TM1 Onboarding: How Long Should It Really Take?

When a new developer joins your TM1 team, how long does it take before they understand your model well enough to contribute confidently?

Not the rough estimate of “a few weeks,” but the actual time measured in hours, days, or weeks.

For most TM1 teams, onboarding takes far longer than it should. Not because the new hire lacks skill, but because the model’s structure is difficult to understand without heavy guidance from someone who already knows it.

This delay almost always comes down to one issue:

New team members can’t see how the model works without depending on another person to walk them through it.

Why do new TM1 developers need so much guidance?

Over time, most TM1 environments develop learning barriers that slow down every new team member.

1. Key information lives in people, not documentation

Developers often learn your model by asking:

• “Which process updates this cube?”
• “Why does this rule override the other?”
• “Where does this number come from?”

The answers usually come from one or two experienced team members. If they’re busy or unavailable, onboarding slows immediately.

2. Documentation is outdated or incomplete

Common patterns we see:

• documents created years ago and never updated
• notes stored across different folders or tools
• screenshots that no longer match the current model
• spreadsheets listing rules without showing how they connect

New developers waste time piecing together a model that doesn’t look like what they’re seeing inside Architect or PAW.

3. No full picture of how cubes, rules, and TI processes connect

TM1 models are highly interconnected. Without a visual map, new hires need days (sometimes weeks) to understand:

• data flow
• rule behaviour
• feeder logic
• process sequencing

This is the single biggest reason why onboarding drags on.

What does good onboarding look like for a TM1 developer?

An efficient onboarding process should allow a new developer to:

• understand model flow within hours
• understand core logic within 1–3 days
• contribute meaningfully within their first week

This is realistic if they have access to clear, real-time model visibility.

Without that, they spend most of their first month asking questions instead of building.

How does real-time model mapping accelerate onboarding?

When a new team member can see the entire TM1 model its cubes, dimensions, feeders, rules, and TI processes in a single place, onboarding changes completely.

1. Faster understanding of the model

New hires can explore:

• where data originates
• how it moves
• which processes update it
• how rules affect outputs

without waiting for someone to explain everything.

2. Everyone learns from the same source of truth

No outdated diagrams.
No conflicting notes.
No guesswork.

Just one accurate, real-time version of the model.

3. Senior developers are no longer bottlenecks

Because new hires don’t need to rely on constant walkthroughs, senior team members get their time back.

How Omni reduces TM1 onboarding from weeks to days

Omni automatically generates up-to-date documentation of your TM1 model by reading it directly through the REST API. This gives new developers:

• a real-time map of cubes and processes
• a clear view of every rule and feeder
• visualised dependencies
• a complete understanding of data flow

Teams using Omni consistently find that:

• new hires get up to speed significantly faster
• onboarding becomes structured and predictable
• fewer mistakes happen during handover
• developers work more independently

Because learning the model is no longer a slow, manual process.

Want to improve TM1 onboarding for your team?

If new hires take weeks to understand your TM1 model, the issue isn’t their ability, it’s the lack of clear visibility.

Omni gives TM1 teams the real-time model understanding needed to onboard faster, maintain quality, and avoid knowledge gaps. Contact us at hello@omnitm1.com to quicken your onboarding process today!