IBM Cognos 10 Business Intelligence Overview

IBM Cognos

Cognos 10.1 is a complete web-based dynamic business intelligence reporting solution from IBM

1) BI is a broad category of applications & technology which allows the users to query, reporting and analyzing the data from databases

2) BI provides following core functionalities

• Query
• Reporting
• Analysis
• Distribution

How a typical report is accessed using IBM Cognos?

Business Model: Contains user requirements

Types of OLAP (Online Analytical Processing)

• DOLAP (Desktop)
• ROLAP (Relational)
• MOLAP (Multidimensional/Hierarchical)
• HOLAP (Hybrid)-ROLAP+MOLAP

OLAP : An OLAP is a technology/specification which allows the users in retrieving the data from data sources like RDBMS, Cubes

1) DOLAP : DOLAP is used to query the data from the sources which are constructed by using any of the desktop databases like D-Base, FoxPro, MS-Access, Excel, Clipper etc;

2) ROLAP : It is used to query the data from the relational sources like Teradata, Oracle, SQL Server

• It do not supports data sources like cubes

3) MOLAP : It is used to query the data from multidimensional data sources like cubes

4) HOLAP :  It combines  the  properties  of ROLAP and  MOLAP.  By using HOLAP technology, we can query the data from relational sources as well as multidimensional sources

Ex: Cognos – Supports ROLAP + MOLAP

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COGNOS 10.1 Roles

Cognos Architect:

• Is responsible to understand metadata and security
• Report Requirement Template
• Design the interface(Projects)
• In most of cases the tables which are in DWH are not directly used to generate the reports

Cognos Developer: Creates reports from the Model

• Cognos is based on modern reporting technology
• In the concept of MRT, technical issues of database and organization structure is hidden from end-user point of view

BI 80/20 Concept:

• In BI environment 80% of the development time is allocated to design model/interface to fulfill the user requirements and 20% of the time is allocated to create reports
• Cognos Architect/Modeler: 5-6 years exp
• Report Developers/Testers

COGNOS 10.1 BI Components

When we install 10.1 BI there are 2 types of components get installed

1) Windows-based components:

Used to build models

• Framework Manager ( FM )
• The transformer is a Cognos component used to define OLAP cubes structure and data and build the multidimensional analysis cubes called PowerCubes.

A PowerCube contains calculated, summarized data organized into dimensions and measures and can be viewed and analyzed in the PowerPlay Web Explorer, PowerPlay client for Windows, PowerPlay for Excel or Cognos 10 BI. PowerCubes provide secure and fast data access.

Cognos cubes are static and building a PowerCube is a repetitive process (cubes may be refreshed every day, every month, or even once a year).

Related Article: Cognos Tutorial for Beginners

2) Web-based components:

IBM Cognos Connection is the portal to IBM Cognos software. IBM Cognos Connection provides a single access point to all corporate data available in IBM Cognos software.

You can use IBM Cognos Connection to work with entries such as reports, analyses, queries, agents, metrics, and packages. You can use IBM Cognos Connection to create shortcuts, URLs, and pages, and to organize entries. You can personalize IBM Cognos Connection for your own use.

You can use IBM Cognos Connection to create and run reports and cubes and distribute reports. You can also use it to create and run agents and schedule entries.

IBM Cognos Report Studio is a Web-based report authoring tool that professional report authors and developers use to build sophisticated, multiple-page, multiple-query reports against multiple databases. With Report Studio, you can create any reports that your organization requires, such as invoices, statements, and weekly sales and inventory reports.

Use Report Studio for reports that

• are intended for a wide audience
• exist long enough to require maintenance for changing requirements and data
• require detailed control over the appearance

IBM Cognos Query Studio is the reporting tool for creating simple queries and reports in IBM Cognos Business Intelligence.

In Query Studio, you can

• View Data -Connect to a data source to view data in a tree hierarchy. Expand the query subjects to see query item details.
• Create Reports - Use the data source to create reports, which you can save and reuse. You can also create a new report by opening an existing report, changing it, and saving it using another name.
• Change the appearance of reports - Improve the layout of your report. For example, you can create a chart, add a title, specify text and border styles, or reorder columns for easy comparison.
• work with data in a report

Use filters, summaries, and calculations to compare and analyze data. Drill up and drill down to view related information.

IBM Cognos Event Studio is to notify decision-makers in your organization of events as they happen so that they can make timely and effective decisions.

You create agents that monitor your organization’s data to detect occurrences of business events. An event is a situation that can affect the success of your business. An event is identified when specific items in your data achieve significant values. Specify the event condition, or a change in data, that is important to you. When an agent detects an event, it can perform tasks, such as sending an e-mail, adding information to the portal, and running reports.

Cognos viewer – Use this portlet to view and interact with published IBM Cognos reports and other entries in your portal.