Viewing the Xcelerator cube
Use the Server Explorer window to view the new cube.
Steps
1. In the Server Explorer window, click Cubes to expand the tree.
2. Double-click the new cube you created.
3. In the Cube Viewer window, click the Recalculate button on the toolbar.
The new cube appears with its default configuration. You can re-arrange the dimensions to
suit your needs and preferences by dragging and dropping them within the Cube Viewer window.
For example, you may want to:
● Put the month dimension in the column area for a traditional annual budget collection
perspective.
● Put more than one dimension on the rows or columns. This is called stacking, and allows
you to compare large amounts of information in a concise format.
● Move dimensions to the title dimension area of the Cube Viewer window.
4. Click on a dimension in a row or column to expand or collapse the dimension hierarchy.
Dimensions that appear in the title area can have only one element selected, whereas dimensions
on rows or columns can display hierarchies that you can interactively expand or collapse.
Experiment with navigating and expanding the hierarchies to view leaf-level cells. Leaf-level cells
are white instead of gray, indicating that the cell is editable. Only leaf-level cells are editable in an
Xcelerator cube.
You can also try re-arranging the dimensions in the view.
For more information about working with cubes and dimensions in Xcelerator, see the IBM Cognos
Express Xcelerator User Guide and IBM Cognos TM1 Developers Guide.
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Viewing the Xcelerator cube
Viewing the Xcelerator cube
Use the Server Explorer window to view the new cube.
Steps
1. In the Server Explorer window, click Cubes to expand the tree.
2. Double-click the new cube you created.
3. In the Cube Viewer window, click the Recalculate button on the toolbar.
The new cube appears with its default configuration. You can re-arrange the dimensions to
suit your needs and preferences by dragging and dropping them within the Cube Viewer window.
For example, you may want to:
● Put the month dimension in the column area for a traditional annual budget collection
perspective.
● Put more than one dimension on the rows or columns. This is called stacking, and allows
you to compare large amounts of information in a concise format.
● Move dimensions to the title dimension area of the Cube Viewer window.
4. Click on a dimension in a row or column to expand or collapse the dimension hierarchy.
Dimensions that appear in the title area can have only one element selected, whereas dimensions
on rows or columns can display hierarchies that you can interactively expand or collapse.
Experiment with navigating and expanding the hierarchies to view leaf-level cells. Leaf-level cells
are white instead of gray, indicating that the cell is editable. Only leaf-level cells are editable in an
Xcelerator cube.
You can also try re-arranging the dimensions in the view.
For more information about working with cubes and dimensions in Xcelerator, see the IBM Cognos
Express Xcelerator User Guide and IBM Cognos TM1 Developers Guide.
--
BI CENTRE
http://cognos8help.blogspot.com
Use the Server Explorer window to view the new cube.
Steps
1. In the Server Explorer window, click Cubes to expand the tree.
2. Double-click the new cube you created.
3. In the Cube Viewer window, click the Recalculate button on the toolbar.
The new cube appears with its default configuration. You can re-arrange the dimensions to
suit your needs and preferences by dragging and dropping them within the Cube Viewer window.
For example, you may want to:
● Put the month dimension in the column area for a traditional annual budget collection
perspective.
● Put more than one dimension on the rows or columns. This is called stacking, and allows
you to compare large amounts of information in a concise format.
● Move dimensions to the title dimension area of the Cube Viewer window.
4. Click on a dimension in a row or column to expand or collapse the dimension hierarchy.
Dimensions that appear in the title area can have only one element selected, whereas dimensions
on rows or columns can display hierarchies that you can interactively expand or collapse.
Experiment with navigating and expanding the hierarchies to view leaf-level cells. Leaf-level cells
are white instead of gray, indicating that the cell is editable. Only leaf-level cells are editable in an
Xcelerator cube.
You can also try re-arranging the dimensions in the view.
For more information about working with cubes and dimensions in Xcelerator, see the IBM Cognos
Express Xcelerator User Guide and IBM Cognos TM1 Developers Guide.
--
BI CENTRE
http://cognos8help.blogspot.com
Uninstalling Framework Manager
Uninstalling Framework Manager
You can uninstall Framework Manager from your computer. Uninstalling removes Framework
Manager from your computer only.
Before you uninstall Framework Manager, you should back up your Framework Manager projects
and models. This prevents the loss of your data should your computer be damaged or stolen. After
your computer is operational, you can restore your data. If you use a source control system to store
your Framework Manager projects, you do not need to back up your projects.
Note: If your administrator uninstalls Reporter on the Express server, your instance of Framework
Manager will no longer work.
Steps
1. From the Start menu, click Settings > Control Panel.
2. Start Add or Remove Programs.
3. In the list of currently installed programs, click IBM Cognos Express Framework Manager.
4. Click Remove and follow the instructions.
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http://bicentre.blogspot.com
You can uninstall Framework Manager from your computer. Uninstalling removes Framework
Manager from your computer only.
Before you uninstall Framework Manager, you should back up your Framework Manager projects
and models. This prevents the loss of your data should your computer be damaged or stolen. After
your computer is operational, you can restore your data. If you use a source control system to store
your Framework Manager projects, you do not need to back up your projects.
Note: If your administrator uninstalls Reporter on the Express server, your instance of Framework
Manager will no longer work.
Steps
1. From the Start menu, click Settings > Control Panel.
2. Start Add or Remove Programs.
3. In the list of currently installed programs, click IBM Cognos Express Framework Manager.
4. Click Remove and follow the instructions.
--
BI CENTRE
http://bicentre.blogspot.com
Creating or modifying a model in Framework Manager
Creating or modifying a model in Framework Manager
After you install Framework Manager, use it to create or modify models and to publish packages
if this is a function that you will perform in your organization.
Because stored data is typically designed for storage and not for reporting, a model allows you to
structure, add to, and manage data in ways that make sense to business users. For example, a model
defines business rules, data descriptions, data relationships, business dimensions and hierarchies,
and administrative tasks.
A package contains all the information that a specific user or group of users needs to create reports.
For example, one package can contain human resources data, and another sales data. When you
open an authoring studio, you must select which package to use. Each report can contain data from
only one package.
This section does not include instructions for modeling data in Framework Manager. For information
about how to use Framework Manager, see the Framework Manager User Guide and Guidelines
for Modeling Metadata that accompany Framework Manager.
--
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http://bicentre.blogspot.com
After you install Framework Manager, use it to create or modify models and to publish packages
if this is a function that you will perform in your organization.
Because stored data is typically designed for storage and not for reporting, a model allows you to
structure, add to, and manage data in ways that make sense to business users. For example, a model
defines business rules, data descriptions, data relationships, business dimensions and hierarchies,
and administrative tasks.
A package contains all the information that a specific user or group of users needs to create reports.
For example, one package can contain human resources data, and another sales data. When you
open an authoring studio, you must select which package to use. Each report can contain data from
only one package.
This section does not include instructions for modeling data in Framework Manager. For information
about how to use Framework Manager, see the Framework Manager User Guide and Guidelines
for Modeling Metadata that accompany Framework Manager.
--
BI CENTRE
http://bicentre.blogspot.com
Uninstalling Framework Manager
Uninstalling Framework Manager
You can uninstall Framework Manager from your computer. Uninstalling removes Framework
Manager from your computer only.
Before you uninstall Framework Manager, you should back up your Framework Manager projects
and models. This prevents the loss of your data should your computer be damaged or stolen. After
your computer is operational, you can restore your data. If you use a source control system to store
your Framework Manager projects, you do not need to back up your projects.
Note: If your administrator uninstalls Reporter on the Express server, your instance of Framework
Manager will no longer work.
Steps
1. From the Start menu, click Settings > Control Panel.
2. Start Add or Remove Programs.
3. In the list of currently installed programs, click IBM Cognos Express Framework Manager.
4. Click Remove and follow the instructions.
--
BI CENTRE
http://cognos8help.blogspot.com
You can uninstall Framework Manager from your computer. Uninstalling removes Framework
Manager from your computer only.
Before you uninstall Framework Manager, you should back up your Framework Manager projects
and models. This prevents the loss of your data should your computer be damaged or stolen. After
your computer is operational, you can restore your data. If you use a source control system to store
your Framework Manager projects, you do not need to back up your projects.
Note: If your administrator uninstalls Reporter on the Express server, your instance of Framework
Manager will no longer work.
Steps
1. From the Start menu, click Settings > Control Panel.
2. Start Add or Remove Programs.
3. In the list of currently installed programs, click IBM Cognos Express Framework Manager.
4. Click Remove and follow the instructions.
--
BI CENTRE
http://cognos8help.blogspot.com
Creating or modifying a model in Framework Manager
Creating or modifying a model in Framework Manager
After you install Framework Manager, use it to create or modify models and to publish packages
if this is a function that you will perform in your organization.
