Cognos10x TipsNTricks

IBM Cognos 10 Analysis for Microsoft Excel

2011-08-23T22:23:00.000-07:00

IBM Cognos Analysis for Microsoft Excel brings the benefits of enterprise business intelligence (BI) to your Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. It provides a way for business analysts, financial analysts, line-of-business managers, users on the front line and others to take advantage of Microsoft Excel to perform analysis in a familiar format. Cognos Analysis for Microsoft Excel can apply the complete spectrum

of Excel capabilities to your secure BI data to avoid multiple versions of the truth, data entry errors and security issues. With Cognos Analysis for Microsoft Excel, users can work in their spreadsheets using trusted information from IBM Cognos Business Intelligence, along with data from other sources.

IBM Cognos 10, Cognos Analysis for Microsoft Excel features an interface that is easy to navigate, personalize and use. You gain a managed view of information from multiple heterogeneous data sources, including planning and consolidation and dimensionally modeled relational data sources—all in one place.

Using Cognos Analysis for Microsoft Excel, users can explore and analyze multidimensional data in a familiar Microsoft Excel workspace, taking advantage of all of Microsoft Excel’s features.

Cognos Analysis for Microsoft Excel enables you to review data and build reports and dashboards on your own. You do not need IT support to combine business intelligence data with data from other sources.

With Cognos Analysis for Microsoft Excel, you can express information as formulas in Microsoft Excel. It also provides the ability to manage query parameters to take full advantage of cell-based layouts.

IBM Cognos 10 Business Insight Advanced

2011-08-12T00:14:00.000-07:00

IBM Cognos Business 10 Insight Advanced is a web-based tool that is used by advanced business users and professional report authors and analysts to create and analyze reports.

IBM Cognos Business 10 Insight Advanced allows users to create reports using relational or dimensional styles. However, it is important that you choose a reporting style that helps users make the most of their data and avoid mixing dimensional and relational concepts; otherwise, reports can display unpredictable results.

This tool allows users to work with both relational and dimensional data sources, as well as external data, and allows them to show their data in lists, crosstabs, and charts. This tool also allows users to take advantage of the interactive exploration and analysis features while they build reports.

IBM Cognos 10 Business Insight Advanced is not a replacement for IBM Cognos Query Studio or IBM Cognos Analysis Studio. If you have reports that were created in these studios, you must recreate a new version of the reports in IBM Cognos Business Insight Advanced if you want to use this studio for those reports. Otherwise Business Insight Advanced is an extension and replacement for the former Report Studio Express authoring mode.

All of the functionality of Analysis Studio, Query Studio, Report Studio Express, and more, has been condensed into Business Insight Advanced.

IBM Cognos 10 Active Report

2011-08-10T23:10:00.000-07:00

IBM Cognos 10 Active Report is a disconnected and interactive report that is developed for employees in the field and growing ranks of telecommuters and business partners who are not connected to an intranet and need information and analytics to make quick decisions and actions.

IBM Cognos Report Studio to create active reports. IBM Cognos Active Report is a report output type that provides a highly interactive and easy-to-use managed report. Report authors build reports that are targeted at users’ needs, keeping the user experience simple and engaging.

How it works

Click the developed Active Report in IBM Cognos Connection and then select download to local storage. The file has a .mht extension.

Send the .mht file to the business partner by email.

To open an active report right-click the file, and select appropriate browser (for example, Internet Explorer (V7 or higher) or Mozilla Firefox (with UnMHT).

In order to allow for offline interactivity by the end user, all the data that may be viewed by the end user through report prompts must be stored in the output file.

In addition, the entire data set needed to support the report is published in the self contained MHT file. This eliminates the need to interact with larger and potentially slower data sources and provides rapid performance for small and medium sized reports (more on this later). The development of these reports leverages the existing skill sets of your organizations Report Studio developers. There are no limitations on the quantity or type of data sources in your report, as this functionality is unchanged from that of any standard report developed in Report Studio. Many of the capabilities that were available to developers through report studio remain, so the ability to meet strict business requirements, calculations, and layouts is still available. From an end user perspective, there are no additional skills needed to begin consuming and working with active reports.

IBM Cognos 10 Statistics

2011-08-10T03:01:00.000-07:00

Powered by the trusted market-leading IBM SPSS Statistics engine, Cognos Statistics incorporates statistical results with core business reporting, reducing the time it takes to analyze data and prepare business presentations based on that analysis. Cognos Statistics also helps you ensure that the statistical evidence that backs key business decisions is accurate and can be delivered easily to broader business communities in dashboards and reports.

IBM Cognos Statistics is integrated into IBM Cognos Report Studio, analysts no longer need to extract standardized trusted data from their business intelligence (BI) data warehouse into a separate tool to analyze and report on statistical information. Now, analysts can assemble reports containing statistical information easily and distribute the information across the enterprise, saving valuable time.

