Cognos 10 Beta Test
IBM-Cognos Business Intelligence products have undergone sustained research & development for roughly 10-12 years leading to enhancements in the current platform. The Congos 10 platform has matured initially from reporting and ad-hoc query on relational data using Report Studio and Query Studio, to added capabilities such as, event management and data analysis, including the use of Multidimensional data sources in Cognos 8, via Event Studio, Analysis Studio and PowerPlay Studio. Cognos 8 also introduced the integration of the IBM-Cognos Planning, IBM-Cognos Controller, and IBM-Cognos TM1 products which were previously not integrated.
The recent release of Cognos 10 includes some of the most impactful new features in a decade of product development. After our Beta testing with Cognos 10 JCB sees the most powerful new features are the Interactive and Offline Dashboarding and the integration of Statistical functions leveraging the SPSS Predictive Analytics capabilities:
Business Insight and Insight Advanced are some of the new and compelling Dashboarding capabilities delivered as new Studios in Cognos 10 Business Intelligence. They enable rapid dashboard development and allow users to take data offline while maintaining the interactive and graphical nature of best-practice Dashboards. For those upgrading, these dashboards can consume content from other, various Cognos 8 outputs such as Report Studio.
Cognos 10 Business Intelligence Statistics provides advanced functions inside of Report Studio. The SPSS statistical engine is embedded in the product and can quickly leverage existing data sources and queries.
Considering Upgrading?
If you are thinking about upgrading from Cognos 8 Business Intelligence, there are some factors to consider:
- Although not confirmed, given our past experiences and our Beta testing results, we perceive Statistics in IBM-Cognos 10 Business Intelligence as a net new cost to upgrade. In other words, if you don't license it as part of your upgrade, you most likely will not have access to them. Since the software has been released, we understand Business Insight requires Enhanced Consumer rights, something that not all customers have purchased.
- The charting capabilities in Cognos 10 Business Intelligence are completely re-vamped over version 8. Existing chart types are richer visually and in functionality. New chart types are also available.
- Improvements have been made to query performance through the introduction of Dynamic Query mode which seeks to leverage 64-bit based technology. Since the software has been released, the release to C10 is known to have Dynamic Query ability to OLAP sources: TM1, SAP BW and Oracle Essbase.
- From a user perspective the Statistical functions now available via the SPSS application is a totally new capability and not one that traditional BI administrators, developers or business users are always familiar with.
- JCB has experienced a few clients that wanted to load local user spreadsheets to compare or use as an input file to filter a Cognos report. Cognos 10 now provides that ability. While this could technically have been done in the past, it was not as easy or scalable as Cognos 10 Business Intelligence now makes it.
While upgrades are not to be taken lightly and should be tested in a proof of concept like setting, the platform itself is largely intact and should not require a very different skill set from what was needed in Cognos 8 with the exception of Statistics. If you are changing piece-parts, like adding a TM1 server (servers) to the architecture or adding/removing studios, be prepared for new and different challenges.
JCB Partners is an award winning IBM Premier partner. Prior to the IBM acquisition of Cognos, JCB was a Platinum partner with Cognos. It is our unique experience with both IBM and Cognos that led to JCB being selected as a pre-release Beta Tester for Cognos 10 Business Intelligence Platform. JCB Partners performed various functionality test and team training during our Beta Period. We also migrated our vertical solutions, such as Retail Pathways analytics application to help us better understand the intricacies and enhancements of upgrading to Cognos 10. As a Beta release partner JCB Partners offers unique insights and valuable information for clients seeking to learn more about Cognos 10.