Because stored data is typically designed for storage and not for reporting, a model allows you to
structure, add to, and manage data in ways that make sense to business users. For example, a model
defines business rules, data descriptions, data relationships, business dimensions and hierarchies,
and administrative tasks.
A package contains all the information that a specific user or group of users needs to create reports.
For example, one package can contain human resources data, and another sales data. When you
open an authoring studio, you must select which package to use. Each report can contain data from
only one package.
This section does not include instructions for modeling data in Framework Manager. For information
about how to use Framework Manager, see the Framework Manager User Guide and Guidelines
for Modeling Metadata that accompany Framework Manager.
--
BI CENTRE
http://cognos8help.blogspot.com
After you install Framework Manager, use it to create or modify models and to publish packages
if this is a function that you will perform in your organization.
Because stored data is typically designed for storage and not for reporting, a model allows you to
structure, add to, and manage data in ways that make sense to business users. For example, a model
defines business rules, data descriptions, data relationships, business dimensions and hierarchies,
and administrative tasks.
A package contains all the information that a specific user or group of users needs to create reports.
For example, one package can contain human resources data, and another sales data. When you
open an authoring studio, you must select which package to use. Each report can contain data from
only one package.
This section does not include instructions for modeling data in Framework Manager. For information
about how to use Framework Manager, see the Framework Manager User Guide and Guidelines
for Modeling Metadata that accompany Framework Manager.
--
BI CENTRE
http://cognos8help.blogspot.com
Framework Manager
Install Framework Manager if you want to model your company data and make packages available
to others users with which they can create reports. You do not need to perform any additional
configuration to begin using Framework Manager.
To download Framework Manager, your administrator must first give you access.
Tip: It is good practice to read the messages in the Daily News section (p. 14) regularly. You will
know that you can install Framework Manager when you see this message:
The Framework Manager download for IBM Cognos Express Reporter is now available.
Steps
1. In a browser window, go to the Welcome to IBM Cognos Express page.
The Web address is usually the following:
http://express_server_name:19300/cognos_express/manager/welcome.html
where express_server_name is the computer name of the IBM® Cognos® Express™ server.
2. Download the installation package.
● Click Download Express software to my computer.
Tip: If this link is not available, your administrator has not yet assigned your Express userid
to the Express Framework Manager User role.
● Click Framework Manager .
● Click Save, choose a location to save the installation package, then click Save again.
Important: Do not change the filename of this installation package.
The Download complete dialog displays.
3. Click Run.
4. Click OK to confirm that the product language is English.
5. In the installation wizard, do the following:
● On the Introduction page, click Next.
● Read the license agreement, click I accept both the IBM and the non-IBM terms, and then
click Next.
● If you want IBM Cognos Express Framework Manager to be installed in a location other
than the one shown, browse to the location you want.
● Click Next.
● Choose your preferred method for starting IBM Cognos Express Framework Manager.
● Click Next.
6. Click Install.
7. When the Install Complete page displays, select Launch Express Framework Manager, and
then click Done.
Framework Manager starts in a new window.
You can now use Framework Manager to create a new project, view data sources in IBM Cognos
Connection, create a new package, or publish a package to the IBM Cognos Connection.
For more information, see the Framework Manager User Guide by clicking Contents from the
Framework Manager Help menu.
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to others users with which they can create reports. You do not need to perform any additional
configuration to begin using Framework Manager.
To download Framework Manager, your administrator must first give you access.
Tip: It is good practice to read the messages in the Daily News section (p. 14) regularly. You will
know that you can install Framework Manager when you see this message:
The Framework Manager download for IBM Cognos Express Reporter is now available.
Steps
1. In a browser window, go to the Welcome to IBM Cognos Express page.
The Web address is usually the following:
http://express_server_name:19300/cognos_express/manager/welcome.html
where express_server_name is the computer name of the IBM® Cognos® Express™ server.
2. Download the installation package.
● Click Download Express software to my computer.
Tip: If this link is not available, your administrator has not yet assigned your Express userid
to the Express Framework Manager User role.
● Click Framework Manager .
● Click Save, choose a location to save the installation package, then click Save again.
Important: Do not change the filename of this installation package.
The Download complete dialog displays.
3. Click Run.
4. Click OK to confirm that the product language is English.
5. In the installation wizard, do the following:
● On the Introduction page, click Next.
● Read the license agreement, click I accept both the IBM and the non-IBM terms, and then
click Next.
● If you want IBM Cognos Express Framework Manager to be installed in a location other
than the one shown, browse to the location you want.
● Click Next.
● Choose your preferred method for starting IBM Cognos Express Framework Manager.
● Click Next.
6. Click Install.
7. When the Install Complete page displays, select Launch Express Framework Manager, and
then click Done.
Framework Manager starts in a new window.
You can now use Framework Manager to create a new project, view data sources in IBM Cognos
Connection, create a new package, or publish a package to the IBM Cognos Connection.
For more information, see the Framework Manager User Guide by clicking Contents from the
Framework Manager Help menu.
--
BI CENTRE
http://bicentre.blogspot.com
Framework Manager
Install Framework Manager if you want to model your company data and make packages available
to others users with which they can create reports. You do not need to perform any additional
configuration to begin using Framework Manager.
To download Framework Manager, your administrator must first give you access.
Tip: It is good practice to read the messages in the Daily News section (p. 14) regularly. You will
know that you can install Framework Manager when you see this message:
The Framework Manager download for IBM Cognos Express Reporter is now available.
Steps
1. In a browser window, go to the Welcome to IBM Cognos Express page.
The Web address is usually the following:
http://express_server_name:19300/cognos_express/manager/welcome.html
where express_server_name is the computer name of the IBM® Cognos® Express™ server.
2. Download the installation package.
● Click Download Express software to my computer.
Tip: If this link is not available, your administrator has not yet assigned your Express userid
to the Express Framework Manager User role.
● Click Framework Manager .
● Click Save, choose a location to save the installation package, then click Save again.
Important: Do not change the filename of this installation package.
The Download complete dialog displays.
3. Click Run.
4. Click OK to confirm that the product language is English.
5. In the installation wizard, do the following:
● On the Introduction page, click Next.
● Read the license agreement, click I accept both the IBM and the non-IBM terms, and then
click Next.
● If you want IBM Cognos Express Framework Manager to be installed in a location other
than the one shown, browse to the location you want.
● Click Next.
● Choose your preferred method for starting IBM Cognos Express Framework Manager.
● Click Next.
6. Click Install.
7. When the Install Complete page displays, select Launch Express Framework Manager, and
then click Done.
Framework Manager starts in a new window.
You can now use Framework Manager to create a new project, view data sources in IBM Cognos
Connection, create a new package, or publish a package to the IBM Cognos Connection.
For more information, see the Framework Manager User Guide by clicking Contents from the
Framework Manager Help menu.
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http://cognos8help.blogspot.com
to others users with which they can create reports. You do not need to perform any additional
configuration to begin using Framework Manager.
To download Framework Manager, your administrator must first give you access.
Tip: It is good practice to read the messages in the Daily News section (p. 14) regularly. You will
know that you can install Framework Manager when you see this message:
The Framework Manager download for IBM Cognos Express Reporter is now available.
Steps
1. In a browser window, go to the Welcome to IBM Cognos Express page.
The Web address is usually the following:
http://express_server_name:19300/cognos_express/manager/welcome.html
where express_server_name is the computer name of the IBM® Cognos® Express™ server.
2. Download the installation package.
● Click Download Express software to my computer.
Tip: If this link is not available, your administrator has not yet assigned your Express userid
to the Express Framework Manager User role.
● Click Framework Manager .
● Click Save, choose a location to save the installation package, then click Save again.
Important: Do not change the filename of this installation package.
The Download complete dialog displays.
3. Click Run.
4. Click OK to confirm that the product language is English.
5. In the installation wizard, do the following:
● On the Introduction page, click Next.
● Read the license agreement, click I accept both the IBM and the non-IBM terms, and then
click Next.
● If you want IBM Cognos Express Framework Manager to be installed in a location other
than the one shown, browse to the location you want.
● Click Next.
● Choose your preferred method for starting IBM Cognos Express Framework Manager.
● Click Next.
6. Click Install.
7. When the Install Complete page displays, select Launch Express Framework Manager, and
then click Done.
Framework Manager starts in a new window.
You can now use Framework Manager to create a new project, view data sources in IBM Cognos
Connection, create a new package, or publish a package to the IBM Cognos Connection.
For more information, see the Framework Manager User Guide by clicking Contents from the
Framework Manager Help menu.
