.
Why TM1 Hierarchies Slow Teams Down in Power BI
IBM Planning Analytics (TM1) excels at building deep, irregular, and highly custom hierarchies, the kind enterprises rely on for planning, reporting, and modelling. But when those same hierarchies need to appear in Power BI, teams often run into the same bottleneck: Power BI wants tidy, flat tables, while TM1 produces multi-layered structures designed for multidimensional logic.
Most implementations end up spending more time restructuring the hierarchy than building the actual dashboard. TMVGate removes that problem entirely.
Why TM1 Hierarchies Don’t Naturally Fit Power BI
TM1 hierarchy design is flexible by intention. Nodes can have uneven depths, dynamic subsets, consolidation paths, and MDX logic. This flexibility is the reason TM1 works so well for planning — but it creates friction when exporting to a tool that expects every row to follow a consistent format.
That mismatch usually leads teams into repetitive manual work:
- Flattening dimensions into level columns
- Cleaning parent–child relationships
- Rebuilding subsets
- Handling inconsistent element depths
- Rewriting export logic every time the hierarchy changes
All this introduces unnecessary complexity and, in many cases, silent errors. TMVGate is engineered to eliminate that entire category of rework.
How TMVGate Handles TM1 Hierarchies Smoothly
TMVGate’s advantage comes from one simple principle:
Preserve the structure as TM1 designed it. Don’t force it into a new shape.
Instead of transforming, flattening, or interpreting the hierarchy, TMVGate reads the hierarchy directly from TM1 using the native REST API and exposes it in a format Power BI can consume immediately.
- Exact Parent-Child Relationships: TMVGate carries over the hierarchy exactly as it exists in TM1, including:
- Consolidations
- Leaf nodes
- Structural depth
- Ordering
- Full Support for Dynamic and MDX Subsets
Any dynamic subset defined in TM1 including MDX-based logic is respected in full.Power BI receives the hierarchy after TM1 evaluates the subset, not a simplified export.This maintains the intelligence that already exists in the model. This maintains the intelligence that already exists in the model.
- No Flattening, No Manual Level Columns
Traditional methods force teams to create Level1, Level2,Level3 columns manually, which never fully capture the multidimensional nature of TM1. TMVGate avoids flattening entirely, keeping hierarchical depth intact.
- Clean Integration With Existing TM1 Fact Tables
Because TMVGate controls both hierarchy extraction and fact table extraction, the relationships align perfectly once they enter Power BI. This removes the common problem of mismatched element names,broken keys, or inconsistent ordering.
- Consistent Refresh Logic
When the hierarchy changes in TM1, a new consolidation, a shifted parent, a renamed node, TMVGate passes the updated structure to Power BI automatically during the next refresh. No re-exporting. No re-cleaning. No intervention.
- Zero Data Loss and Zero Guesswork
The most valuable part of a hierarchy is its meaning. Which nodes roll up, how children relate, what the business rules imply. Manual exports often lose this context while TMVGate retains it entirely.
Why This Matters for TM1 and Power BI Teams
1. TM1 model integrity stays intact
What you see in TM1 is exactly what ends up in Power BI —structurally, logically, and contextually.
2. Dashboard development speeds up dramatically
Teams stop spending time cleaning data and instead focus onbuilding the analysis.
3. Power BI becomes a natural extension of TM1
TMVGate ensures both systems speak the same language,eliminating the friction that normally exists between multidimensional andtabular models.
4. Reduced maintenance overhead
Hierarchy adjustments in TM1 no longer require manualfollow-up in Power BI. The integration becomes predictable and stable long-term.
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FAQ
Does TMVGate preserve consolidation logic?
Yes. TMVGate transfers parent–child paths exactly as defined in TM1.
What happens with irregular hierarchy depths?
They are transferred as-is without forcing them into a flattened structure.
Does TMVGate work with MDX subsets?
Yes. TMVGate fully respects dynamic subset logic.
Will Power BI still refresh correctly?
Yes. TMVGate URLs work with standard Power BI refresh and gateway setups.
Ready to See TMVGate Handle Your TM1 Hierarchies in Power BI?
The easiest way to understand what TMVGate can do is to try it on your own TM1 environment.
When you see your hierarchies appear in Power BI exactly as they exist in TM1. No flattening, no manual cleaning, no lost structure. The value becomes obvious in minutes.
Start a free 14-day trial of TMVGate and experience it yourself.
If you’d like help getting started or want to see a guided walkthrough: info@itlink.com.sg
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