TM1 (Table Manager 1) is a multidimensional, in-memory OLAP database with a cell-orientated structure used to create sophisticated models and perform advanced calculations. It is a business performance management software suite designed to implement collaborative planning, budgeting, and forecasting solutions, interactive "what-if" analyses, as well as analytical and reporting applications. TM1 works in a cell-oriented way just like spreadsheets, allowing any cell in any TM1 cube to be a function of any other cell in any cube. Data is stored and processed at the level of individual cells, rather than in pre-defined structures such as tables or columns, allowing for a high degree of flexibility in modeling and analyzing data. TM1 is valuable to business users because it allows them to combine multiple data sources along with user input to create the business models that underpin real business decision making. TM1 is far faster than any competing technology in the market for FP&A like budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting. TM1 uses a very efficient, patented data compression algorithm to fit large datasets in very small amounts of RAM, allowing for faster access to the data, which is particularly useful for processing large amounts of data quickly and enables real-time data analysis and reporting.