--
BI CENTRE
http://cognos8help.blogspot.com
Launching IBM Cognos Express
Launching IBM Cognos Express
If you don't already know the Web address to launch IBM® Cognos® Express™, ask your administrator
to provide it to you.
The Web address to launch the welcome page is usually as follows:
http://express_server_name:19300/cognos_express/manager/welcome.html, where
express_server_name is the computer name of the IBM Cognos Express server.
Notice the following items on the welcome page:
● Under My Content, the IBM Cognos Content link takes you to IBM Cognos Connection, the
portal where you can view shared reports and packages that you and others created.
● Under Daily News, you see the status of IBM Cognos Express Reporter and information about
data sources and reports that others made available for you to use.
● Under My Actions, the Report Studio and Query Studio links launch the query and reporting
tools that come with IBM Cognos Express Reporter.
● Under My Actions, the Download Express software to my computer link enables you to
download and install Framework Manager, the modeling tool for IBM Cognos Express Reporter,
provided that your administrator gave you access.
--
BI CENTRE
http://bicentre.blogspot.com
If you don't already know the Web address to launch IBM® Cognos® Express™, ask your administrator
to provide it to you.
The Web address to launch the welcome page is usually as follows:
http://express_server_name:19300/cognos_express/manager/welcome.html, where
express_server_name is the computer name of the IBM Cognos Express server.
Notice the following items on the welcome page:
● Under My Content, the IBM Cognos Content link takes you to IBM Cognos Connection, the
portal where you can view shared reports and packages that you and others created.
● Under Daily News, you see the status of IBM Cognos Express Reporter and information about
data sources and reports that others made available for you to use.
● Under My Actions, the Report Studio and Query Studio links launch the query and reporting
tools that come with IBM Cognos Express Reporter.
● Under My Actions, the Download Express software to my computer link enables you to
download and install Framework Manager, the modeling tool for IBM Cognos Express Reporter,
provided that your administrator gave you access.
--
BI CENTRE
http://bicentre.blogspot.com
IBM Cognos Express Advisor
Starting IBM Cognos Express Advisor from IBM Cognos Express Manager
If an existing database in a package (cube) is already available, you can start using Express Advisor
without using Express Data Advisor.
You can start Express Advisor from Express Manager.
The first time you start Express Advisor you will be asked to install it.
Steps
1. In IBM Cognos Express Manager click Launch > Advisor.
2. On the toolbar, click the Views button .
3. Select a package and click New View.
4. Select a database from the package and click OK.
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If an existing database in a package (cube) is already available, you can start using Express Advisor
without using Express Data Advisor.
You can start Express Advisor from Express Manager.
The first time you start Express Advisor you will be asked to install it.
Steps
1. In IBM Cognos Express Manager click Launch > Advisor.
2. On the toolbar, click the Views button .
3. Select a package and click New View.
4. Select a database from the package and click OK.
--
BI CENTRE
http://bicentre.blogspot.com
Launching IBM Cognos Express
Launching IBM Cognos Express
If you don't already know the Web address to launch IBM® Cognos® Express™, ask your administrator
to provide it to you.
The Web address to launch the welcome page is usually as follows:
http://express_server_name:19300/cognos_express/manager/welcome.html, where
express_server_name is the computer name of the IBM Cognos Express server.
Notice the following items on the welcome page:
● Under My Content, the IBM Cognos Content link takes you to IBM Cognos Connection, the
portal where you can view shared reports and packages that you and others created.
● Under Daily News, you see the status of IBM Cognos Express Reporter and information about
data sources and reports that others made available for you to use.
● Under My Actions, the Report Studio and Query Studio links launch the query and reporting
tools that come with IBM Cognos Express Reporter.
● Under My Actions, the Download Express software to my computer link enables you to
download and install Framework Manager, the modeling tool for IBM Cognos Express Reporter,
provided that your administrator gave you access.
--
BI CENTRE
http://cognos8help.blogspot.com
If you don't already know the Web address to launch IBM® Cognos® Express™, ask your administrator
to provide it to you.
The Web address to launch the welcome page is usually as follows:
http://express_server_name:19300/cognos_express/manager/welcome.html, where
express_server_name is the computer name of the IBM Cognos Express server.
Notice the following items on the welcome page:
● Under My Content, the IBM Cognos Content link takes you to IBM Cognos Connection, the
portal where you can view shared reports and packages that you and others created.
● Under Daily News, you see the status of IBM Cognos Express Reporter and information about
data sources and reports that others made available for you to use.
● Under My Actions, the Report Studio and Query Studio links launch the query and reporting
tools that come with IBM Cognos Express Reporter.
● Under My Actions, the Download Express software to my computer link enables you to
download and install Framework Manager, the modeling tool for IBM Cognos Express Reporter,
provided that your administrator gave you access.
--
BI CENTRE
http://cognos8help.blogspot.com
IBM Cognos Express Advisor
Starting IBM Cognos Express Advisor from IBM Cognos Express Manager
If an existing database in a package (cube) is already available, you can start using Express Advisor
without using Express Data Advisor.
You can start Express Advisor from Express Manager.
The first time you start Express Advisor you will be asked to install it.
Steps
1. In IBM Cognos Express Manager click Launch > Advisor.
2. On the toolbar, click the Views button .
3. Select a package and click New View.
4. Select a database from the package and click OK.
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BI CENTRE
http://cognos8help.blogspot.com
If an existing database in a package (cube) is already available, you can start using Express Advisor
without using Express Data Advisor.
You can start Express Advisor from Express Manager.
The first time you start Express Advisor you will be asked to install it.
Steps
1. In IBM Cognos Express Manager click Launch > Advisor.
2. On the toolbar, click the Views button .
3. Select a package and click New View.
4. Select a database from the package and click OK.
--
BI CENTRE
http://cognos8help.blogspot.com
Features of IBM Cognos Express Advisor
Features of IBM Cognos Express Advisor
With Express Advisor you can:
● Change selections
● Change the position of dimensions
● Format your data
● Create calculations
● Show data in tabular and graphical formats
● Print reports and views of your data
● Export your data to Microsoft® Excel spreadsheets
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With Express Advisor you can:
● Change selections
● Change the position of dimensions
● Format your data
● Create calculations
● Show data in tabular and graphical formats
● Print reports and views of your data
● Export your data to Microsoft® Excel spreadsheets
--
BI CENTRE
http://bicentre.blogspot.com
Features of IBM Cognos Express Advisor
Features of IBM Cognos Express Advisor
With Express Advisor you can:
● Change selections
● Change the position of dimensions
● Format your data
● Create calculations
● Show data in tabular and graphical formats
● Print reports and views of your data
● Export your data to Microsoft® Excel spreadsheets
--
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http://cognos8help.blogspot.com
With Express Advisor you can:
● Change selections
● Change the position of dimensions
● Format your data
● Create calculations
● Show data in tabular and graphical formats
● Print reports and views of your data
● Export your data to Microsoft® Excel spreadsheets
--
BI CENTRE
http://cognos8help.blogspot.com
IBM Cognos Connection
IBM Cognos Connection is a Web portal provided with IBM Cognos Express, providing a single
access point to the corporate data available for its products. It provides a single point of entry for
querying, analyzing, organizing data, and for creating reports. You can run all your Web-based
IBM Cognos Express applications from IBM Cognos Connection. Other business intelligence
applications, and URLs to other applications, can be integrated with IBM Cognos Connection.
Like the other Web browser interfaces in IBM Cognos Express, IBM Cognos Connection uses the
default configurations of your browser. It does not require the use of Java, ActiveX, or plug-ins,
and does not install them.
In addition to selections for viewing data and creating objects, IBM Cognos Connection includes
● portal pages
The new page button opens a wizard where you can create a customizable page that uses
portlets to show different types of content at the same time.
● Public Folders
Public Folders store shared IBM Cognos Express content, such as packages, reports, and
Xcelerator cubes.
● My Folders
My Folders store personal IBM Cognos Express content, such as packages, reports, and Xcelerator
cubes.
● User preferences
The my area button includes links to My Watch Items, alert lists and watch rules that help
you monitor business events; My Preferences, settings for format, language, time zone, contact
information, and portal content; and My Activities and Schedules, status windows where you
can set priorities for and monitor your IBM Cognos such as packages, reports, and Xcelerator
cubes activities.
● Link to tools and applications
The Launch button provides links to the IBM Cognos Express studios, Xcelerator Web, Advisor
Web, and IBM Cognos Administration.
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access point to the corporate data available for its products. It provides a single point of entry for
querying, analyzing, organizing data, and for creating reports. You can run all your Web-based
IBM Cognos Express applications from IBM Cognos Connection. Other business intelligence
applications, and URLs to other applications, can be integrated with IBM Cognos Connection.
