IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence
Encyclopedia
IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence
IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence is a web-based, integrated business intelligence
suite by IBM
. It provides a toolset for reporting, analysis
, scorecarding
, and monitoring of events and metrics. The software consists of several components to meet the different information requirements in a company.
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and self-service reports to answer rather simple business questions. The report layout can be customized and data can be filtered and sorted, formatting and the creation of diagrams is also supported .
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The express authoring mode has a more simplified user interface, designed for non-technical users. It enables them to create traditional financial or management reports in a more focused user interface. In contrast to the professional authoring mode, the express authoring mode allows the use of dynamic data.
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allows identifying trends and understanding of anomalies or deviations, which are not obvious in other types of reports. Drag-and-drop
features, elements and key performance indicators can be included in the analysis, rows and columns can be switched
, OLAP-functionalities like drill-up and drill-down can be used to get a deeper understanding about the sources of the information used in the analysis.
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within the company. To measure the performance, different values are set which are then compared with the daily business data of the company. The values can be set as actual value from operational data
, a target value for an expected level of performance, such as number of returns, or a tolerance value which may be specified as a maximum of accepted deviation from a target value expressed as a factor or percentage. The generated metrics come with a colored status indicator, for example showing a green status indicator, if current expense
s are under budget
or a red status, if current expenses exceed the budget.
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environment. The component provides access to all IBM Cognos Report contents, including data, metadata
, headers and footers, and diagrams. Users can use predefined reports or create new content with Query Studio, Analysis Studio or Report Studio. By importing content into Microsoft Excel users can use the formatting, calculation and presentation features. The created documents can then be imported using Cognos Connection, published and made available for other users.
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The full text search in IBM Cognos 8 Go! Search is related to the search in regular search engines such as Google
. Users can search operators such as +, - or use "" (quotation marks) to change the default behavior of search queries with multiple words.
Search terms are not case sensitive, word and spelling variants are included in the results. You can also search for a specific type of entry, such as an agent. The search results are sorted in descending order, the entry with the greatest amount of relevant metadata is displayed at the top of the list. In Analysis Studio, Query Studio and IBM Cognos Viewer, you can either perform a full text search, as also search for content related to the data of the current view.
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The following items can be added to a dashboard:
Report objects, they are displayed in a Cognos Viewer portlet. Report parts such as lists, crosstabs, and charts are displayed in interactive portlets. Lists or crosstabs can be displayed as a chart and vice versa. Content can be shown or hidden dynamically by the use of sliders and checkboxes. The Cognos Search portlet allows searching for published content. In addition, Web links, Web pages, RSS feeds, and images can be displayed on the dashboard.
The user interface has two modes: In the interactive mode, existing dashboards are viewed and interacted with, creating and editing of dashboards can be done in assembly mode.
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IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence is a web-based, integrated business intelligence
Business intelligence
Business intelligence mainly refers to computer-based techniques used in identifying, extracting, and analyzing business data, such as sales revenue by products and/or departments, or by associated costs and incomes....
suite by IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
. It provides a toolset for reporting, analysis
Analytics
Analytics is the application of computer technology, operational research, and statistics to solve problems in business and industry. Analytics is carried out within an information system: while, in the past, statistics and mathematics could be studied without computers and software, analytics has...
, scorecarding
Balanced scorecard
The Balanced Scorecard is a strategic performance management tool - a semi-standard structured report, supported by proven design methods and automation tools, that can be used by managers to keep track of the execution of activities by the staff within their control and to monitor the...
, and monitoring of events and metrics. The software consists of several components to meet the different information requirements in a company.
Cognos Connection
Cognos Connection is the Web portal for IBM Cognos 8. It is the starting point for the browser-based access to all functions provided with the suite. With the help of the portal, content can be searched in the form of reports, scorecards and agents, it can be managed, structured displayed and published. In addition, the portal is used for example to schedule and distribute reports, for creating tasks, administrating the server and the access permissions to content available to different users.----
Query Studio
Query Studio allows simple queriesInformation retrieval
Information retrieval is the area of study concerned with searching for documents, for information within documents, and for metadata about documents, as well as that of searching structured storage, relational databases, and the World Wide Web...
and self-service reports to answer rather simple business questions. The report layout can be customized and data can be filtered and sorted, formatting and the creation of diagrams is also supported .
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Report Studio
The Report Studio is used to create management reports. It offers two different modes: The professional authoring mode enables users to access the full range of Report Studio functionality. In this mode, users can create any type of report, including charts, maps, lists, and repeat functions. In professional authoring mode all types of Data (relational or multidimensional) can be used, dynamic data can not be displayed .The express authoring mode has a more simplified user interface, designed for non-technical users. It enables them to create traditional financial or management reports in a more focused user interface. In contrast to the professional authoring mode, the express authoring mode allows the use of dynamic data.
