Cannot launch Cube Designer after a fresh install - Error : java.lang.IllegalStateException: The platform metadata area could not be written

Symptom

eclipse.buildId=unknown
java.fullversion=JRE 1.8.0 IBM J9 2.8 Windows 8 amd64-64 Compressed References 20160427_301573 (JIT enabled, AOT enabled)
J9VM - R28_Java8_SR3_20160427_1620_B301573
JIT - tr.r14.java.green_20160329_114288
GC - R28_Java8_SR3_20160427_1620_B301573_CMPRSS
J9CL - 20160427_301573
BootLoader constants: OS=win32, ARCH=x86_64, WS=win32, NL=en_GB
Framework arguments: -dir ltr
Command-line arguments: -os win32 -ws win32 -arch x86_64 -data ../data/cubedesigner -dir ltr

!ENTRY org.eclipse.osgi 2 0 2017-08-02 08:16:00.795
!MESSAGE One or more bundles are not resolved because the following root constraints are not resolved:
!SUBENTRY 1 org.eclipse.osgi 2 0 2017-08-02 08:16:00.795
!MESSAGE Bundle initial@reference:file:plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.win32.win32.x86_64_1.1.200.v20120913-144807/ was not resolved.
!SUBENTRY 2 org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.win32.win32.x86_64 2 0 2017-08-02 08:16:00.795
!MESSAGE Missing host org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_[1.0.0,1.4.0).

!ENTRY org.eclipse.osgi 2 0 2017-08-02 08:16:00.805
!MESSAGE The following is a complete list of bundles which are not resolved, see the prior log entry for the root cause if it exists:
!SUBENTRY 1 org.eclipse.osgi 2 0 2017-08-02 08:16:00.805
!MESSAGE Bundle org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.win32.win32.x86_64_1.1.200.v20120913-144807 [1] was not resolved.
!SUBENTRY 2 org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.win32.win32.x86_64 2 0 2017-08-02 08:16:00.805
!MESSAGE Missing host org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_[1.0.0,1.4.0).

!ENTRY org.eclipse.osgi 4 0 2017-08-02 08:16:00.841
!MESSAGE Application error
!STACK 1
java.lang.IllegalStateException: The platform metadata area could not be written: C:\Program Files\ibm\cognos\dcubemodel\data\cubedesigner\.metadata. By default the platform writes its content
under the current working directory when the platform is launched. Use the -data parameter to
specify a different content area for the platform.
at org.eclipse.core.internal.runtime.DataArea.assertLocationInitialized(DataArea.java:61)
at org.eclipse.core.internal.runtime.DataArea.getStateLocation(DataArea.java:125)
at org.eclipse.core.internal.preferences.InstancePreferences.getBaseLocation(InstancePreferences.java:44)
at org.eclipse.core.internal.preferences.InstancePreferences.initializeChildren(InstancePreferences.java:199)
at org.eclipse.core.internal.preferences.InstancePreferences.<init>(InstancePreferences.java:59)
at org.eclipse.core.internal.preferences.InstancePreferences.internalCreate(InstancePreferences.java:209)
at org.eclipse.core.internal.preferences.EclipsePreferences.create(EclipsePreferences.java:391)
at org.eclipse.core.internal.preferences.EclipsePreferences.create(EclipsePreferences.java:379)
at org.eclipse.core.internal.preferences.PreferencesService.createNode(PreferencesService.java:389)
at org.eclipse.core.internal.preferences.RootPreferences.getChild(RootPreferences.java:63)
at org.eclipse.core.internal.preferences.RootPreferences.getNode(RootPreferences.java:101)
at org.eclipse.core.internal.preferences.RootPreferences.node(RootPreferences.java:90)
at org.eclipse.core.internal.preferences.AbstractScope.getNode(AbstractScope.java:38)
at org.eclipse.core.runtime.preferences.InstanceScope.getNode(InstanceScope.java:80)
at org.eclipse.ui.preferences.ScopedPreferenceStore.getStorePreferences(ScopedPreferenceStore.java:241)
at org.eclipse.ui.preferences.ScopedPreferenceStore.<init>(ScopedPreferenceStore.java:133)
at org.eclipse.ui.plugin.AbstractUIPlugin.getPreferenceStore(AbstractUIPlugin.java:285)
at org.eclipse.ui.internal.UISynchronizer.<init>(UISynchronizer.java:88)
at org.eclipse.ui.internal.Workbench.runUI(Workbench.java:2517)
at org.eclipse.ui.internal.Workbench.access$4(Workbench.java:2499)
at org.eclipse.ui.internal.Workbench$7.run(Workbench.java:679)
at org.eclipse.core.databinding.observable.Realm.runWithDefault(Realm.java:332)
at org.eclipse.ui.internal.Workbench.createAndRunWorkbench(Workbench.java:668)
at org.eclipse.ui.PlatformUI.createAndRunWorkbench(PlatformUI.java:149)
at com.ibm.cognos.fmdesigner.application.Application.start(Application.java:38)
at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.app.EclipseAppHandle.run(EclipseAppHandle.java:196)
at org.eclipse.core.runtime.internal.adaptor.EclipseAppLauncher.runApplication(EclipseAppLauncher.java:110)
at org.eclipse.core.runtime.internal.adaptor.EclipseAppLauncher.start(EclipseAppLauncher.java:79)
at org.eclipse.core.runtime.adaptor.EclipseStarter.run(EclipseStarter.java:353)
at org.eclipse.core.runtime.adaptor.EclipseStarter.run(EclipseStarter.java:180)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:95)
at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:55)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:508)
at org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.Main.invokeFramework(Main.java:629)
at org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.Main.basicRun(Main.java:584)
at org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.Main.run(Main.java:1438)