Like the other Web browser interfaces in IBM Cognos Express, IBM Cognos Connection uses the
default configurations of your browser. It does not require the use of Java, ActiveX, or plug-ins,
and does not install them.
In addition to selections for viewing data and creating objects, IBM Cognos Connection includes
● portal pages
The new page button opens a wizard where you can create a customizable page that uses
portlets to show different types of content at the same time.
● Public Folders
Public Folders store shared IBM Cognos Express content, such as packages, reports, and
Xcelerator cubes.
● My Folders
My Folders store personal IBM Cognos Express content, such as packages, reports, and Xcelerator
cubes.
● User preferences
The my area button includes links to My Watch Items, alert lists and watch rules that help
you monitor business events; My Preferences, settings for format, language, time zone, contact
information, and portal content; and My Activities and Schedules, status windows where you
can set priorities for and monitor your IBM Cognos such as packages, reports, and Xcelerator
cubes activities.
● Link to tools and applications
The Launch button provides links to the IBM Cognos Express studios, Xcelerator Web, Advisor
Web, and IBM Cognos Administration.
--
BI CENTRE
http://bicentre.blogspot.com
IBM Cognos Connection
IBM Cognos Connection is a Web portal provided with IBM Cognos Express, providing a single
access point to the corporate data available for its products. It provides a single point of entry for
querying, analyzing, organizing data, and for creating reports. You can run all your Web-based
IBM Cognos Express applications from IBM Cognos Connection. Other business intelligence
applications, and URLs to other applications, can be integrated with IBM Cognos Connection.
Like the other Web browser interfaces in IBM Cognos Express, IBM Cognos Connection uses the
default configurations of your browser. It does not require the use of Java, ActiveX, or plug-ins,
and does not install them.
In addition to selections for viewing data and creating objects, IBM Cognos Connection includes
● portal pages
The new page button opens a wizard where you can create a customizable page that uses
portlets to show different types of content at the same time.
● Public Folders
Public Folders store shared IBM Cognos Express content, such as packages, reports, and
Xcelerator cubes.
● My Folders
My Folders store personal IBM Cognos Express content, such as packages, reports, and Xcelerator
cubes.
● User preferences
The my area button includes links to My Watch Items, alert lists and watch rules that help
you monitor business events; My Preferences, settings for format, language, time zone, contact
information, and portal content; and My Activities and Schedules, status windows where you
can set priorities for and monitor your IBM Cognos such as packages, reports, and Xcelerator
cubes activities.
● Link to tools and applications
The Launch button provides links to the IBM Cognos Express studios, Xcelerator Web, Advisor
Web, and IBM Cognos Administration.
--
BI CENTRE
http://cognos8help.blogspot.com
access point to the corporate data available for its products. It provides a single point of entry for
querying, analyzing, organizing data, and for creating reports. You can run all your Web-based
IBM Cognos Express applications from IBM Cognos Connection. Other business intelligence
applications, and URLs to other applications, can be integrated with IBM Cognos Connection.
Like the other Web browser interfaces in IBM Cognos Express, IBM Cognos Connection uses the
default configurations of your browser. It does not require the use of Java, ActiveX, or plug-ins,
and does not install them.
In addition to selections for viewing data and creating objects, IBM Cognos Connection includes
● portal pages
The new page button opens a wizard where you can create a customizable page that uses
portlets to show different types of content at the same time.
● Public Folders
Public Folders store shared IBM Cognos Express content, such as packages, reports, and
Xcelerator cubes.
● My Folders
My Folders store personal IBM Cognos Express content, such as packages, reports, and Xcelerator
cubes.
● User preferences
The my area button includes links to My Watch Items, alert lists and watch rules that help
you monitor business events; My Preferences, settings for format, language, time zone, contact
information, and portal content; and My Activities and Schedules, status windows where you
can set priorities for and monitor your IBM Cognos such as packages, reports, and Xcelerator
cubes activities.
● Link to tools and applications
The Launch button provides links to the IBM Cognos Express studios, Xcelerator Web, Advisor
Web, and IBM Cognos Administration.
--
BI CENTRE
http://cognos8help.blogspot.com
Choosing a standard for BI
Standardizing business intelligence tools across an entire organization has obvious benefits in terms of simplification and cost-savings. But for standardization to be truly effective, it must revolve around the right solution, one that addresses the organization's exact business intelligence (BI) needs at a relatively low total cost.
IBM Cognos® products— from IBM Cognos ReportNet for enterprise reporting to IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence for complete BI capabilities— have a proven record of success. And with speedy deployment times that ease strain on IT and intuitive interfaces that lead to wide user adoption, IBM Cognos solutions achieve a fast return on investment.
Overview
What drives the move to standardization?
The reasons driving standardization in business intelligence and reporting are core to every company — cutting costs, boosting revenue, and increasing profits. What drives the increased interest in standardization today is the fact many companies are actually doing it. Other companies don't want to miss the competitive opportunity.
Early adopters of business intelligence have leveraged the power BI has brought — for unified data, for greater understanding of the "Why" behind results, for better decisions. However, individual BI successes may be hampering their overall corporate performance efforts. Different departments and divisions may all have bought into the promise of business intelligence, but pursue it in different ways, and with different vendors.
As companies attempt to align departments on one strategic plan, the pockets of BI success in certain departments may be counter-productive. One department may consider its reports "more correct" than its peers. You may have one version of the truth in a department, but multiple versions across the company.
Standardization addresses these problems. It paves the way for BI to be less the tactical tool, and more, the strategic partner. When technologies become strategic, they trigger companies to look at standardization. That is the case now for BI. Companies can standardize on one vendor who can meet the diverse needs of various departments, user types, and IT infrastructures.
Whether your company standardizes IT systems because of the need to reduce costs, increase competitiveness or is forced to by vendor consolidation, Ventana Research advises: "It will happen, so be ahead of the curve," the analyst firm wrote in their recent white paper, Standardizing Business Intelligence. Analyst firms such as Gartner and Forrester back up Ventana's assertion: BI and reporting standardization is happening. Leading companies must consider their response.
Business problems
The need for one version of 'the truth'
Choosing a BI standard requires that the technology meet stringent enterprise-class requirements. For example, it must be able to manage deployments to thousands of users, spanning multiple countries and corporate boundaries. In its recent white paper,
Standardizing Business Intelligence, Ventana research recommends a number of characteristics to look for when considering standardization.Broad coverage:
A standard must meet the needs of as much of the organization as possible. This minimizes the exceptions that can lead to requests for nonstandard technologies. Look for solutions that cover: production reporting, business reporting, ad hoc query, OLAP reporting and analysis, dashboarding, and scorecarding.Modern Services-Oriented Architectures:
Standards should leverage other standards, when possible. Look for technologies that use Web Services standards such as SOAP, XML, and WSDL. These architectures will be easier to integrate with your existing environments and will be more adaptable as new technologies and standards evolve.Scalability:
The underlying server technology must support the performance and scalability requirements of business users who expect fast responses to their business questions. Look for vendors who have distributed architectures where load balancing can be distributed across multiple servers. It is best if they can support both UNIX® and Microsoft® Windows® environments.Heterogeneous data access:
Most organizations have many different data sources, of many differing types. Your BI standard should be able to model and query against these multiple, heterogeneous data sources.Business drivers
Factors to consider in a BI standards vendor
Global capability:
A BI standard must be deployable in the language of the users' preference. Since most large companies have employees, customers, and suppliers all over the world, a BI solution must be multilingual. [Not all multilingual solutions are created equally. Look for UNICODE throughout, not just support for UNICODE data sources. Choose a solution that doesn't require writing separate reports for each language, or knowing the language of each individual user prior to deployment.]Security:
A BI standard should leverage and support your existing enterprise security. This means you don't have to duplicate or change the approach you've already implemented for information security.The solution
Choosing IBM as your BI standard
There are a variety of business users, with a wide variety of information needs—executives, business users, managers, professional authors, and IT administration,for example. Depending on the job, people may need regular reports, vital signs at-a-glance, up-to-date reports, or the ability to dive more deeply into information. They need software, a portal into information, and a user interface that fits their varied needs, rather than one tool developed for highly technical users. The result: everyone can use the same system and common data. This increases collaboration across roles and functions. One BI product that can satisfy all users' needs means considerable value in terms of easier deployment, maintenance, and training.Your BI standard delivers a common business view. It must connect your disparate information systems— supply chain, operations, finance, customer relationship — for a complete view of the business. For IT, this means having one product that offers a flexible, cost-effective framework with centralized metadata for uniting multiple ERP vendors and data sources: relational, OLAP, flat files, XML, and more.