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Analysis Studio
Users can create analyses of large data sources and search for background information about an event or action. Multidimensional analysisMultidimensional analysis
In statistics, econometrics, and related fields, multidimensional analysis is a data analysis process that groups data into two or more categories: data dimensions and measurements. For example, a data set consisting of the number of wins for a single football team at each of several years is a...
allows identifying trends and understanding of anomalies or deviations, which are not obvious in other types of reports. Drag-and-drop
Drag-and-drop
In computer graphical user interfaces, drag-and-drop is the action of selecting a virtual object by "grabbing" it and dragging it to a different location or onto another virtual object...
features, elements and key performance indicators can be included in the analysis, rows and columns can be switched
In-place matrix transposition
In-place matrix transposition, also called in-situ matrix transposition, is the problem of transposing an N×M matrix in-place in computer memory, ideally with O additional storage, or at most with additional storage much less than NM...
, OLAP-functionalities like drill-up and drill-down can be used to get a deeper understanding about the sources of the information used in the analysis.
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Event Studio
The Event Studio is a notification tool that informs about events within the enterprise in real time. Therefore, agents can be created to detect the occurrence of business events or exceptional circumstances, based on the change of specified event- or data conditions. A notification may be served by sending an e-mail, its publication in the portal, or by triggering reports.----
Metric Studio
Metric Studio is the scorecard and metrics tool of IBM Cognos 8 BI. With Metric Studio custom scorecard environments can be created to monitor and analyze business metrics across the organization. Metric Studio helps tracking the implementation of corporate strategyStrategic management
Strategic management is a field that deals with the major intended and emergent initiatives taken by general managers on behalf of owners, involving utilization of resources, to enhance the performance of firms in their external environments...
within the company. To measure the performance, different values are set which are then compared with the daily business data of the company. The values can be set as actual value from operational data
Operational database
In Data Warehousing, the Operational Database is one which is accessed by an Operational System to carry out regular operations of an organization. Operational Databases usually use an OLTP Database which is optimized for faster transaction processing: Inserting, Deleting, and Updating data...
, a target value for an expected level of performance, such as number of returns, or a tolerance value which may be specified as a maximum of accepted deviation from a target value expressed as a factor or percentage. The generated metrics come with a colored status indicator, for example showing a green status indicator, if current expense
Expense
In common usage, an expense or expenditure is an outflow of money to another person or group to pay for an item or service, or for a category of costs. For a tenant, rent is an expense. For students or parents, tuition is an expense. Buying food, clothing, furniture or an automobile is often...
s are under budget
Budget
A budget is a financial plan and a list of all planned expenses and revenues. It is a plan for saving, borrowing and spending. A budget is an important concept in microeconomics, which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more goods...
or a red status, if current expenses exceed the budget.
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Go! Office
The Go! Office component lets users work with IBM Cognos content in their familiar Microsoft OfficeMicrosoft Office
Microsoft Office is a non-free commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft in August 1, 1989. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of...
environment. The component provides access to all IBM Cognos Report contents, including data, metadata
Metadata
The term metadata is an ambiguous term which is used for two fundamentally different concepts . Although the expression "data about data" is often used, it does not apply to both in the same way. Structural metadata, the design and specification of data structures, cannot be about data, because at...
, headers and footers, and diagrams. Users can use predefined reports or create new content with Query Studio, Analysis Studio or Report Studio. By importing content into Microsoft Excel users can use the formatting, calculation and presentation features. The created documents can then be imported using Cognos Connection, published and made available for other users.
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Go! Search
In Cognos Connection, you can do a full-text search for content contained in reports, analyses, dashboards, metric information and events. When searching, an index of the prompts, titles, headings, column names, row names, data elements and other important fields is used as base.The full text search in IBM Cognos 8 Go! Search is related to the search in regular search engines such as Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
. Users can search operators such as +, - or use "" (quotation marks) to change the default behavior of search queries with multiple words.
Search terms are not case sensitive, word and spelling variants are included in the results. You can also search for a specific type of entry, such as an agent. The search results are sorted in descending order, the entry with the greatest amount of relevant metadata is displayed at the top of the list. In Analysis Studio, Query Studio and IBM Cognos Viewer, you can either perform a full text search, as also search for content related to the data of the current view.
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Go! Dashboard
With IBM Cognos 8 Go! Dashboard, interactive dashboards containing IBM Cognos content and external data sources can be created to fit the information needs of an individual user.The following items can be added to a dashboard:
Report objects, they are displayed in a Cognos Viewer portlet. Report parts such as lists, crosstabs, and charts are displayed in interactive portlets. Lists or crosstabs can be displayed as a chart and vice versa. Content can be shown or hidden dynamically by the use of sliders and checkboxes. The Cognos Search portlet allows searching for published content. In addition, Web links, Web pages, RSS feeds, and images can be displayed on the dashboard.
The user interface has two modes: In the interactive mode, existing dashboards are viewed and interacted with, creating and editing of dashboards can be done in assembly mode.
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External links
Tecchannel: Ad-hoc-Analysen mit OLAP http://www.tecchannel.de/server/sql/1751285/bi_methoden_teil_1_ad_hoc_analysen_mit_olap/----