Business intelligence capabilities bring people and information systems together. A BI standard is one product delivering all BI capabilities: reporting, dashboards, scorecarding, analysis, event lifecycle management as well as data integration, on a modern architecture that doesn't complicate IT's already complex environment. With a unifying architecture for all business intelligence capabilities, an organization could choose one product to bring together its previously separate capabilities of reporting, analysis, dashboards, scorecarding, and more. This single BI product would not only provide more value for less resources, it would be an obvious choice for business intelligence standardization. Many technology companies claim this is what they deliver. Typically, however, they are offering integrated components that may share some services, or a common portal in front of disparate products, or basic-level interoperability among a mix and match of quite separate products (often the result of various acquisitions).
In contrast, IBM has fulfilled the promise. It is offering one product with all BI capabilities, on a single, modern architecture. This is IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence.
Broadest and deepest BI coverage
IBM Cognos ReportNet brought together the various styles of query and reporting — both production and business. IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence brings together the various styles of reporting, plus analysis, scorecarding, dashboards, and event lifecycle management. These are no longer separate products. They are not simply interoperable products, nor separate products on a common platform. They are one product that presents a consistent way to interact with your corporate information.
You can deliver the complete range of BI capabilities with the flexibility of modular deployment and proven scalability to hundreds of thousands of users. IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence lets business users move among BI capabilities in a guided way, get the answers they seek, and collaborate while giving IT complete control over the BI environment.
Reporting
Create any type of report, for any user, with any data.
• Covers the complete range of reporting needs— managed, production, ad hoc, personalized. Report against all operational systems, OLAP, and relational data sources. Display reports in all desired output formats (Email, HTML, PDF, Microsoft Excel®, CSV's, XML).
• Drag-and-drop data elements, formatting, and selection extends self-service report authoring to users, offloads IT requirements, and reduces the reporting backlog.
• Single, zero-footprint and adaptive authoring interface for reports and dashboards.
• Drill-through and drill-down built-in.
• Build a report once and deploy in any language.
Analysis
Explore and analyze large volumes of data covering all dimensions of the business, whether stored in OLAP or dimensionally aware relational sources.
• Analyze large data sets with easy-to-use, drag-and-drop user interface.
• Compare performance to see trends over time.
• Pursue business questions through analysis and exploration with fast and predictable response times.
• Powerful, yet easy-to-use comparative analysis. See performance outliers, such as most and least effective suppliers, in one analysis.
Scorecarding
Link initiatives and projects to strategy with metrics and strategy maps. Use the same scorecard metrics to drive enterprise planning for integrated performance management.
• Easily see and track the status of key performance indicators and initiatives.
• Understand the root cause of performance issues.
• Scorecards and metrics use the same single metadata model that drives analysis and reporting.
• Attach reports and analysis to get the information underpinning metrics and understand what drives the performance.
• Link metrics to owners to help drive accountability.
• Support Balanced Scorecard or other scorecarding approaches.
Dashboards
Deliver Web-based dashboards with information from different data sources in a single visual report. Provide an at-a-glance snapshot of the business.
• Cut the time to decision with multi-object performance reports, maps, charts, scorecards, and interactive OLAP analysis coordinated in a single view.
• Set up personalized information centers to monitor performance.
• Connect dashboard elements with underlying data for further context and analysis.
• Support various management methodologies.
• Use the same authoring environment and report infrastructure for scheduling and bursting as standard reports.
Business event management
Business event management goes beyond the basic notification functionality provided in other products to automate the decision-making process, launch business processes, and integrate with Business Process Management. Where human intervention is required, through decision-process automation, event lifecycle management notifies the people who are accountable and provides the relevant information they need to resolve the issue. Where human intervention is not required, it initiates business processes such as data updates or Web service procedures to resolve the issue. Throughout the event lifecycle, it continues to monitor and notify, ensuring that all relevant players and systems take appropriate action at the right time.
Event management benefits include:
• Link different parts of the organization together for enterprise-wide event management.
• Compress the time to action and resolution.
• Define compound events and tasks using event conditions.
• Manage events in context.
• Use both decision-based and business-process issue resolution.
• Track critical events.
IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence offers one product, on a single architecture, that delivers all BI capabilities, for all users, and draws on all of your data. These are the hallmarks of a standard for business intelligence software.
Deliver all BI capabilities from a single product
•
Single product and architecture with all capabilities: Reporting, analysis, scorecards, dashboards, event lifecycle management, as well as data integration.•
Simplified maintenance: Zero-footprint, browser-based deployment and administration. No duplication among BI capabilities.•
Increase BI adoption: One product meets the needs of your entire user base, from casual users to power users.•
Proven integration: Web services architecture simplifies deployment and administration. Single, open API lets you integrate with existing security, portals, and IT infrastructure. No single point of failure.Serve all users with BI that matches their needs
•
BI consumers: Deliver pixel-perfect reports to their desktops with secure Web portal access adaptable to mobile devices.•
Senior executives: Deliver scorecarding, dashboards, and reports for quick communication of complex data.•
Business managers: Deliver all BI capabilities, with drag-and-drop simplicity and the same zero-footprint interface.•
Professional authors/analysts: Deliver advanced features such as high-volume burst reports for distribution, full range of report elements and output types, and reporting and analysis against relational or multidimensional sources.•
IT administrators: Deliver a zero-footprint, browser-based environment, modular deployment, consistent metadata, and access to all corporate data on a Web services architecture.Leverage all corporate data
•
Open data strategy and common metadata: Common business rules, calculations, and filters consolidate your heterogeneous data into a consistent business view.•
Direct access: Leverage the information directly from existing sources including relational, OLAP, and other multidimensional sources.•
Enterprise Information Integration (EII): Access multiple disparate data sources in batch, historic, or real time. Use the built-in EII capability or thirdparty integration technologies.•
ETL: Integrate, cleanse, transform, and aggregate data for a consolidated historical view. A dimensional framework provides information formatted in the way business users think and optimized for all BI capabilities.Modern architecture, simplicity for IT
In addition to being the foundation for all BI capabilities, IBM Cognos 8 BI's open architecture extends to security, OLAP and relational data, application servers, Web applications, portals, networks, and metadata. Zero-footprint Web deployment further simplifies maintenance, upgrades, and use for IT and the business user. It does not require applets, downloads, or other client software installs, further simplifying the application of business intelligence in your company.
• Deploy one product on a single architecture for all business intelligence requirements. The standards-based architecture can snap into your existing IT environment.
• Add capabilities or modify them at any time to meet changing business conditions and user needs.
• Provide everyone across your organization with a single, trusted source for information.
• Eliminate the management and maintenance of duplicate services such as security.
• Centralized metadata model lets you apply consistent business rules, calculations, and dimensions to your data.
Increasing your return on investment (ROI )
"Just as you wouldn't choose a heart surgeon based on lowest cost, or an airlinebased on lowest amount of maintenance, you should not decide on IT based on the lowest cost of ownership
," says one analyst from Nucleus Research.1 Simplification and savings are primary objectives when standardizing. However, your new standard must address your business problems, and address them in the best way possible. IBM Cognos solutions have a proven track record of delivering return on investment and value from business intelligence. For example, by reducing product returns, a global pharmaceutical leader now saves more than $35 million annually using an IBM Cognos solution. A major manufacturer used IBM Cognos software to eliminate unprofitable product lines, saving £26 million in working capital requirements over a three-year period. And a Northern U.S. university used IBM Cognos software to identify $5 million in unbilled tuition.For software, ROI is affected by its ease of use and its breadth of capability to solve various business solutions. Standardization decisions should not center on compromise or finding least common denominators. Such methods diminish your chance of finding the best possible value.
The technology and vendor you select has to meet
all of today's requirements. Further, it must also have the capacity to evolve with your business to meet tomorrow's challenges. Your objective when standardizing is to find the company that does both. This typically does not mean the cheapest solution available, unless you want to change your standards every few years as your company changes.Instead, you should be examining both total costs and total benefits. Then you can make an informed decision about what solution will provide the greatest positive impact to the bottom line.
Comprehensive reporting coverage, ease-of-use, and enterprise architecture drove market acceptance of IBM Cognos ReportNet and the fact that many organizations selected it as their reporting standard. IBM Cognos 8 BI, built with the same architecture and ease of use, adds complete business intelligence capability coverage to the IBM Cognos ReportNet value proposition.
Neither IT nor business users should feel limited by their BI systems. Business users need to see the business the way they want. They don't want to drown in irrelevant information. They need to see the big picture and the necessary detail. IT's ability to control costs and deliver value should not be undermined by maintaining multiple BI systems. They don't want BI that only covers some of the data. They need software that has room to grow to meet tomorrow's demands.
IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence breaks through these limits and more. Business intelligence promises all users accessing all data, with all capabilities—understanding what happened, why, and determining what action should they take to help the organization succeed. This is the promise IBM Cognos 8 BI uniquely fulfils. It is the first to do so, and will be the industry standard all other solutions will attempt to match.
Choosing a standard for BI
Standardizing business intelligence tools across an entire organization has obvious benefits in terms of simplification and cost-savings. But for standardization to be truly effective, it must revolve around the right solution, one that addresses the organization's exact business intelligence (BI) needs at a relatively low total cost.
IBM Cognos® products— from IBM Cognos ReportNet for enterprise reporting to IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence for complete BI capabilities— have a proven record of success. And with speedy deployment times that ease strain on IT and intuitive interfaces that lead to wide user adoption, IBM Cognos solutions achieve a fast return on investment.
Overview
What drives the move to standardization?
The reasons driving standardization in business intelligence and reporting are core to every company — cutting costs, boosting revenue, and increasing profits. What drives the increased interest in standardization today is the fact many companies are actually doing it. Other companies don't want to miss the competitive opportunity.
Early adopters of business intelligence have leveraged the power BI has brought — for unified data, for greater understanding of the "Why" behind results, for better decisions. However, individual BI successes may be hampering their overall corporate performance efforts. Different departments and divisions may all have bought into the promise of business intelligence, but pursue it in different ways, and with different vendors.
As companies attempt to align departments on one strategic plan, the pockets of BI success in certain departments may be counter-productive. One department may consider its reports "more correct" than its peers. You may have one version of the truth in a department, but multiple versions across the company.
Standardization addresses these problems. It paves the way for BI to be less the tactical tool, and more, the strategic partner. When technologies become strategic, they trigger companies to look at standardization. That is the case now for BI. Companies can standardize on one vendor who can meet the diverse needs of various departments, user types, and IT infrastructures.
Whether your company standardizes IT systems because of the need to reduce costs, increase competitiveness or is forced to by vendor consolidation, Ventana Research advises: "It will happen, so be ahead of the curve," the analyst firm wrote in their recent white paper, Standardizing Business Intelligence. Analyst firms such as Gartner and Forrester back up Ventana's assertion: BI and reporting standardization is happening. Leading companies must consider their response.
Business problems
The need for one version of 'the truth'
Choosing a BI standard requires that the technology meet stringent enterprise-class requirements. For example, it must be able to manage deployments to thousands of users, spanning multiple countries and corporate boundaries. In its recent white paper,
Standardizing Business Intelligence, Ventana research recommends a number of characteristics to look for when considering standardization.Broad coverage:
A standard must meet the needs of as much of the organization as possible. This minimizes the exceptions that can lead to requests for nonstandard technologies. Look for solutions that cover: production reporting, business reporting, ad hoc query, OLAP reporting and analysis, dashboarding, and scorecarding.Modern Services-Oriented Architectures:
Standards should leverage other standards, when possible. Look for technologies that use Web Services standards such as SOAP, XML, and WSDL. These architectures will be easier to integrate with your existing environments and will be more adaptable as new technologies and standards evolve.Scalability:
The underlying server technology must support the performance and scalability requirements of business users who expect fast responses to their business questions. Look for vendors who have distributed architectures where load balancing can be distributed across multiple servers. It is best if they can support both UNIX® and Microsoft® Windows® environments.Heterogeneous data access:
Most organizations have many different data sources, of many differing types. Your BI standard should be able to model and query against these multiple, heterogeneous data sources.Business drivers
Factors to consider in a BI standards vendor
Global capability:
A BI standard must be deployable in the language of the users' preference. Since most large companies have employees, customers, and suppliers all over the world, a BI solution must be multilingual. [Not all multilingual solutions are created equally. Look for UNICODE throughout, not just support for UNICODE data sources. Choose a solution that doesn't require writing separate reports for each language, or knowing the language of each individual user prior to deployment.]Security:
A BI standard should leverage and support your existing enterprise security. This means you don't have to duplicate or change the approach you've already implemented for information security.The solution
Choosing IBM as your BI standard
There are a variety of business users, with a wide variety of information needs—executives, business users, managers, professional authors, and IT administration,for example. Depending on the job, people may need regular reports, vital signs at-a-glance, up-to-date reports, or the ability to dive more deeply into information. They need software, a portal into information, and a user interface that fits their varied needs, rather than one tool developed for highly technical users. The result: everyone can use the same system and common data. This increases collaboration across roles and functions. One BI product that can satisfy all users' needs means considerable value in terms of easier deployment, maintenance, and training.Your BI standard delivers a common business view. It must connect your disparate information systems— supply chain, operations, finance, customer relationship — for a complete view of the business. For IT, this means having one product that offers a flexible, cost-effective framework with centralized metadata for uniting multiple ERP vendors and data sources: relational, OLAP, flat files, XML, and more.
Business intelligence capabilities bring people and information systems together. A BI standard is one product delivering all BI capabilities: reporting, dashboards, scorecarding, analysis, event lifecycle management as well as data integration, on a modern architecture that doesn't complicate IT's already complex environment. With a unifying architecture for all business intelligence capabilities, an organization could choose one product to bring together its previously separate capabilities of reporting, analysis, dashboards, scorecarding, and more. This single BI product would not only provide more value for less resources, it would be an obvious choice for business intelligence standardization. Many technology companies claim this is what they deliver. Typically, however, they are offering integrated components that may share some services, or a common portal in front of disparate products, or basic-level interoperability among a mix and match of quite separate products (often the result of various acquisitions).
In contrast, IBM has fulfilled the promise. It is offering one product with all BI capabilities, on a single, modern architecture. This is IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence.
Broadest and deepest BI coverage
IBM Cognos ReportNet brought together the various styles of query and reporting — both production and business. IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence brings together the various styles of reporting, plus analysis, scorecarding, dashboards, and event lifecycle management. These are no longer separate products. They are not simply interoperable products, nor separate products on a common platform. They are one product that presents a consistent way to interact with your corporate information.
You can deliver the complete range of BI capabilities with the flexibility of modular deployment and proven scalability to hundreds of thousands of users. IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence lets business users move among BI capabilities in a guided way, get the answers they seek, and collaborate while giving IT complete control over the BI environment.
Reporting
Create any type of report, for any user, with any data.
• Covers the complete range of reporting needs— managed, production, ad hoc, personalized. Report against all operational systems, OLAP, and relational data sources. Display reports in all desired output formats (Email, HTML, PDF, Microsoft Excel®, CSV's, XML).
• Drag-and-drop data elements, formatting, and selection extends self-service report authoring to users, offloads IT requirements, and reduces the reporting backlog.
• Single, zero-footprint and adaptive authoring interface for reports and dashboards.
• Drill-through and drill-down built-in.
• Build a report once and deploy in any language.
Analysis
Explore and analyze large volumes of data covering all dimensions of the business, whether stored in OLAP or dimensionally aware relational sources.
• Analyze large data sets with easy-to-use, drag-and-drop user interface.
• Compare performance to see trends over time.
• Pursue business questions through analysis and exploration with fast and predictable response times.
• Powerful, yet easy-to-use comparative analysis. See performance outliers, such as most and least effective suppliers, in one analysis.
Scorecarding
Link initiatives and projects to strategy with metrics and strategy maps. Use the same scorecard metrics to drive enterprise planning for integrated performance management.
• Easily see and track the status of key performance indicators and initiatives.
• Understand the root cause of performance issues.
• Scorecards and metrics use the same single metadata model that drives analysis and reporting.
• Attach reports and analysis to get the information underpinning metrics and understand what drives the performance.
• Link metrics to owners to help drive accountability.
• Support Balanced Scorecard or other scorecarding approaches.
Dashboards
Deliver Web-based dashboards with information from different data sources in a single visual report. Provide an at-a-glance snapshot of the business.
• Cut the time to decision with multi-object performance reports, maps, charts, scorecards, and interactive OLAP analysis coordinated in a single view.
• Set up personalized information centers to monitor performance.
• Connect dashboard elements with underlying data for further context and analysis.
• Support various management methodologies.
• Use the same authoring environment and report infrastructure for scheduling and bursting as standard reports.
Business event management
Business event management goes beyond the basic notification functionality provided in other products to automate the decision-making process, launch business processes, and integrate with Business Process Management. Where human intervention is required, through decision-process automation, event lifecycle management notifies the people who are accountable and provides the relevant information they need to resolve the issue. Where human intervention is not required, it initiates business processes such as data updates or Web service procedures to resolve the issue. Throughout the event lifecycle, it continues to monitor and notify, ensuring that all relevant players and systems take appropriate action at the right time.
Event management benefits include:
• Link different parts of the organization together for enterprise-wide event management.
• Compress the time to action and resolution.
• Define compound events and tasks using event conditions.
• Manage events in context.
• Use both decision-based and business-process issue resolution.
• Track critical events.
IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence offers one product, on a single architecture, that delivers all BI capabilities, for all users, and draws on all of your data. These are the hallmarks of a standard for business intelligence software.
Deliver all BI capabilities from a single product
•
Single product and architecture with all capabilities: Reporting, analysis, scorecards, dashboards, event lifecycle management, as well as data integration.•
Simplified maintenance: Zero-footprint, browser-based deployment and administration. No duplication among BI capabilities.•
Increase BI adoption: One product meets the needs of your entire user base, from casual users to power users.•
Proven integration: Web services architecture simplifies deployment and administration. Single, open API lets you integrate with existing security, portals, and IT infrastructure. No single point of failure.Serve all users with BI that matches their needs
•
BI consumers: Deliver pixel-perfect reports to their desktops with secure Web portal access adaptable to mobile devices.•
Senior executives: Deliver scorecarding, dashboards, and reports for quick communication of complex data.•
Business managers: Deliver all BI capabilities, with drag-and-drop simplicity and the same zero-footprint interface.•
Professional authors/analysts: Deliver advanced features such as high-volume burst reports for distribution, full range of report elements and output types, and reporting and analysis against relational or multidimensional sources.•
IT administrators: Deliver a zero-footprint, browser-based environment, modular deployment, consistent metadata, and access to all corporate data on a Web services architecture.Leverage all corporate data
•
Open data strategy and common metadata: Common business rules, calculations, and filters consolidate your heterogeneous data into a consistent business view.•
Direct access: Leverage the information directly from existing sources including relational, OLAP, and other multidimensional sources.•
Enterprise Information Integration (EII): Access multiple disparate data sources in batch, historic, or real time. Use the built-in EII capability or thirdparty integration technologies.•
ETL: Integrate, cleanse, transform, and aggregate data for a consolidated historical view. A dimensional framework provides information formatted in the way business users think and optimized for all BI capabilities.Modern architecture, simplicity for IT
In addition to being the foundation for all BI capabilities, IBM Cognos 8 BI's open architecture extends to security, OLAP and relational data, application servers, Web applications, portals, networks, and metadata. Zero-footprint Web deployment further simplifies maintenance, upgrades, and use for IT and the business user. It does not require applets, downloads, or other client software installs, further simplifying the application of business intelligence in your company.
• Deploy one product on a single architecture for all business intelligence requirements. The standards-based architecture can snap into your existing IT environment.
• Add capabilities or modify them at any time to meet changing business conditions and user needs.
• Provide everyone across your organization with a single, trusted source for information.
• Eliminate the management and maintenance of duplicate services such as security.
• Centralized metadata model lets you apply consistent business rules, calculations, and dimensions to your data.
Increasing your return on investment (ROI )
"Just as you wouldn't choose a heart surgeon based on lowest cost, or an airlinebased on lowest amount of maintenance, you should not decide on IT based on the lowest cost of ownership
," says one analyst from Nucleus Research.1 Simplification and savings are primary objectives when standardizing. However, your new standard must address your business problems, and address them in the best way possible. IBM Cognos solutions have a proven track record of delivering return on investment and value from business intelligence. For example, by reducing product returns, a global pharmaceutical leader now saves more than $35 million annually using an IBM Cognos solution. A major manufacturer used IBM Cognos software to eliminate unprofitable product lines, saving £26 million in working capital requirements over a three-year period. And a Northern U.S. university used IBM Cognos software to identify $5 million in unbilled tuition.For software, ROI is affected by its ease of use and its breadth of capability to solve various business solutions. Standardization decisions should not center on compromise or finding least common denominators. Such methods diminish your chance of finding the best possible value.
The technology and vendor you select has to meet
all of today's requirements. Further, it must also have the capacity to evolve with your business to meet tomorrow's challenges. Your objective when standardizing is to find the company that does both. This typically does not mean the cheapest solution available, unless you want to change your standards every few years as your company changes.Instead, you should be examining both total costs and total benefits. Then you can make an informed decision about what solution will provide the greatest positive impact to the bottom line.
Comprehensive reporting coverage, ease-of-use, and enterprise architecture drove market acceptance of IBM Cognos ReportNet and the fact that many organizations selected it as their reporting standard. IBM Cognos 8 BI, built with the same architecture and ease of use, adds complete business intelligence capability coverage to the IBM Cognos ReportNet value proposition.
Neither IT nor business users should feel limited by their BI systems. Business users need to see the business the way they want. They don't want to drown in irrelevant information. They need to see the big picture and the necessary detail. IT's ability to control costs and deliver value should not be undermined by maintaining multiple BI systems. They don't want BI that only covers some of the data. They need software that has room to grow to meet tomorrow's demands.
IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence breaks through these limits and more. Business intelligence promises all users accessing all data, with all capabilities—understanding what happened, why, and determining what action should they take to help the organization succeed. This is the promise IBM Cognos 8 BI uniquely fulfils. It is the first to do so, and will be the industry standard all other solutions will attempt to match.
Seven risk dashboards every bank needs PART 3
In the wake of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), Basel II and other regulatory initiatives worldwide, risk management, corporate governance, and compliance are major focal points for management. Governance starts with performance. It reflects the highest-level balancing act for management: Are we performing to shareholder expectations? Risk starts with the flip side of performance: Are we successfully taking and managing the right risks to sustain this performance? Compliance sets the rules by which we must play: Are we complying with regulatory requirements?
Management must understand and balance these business forces to ensure longterm success with customers, investors, employees and the law. As companies begin to manage risk, they typically come to the conclusion that they cannot manage risk in an ad hoc manner by vertical business unit, by specific regulation or by domain; it becomes apparent that risk management must be conducted in a structured way and integrated throughout the whole enterprise. This entails a number of elements, such as the definition of risk; the formation of a risk oversight role, defined tolerances, policies and procedures for dealing with risk; the inclusion of risk as a factor in business decision-making; and the reporting of risk in a consistent manner.
Furthermore, risk management must be comprehensive and span all risks to understand and manage the interplay among various types of risks and the fact that certain events carry with them more than one type of risk. Financial risk is important, but reputational risk must be factored in as well. This means gaining clear insight into a host of reputation metrics such as customer attrition and satisfaction, negative press mentions, investor confidence, ad spend on brand, fines, lawsuits and more.
Management needs a clear understanding of the bank's major categories of risk and, most importantly, its level of exposure to these risks. Its ability to communicate these risks while instilling confidence in investors and regulators that it is managing them appropriately is critical. While risk appetite is what generates returns, regulators, customers and investors expect the controls for these risks to be solidly managed. An enterprise risk dashboard brings together all the key risk exposures— credit risk, operational risk, market risk, reputational risk and more. With this dashboard, management can review changes in exposure and evaluate the potential impact on capital allocation throughout the operation. Drilling down into the risk management decision areas gives management additional insight into inherent risk (such as loss events, loss amounts or risk assessments), and into the methods of responding to risk (such as avoidance, reduction, sharing and acceptance).
With IBM Cognos solutions, banks can answer the key questions that are critical to better profitability, investor relations, compliance, and overall performance. Fastgrowing, decentralized organizations can pull data from different sources quickly to accelerate decision-making and drive better risk management. With IBM Cognos software, you can invest in a solution that lets you:
• Report and visualize consolidated risk positions throughout the organization to support wider distribution and awareness.
• Analyze consolidated or individual risk profile by business unit, region, client, loan officer, risk class and more.
• Publish reports from centralized risk management group to risk managers, and allow self-service ad hoc reporting.
• Create and distribute KRI scorecards to support process change.
• Aggregate data from disparate risk environments.
• Receive timely notification of risk events, such as downgrades or crossing limits thresholds.
Whether you're the chief risk officer, vice president of a business unit or CFO, IBM Cognos software provides the tools you need to gain a competitive edge.
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BI CENTRE
http://bicentre.blogspot.com
Seven risk dashboards every bank needs PART 3
In the wake of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), Basel II and other regulatory initiatives worldwide, risk management, corporate governance, and compliance are major focal points for management. Governance starts with performance. It reflects the highest-level balancing act for management: Are we performing to shareholder expectations? Risk starts with the flip side of performance: Are we successfully taking and managing the right risks to sustain this performance? Compliance sets the rules by which we must play: Are we complying with regulatory requirements?
Management must understand and balance these business forces to ensure longterm success with customers, investors, employees and the law. As companies begin to manage risk, they typically come to the conclusion that they cannot manage risk in an ad hoc manner by vertical business unit, by specific regulation or by domain; it becomes apparent that risk management must be conducted in a structured way and integrated throughout the whole enterprise. This entails a number of elements, such as the definition of risk; the formation of a risk oversight role, defined tolerances, policies and procedures for dealing with risk; the inclusion of risk as a factor in business decision-making; and the reporting of risk in a consistent manner.
Furthermore, risk management must be comprehensive and span all risks to understand and manage the interplay among various types of risks and the fact that certain events carry with them more than one type of risk. Financial risk is important, but reputational risk must be factored in as well. This means gaining clear insight into a host of reputation metrics such as customer attrition and satisfaction, negative press mentions, investor confidence, ad spend on brand, fines, lawsuits and more.
Management needs a clear understanding of the bank's major categories of risk and, most importantly, its level of exposure to these risks. Its ability to communicate these risks while instilling confidence in investors and regulators that it is managing them appropriately is critical. While risk appetite is what generates returns, regulators, customers and investors expect the controls for these risks to be solidly managed. An enterprise risk dashboard brings together all the key risk exposures— credit risk, operational risk, market risk, reputational risk and more. With this dashboard, management can review changes in exposure and evaluate the potential impact on capital allocation throughout the operation. Drilling down into the risk management decision areas gives management additional insight into inherent risk (such as loss events, loss amounts or risk assessments), and into the methods of responding to risk (such as avoidance, reduction, sharing and acceptance).
With IBM Cognos solutions, banks can answer the key questions that are critical to better profitability, investor relations, compliance, and overall performance. Fastgrowing, decentralized organizations can pull data from different sources quickly to accelerate decision-making and drive better risk management. With IBM Cognos software, you can invest in a solution that lets you:
• Report and visualize consolidated risk positions throughout the organization to support wider distribution and awareness.
• Analyze consolidated or individual risk profile by business unit, region, client, loan officer, risk class and more.
• Publish reports from centralized risk management group to risk managers, and allow self-service ad hoc reporting.
• Create and distribute KRI scorecards to support process change.
• Aggregate data from disparate risk environments.
• Receive timely notification of risk events, such as downgrades or crossing limits thresholds.
Whether you're the chief risk officer, vice president of a business unit or CFO, IBM Cognos software provides the tools you need to gain a competitive edge.
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BI CENTRE
http://cognos8help.blogspot.com
Seven risk dashboards every bank needs PART 2
It provides dashboards for a host of risk factors including the following critical three:
With the loan origination dashboard, banks can see at-a-glance the volume and characteristics of new loan originations, such as credit scores and loan-to-value calculations throughout the portfolio. With this information in hand, companies can assess if they are taking on too much risk in certain business units, and find out if they are too heavily weighted in certain geographies or on specific products.
Once they understand the risk involved in loan originations, the bank can then create sales and marketing strategies to target different areas and emphasize different products.
Central to a bank's profitability is the ability to manage cash flow and credit quality by monitoring delinquencies, roll rates, and vintage information spanning credit cards, mortgages, consumer loans and a host of other products. Equally important is to have perspective that spans multiple business units and geographies. With IBM Cognos Credit Risk Performance, banks see this information in 30-day buckets and can better assess seriously late 60-to 90-day delinquencies, dig deeper to find details about problem areas in the portfolio and set a plan for getting them current. Failing that, the bank can then move into debt-collection efforts.
Banks also need to look at the natural lending cycle from start to finish. They need deep insight into progressions from delinquencies to charge-offs. By looking at charge-offs from a host of dimensions including regions, products and circumstances— such as foreclosures or repossessions— they can understand the "why" behind losses and create meaningful strategies to avoid them in the future.
They can also look at charge offs from the perspective of gross charge-offs versus net charge-offs to understand the real losses involved.
The Basel II Capital Accord ties a bank's capital more closely with its economic risks. The Accord, a refinement of earlier international regulation, strives to stabilize the banking industry by ensuring consistency and competitiveness among banks.The concept is simple: the more sophisticated a banks' risk management approach and, perhaps more importantly, its ability to demonstrate it, the less capital it must set aside to cover losses such as defaults. This minimum capital requirement is the
first of the three pillars of Basel II, the second being internal controls and the third, market discipline and external disclosure.
Banks rarely have a shortage of risk management expertise, technology, or data. The issue lies in consolidating and communicating it, within the company and externally to regulators and to the market. IBM Cognos software unifies data from disparate systems into a single, consistent repository optimized for the risk analysis and reporting the later stages demand. A single metadata layer and conformed dimensions help you ensure the data quality and accuracy that regulators will require. Banks can also model capital requirements to optimize their mix of products, regions, and customers for maximum profits.
With IBM Cognos software, banks can get a full picture of key metrics associated with Basel II, including:
•
Probability of Default – Classify the portfolio into a series of ranges that indicates each loan's likelihood of default.•
Exposure at Default (EAD) – Indicate total exposure a bank can expect if a loan goes into default.•
Loss Given Default – Understand percentage of exposure at default that wouldn't be recovered (net loss). Compare with types of loans that have higher chance of default ratios (e.g., credit cards).•
Expected Loss – Measure loss that your bank can expect.•
Capital Ratios – Monitor capital in reserve (percentage of loan revenue) and the liquid assets available to protect from a financial downturn.By monitoring risk more closely, financial institutions can not only meet regulatory demands, but also minimize the required amount of reserve capital, thus maximizing their profitability. To properly monitor enterprise risk, firms must take into account the entire scope of business activity, throughout all business units and functions. They must define and track multiple credit, market, and operational risk metrics commonly known as key risk indicators (KRIs). To generate the risk metrics, they must collect, aggregate and analyze vast amounts of data in multiple transactional and historical systems. And as exceptions occur, alerts must be sent out quickly so that immediate corrective action can be taken and losses minimized.
Unfortunately, many of today's controls are based on stale information and data latencies, leaving banks open to fines from regulatory agencies and huge financial exposure. Instead of waiting weeks for information that reveals suspicious activity, banks must be able to monitor daily transaction activity in real time so they can react appropriately and immediately to problematic situations.
Operational dashboards provide visibility into the financial process and present CFOs, risk managers and compliance officers with the information required to act when specific risk events or suspicious behavior occur. With IBM Cognos operational dashboards, you can monitor key risk metrics such as Value at Risk, portfolio allocation and market data. You can also monitor key business events such as orders, wire transfers, account modifications and trading behavior changes, and relate those events to historical information, alerting your people to exception conditions as they occur. You can also look at IT risk, for example, the risk of failure of core systems or Web sites, which could cost a bank millions per day.
With operational risk management you can:
• Monitor broker activities for compliance and fraud.
• Discover and report unauthorized IPO allocations.
• Monitor continuous activity and call volume at customer call centers to discover and prevent potential customer service problems.
• Assure that the trade being settled is the trade that was made.
• Minimize penalties by ensuring that all transactions are settled in the required timeframe.
• Comply with Basel II risk management profiling and compliance.
• Aggregate trading positions and desk-level risk management systems to provide a single holistic view of the firm's risk profile.
• Integrate continuous market and trade activity information to analyze risk of exposure in real time.
• Improve hedge positions by linking continuous rate lock information with portfolio positions for funds management and investment decisions.
Market risks occur when assets and liabilities change value due to changes in market factors. These risks include:
•
Equity risk – The risk that equity prices will change.•
Interest rate risk – The risk that interest rates will vary.•
Currency risk – The risk that the currency exchange rate will change.•
Commodity risk – The risk of price fluctuations for commodities such as metals, oil, agricultural products, etc.The key issue is not simply to identify market risk factors, but to quantify the risk and develop approaches or strategies to address them. One common valuation methodology is Value at Risk, which looks at the likelihood an asset's value will decrease over a period of time. Others include shortfall probability, downside risk (semivariance) and volatility. Risk management executives will need to be aware of the inherent strengths, weaknesses and sensitivities associated with each method.
It may also be useful to compare market risk with other risks to understand various risk priorities. For example, how does market risk compare with specific industry risk, which measures industry changes rather than systemic market risk?
Whatever the method, managers who have access to better information on market detail and segmentation will be better equipped to identify and mitigate risk. Only by clearly understanding the various business streams and positions can managers implement an effective risk management strategy. The increasing trend towards market specialization has led many banks to redefine their business strategies and focus on core capability and, by extension, core risk competencies.
For example, many banks will actively hedge their portfolio risk to immunize against asset/liability mismatches. Others will focus on building an asset portfolio, which is then securitized and managed by specialists. Depending on its strategy, a bank can now more effectively decide what market risk it wishes to manage or assume. Risks that fall outside these parameters are avoided by transferring them to a third party.
With IBM Cognos software, risk managers can get full insight into equity, interest rate, currency, and commodity risk along with metrics for:
• Market Value at Risk (VaR) of all exchange traded, debt and OTC instruments.
• Annual average assets.
• Total funds under management.
• Sensitivities for foreign exchange, bonds, swaps, and options.
END PART 2
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BI CENTRE
http://bicentre.blogspot.com
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