Features

Wizard-driven statistical analysis seamlessly integrated in reports

Graphical representations of the shape and distribution of data

Statistical process control

Data analysis and testing

Functions of IBM Cognos 10 Statistics

Descriptive Statistics - Descriptive Statistics quantitatively summarize a data set.

Mean - The arithmetic mean is the sum of samples divided by the number of cases.

Std. Deviation - A measure of dispersion around the mean.

Median - Half of the cases fall above the median, and half of the cases fall below the median.

Minimum - The smallest value of a numeric variable.

Maximum - The largest value of a numeric variable.

Boxplot

A boxplot, which is also known as a “box-and-whisker” chart, is a convenient way to show groups of numerical data

Histogram

Histograms display the range of variable values in intervals of equal length

Q-Q Plot

You can create a quartile-quartile (Q-Q) plot to chart the quartiles of a variable’s distribution against a distribution of your choice, including the normal distribution

Means comparison

You can compare the means of two or more groups to determine if the difference between the groups is statistically significant, that is, if the difference is due to something other than random chance.

One-Sample t-Test

The One-Sample t-Test tests the probability that the difference between the sample mean and a test value is due to chance.

One-Way ANOVA

You can use One-Way ANOVA to assess whether groups of means differ significantly. ANOVA assumes that there is homogeneity of variance, that is, that the variance within each of the groups is equal.

Nonparametric tests

You use nonparametric tests to compare frequencies in categorical data.

One-Way Chi-Square Test

One-Way Chi-Square Tests, which are also known as chi-square goodness-of-fit tests, compare observed frequencies against expected frequencies using data from a single categorical variable.

Two-Way Chi-Square Test

Two-Way Chi-Square Tests, which are also known as chi-square tests of independence, compare observed frequencies against expected frequencies using data from two categorical variables.

Correlation and Regression

Correlation and regression analysis let you examine relationships between variables.

Basic Correlation

Basic Correlation is a measure of association between two variables.

Linear Regression

Linear Regression examines the relationship between one dependent variable and one or more independent variables.

Curve Estimation

You can choose one or more curve estimation regression models:

Linear

Logarithmic

Inverse

Quadratic

Cubic

Power

Compound

Logistic

Growth

Exponential

Control Charts

Control Charts plot samples of your process output collected over time to show you whether a process is in control or out of control.

X bar

R chart

S chart

Moving range,

Individuals

p chart

np chart

c chart

u chart

IBM Cognos 10 Business Insight (Advanced Features)

2011-08-08T22:33:00.000-07:00

Assembly &Formatting

Business managers can quickly and easily create dashboards by pull together a few key reports to share with the team without having professional report writer. Once items have been added to a Business Insight canvas, users may choose to manipulate the content as follows:

Chart types can be changed,

Lists / Crosstabs can be converted to charts

Color palettes can be changed

Grouping can be carried out Resizing can be done

Interactivity & Analysis

Customize the look and feel of information by changing chart types, adding calculations, or formatting the results. Analyze this information further in context to what I’m doing without needing to start from scratch. Once content has been added additional analysis can be performed without having to hop to a different studio.

Drill Up / Down

Filter

Calculations

Sorting

To access more interaction there is the ‘Do More’ function which will take the user to Business Insight Advanced. Once the activities have been completed simply press the ‘Done’ button to take you back to Business Insight.

Insight Share & Collaborate

Add comments and assumptions to information to provide additional clarity for the rest of the team. Comments can now be added to Reports or Report Widgets Individual cells or data items in reports or report parts (only in Lists or Crosstabs)

Export Content to share with others in the following formats:

Excel, PDF, CSV, XML

Collaboration Hub

Business Insight is now a launch-point for Lotus Connections

IBM Cognos 10 user interfaces

2011-08-08T04:25:00.000-07:00

IBM Cognos 10 user interfaces

IBM Cognos BI includes following web based and Windows-based user interfaces that provide a business intelligence.

IBM Cognos Business Insight (web based)

With IBM Cognos Business Insight, you can create sophisticated interactive dashboards using IBM Cognos content.

IBM Cognos Business Insight Advanced (web based)

IBM Cognos Business Insight Advanced is a web-based tool that is used by advanced business users and professional report authors and analysts to create and analyze reports.

IBM Cognos Report Studio (web based)

Using IBM Cognos Report Studio, report authors can create, edit, and distribute a wide range of professional reports.

IBM Cognos Query Studio (web based)

IBM Cognos Query Studio is used for creating adhoc reports.

IBM Cognos Analysis Studio (web based)

With IBM Cognos Analysis Studio, users can explore and analyze data from different dimensions of their business.

IBM Cognos Event Studio (web based)

In IBM Cognos Event Studio, you set up agents to monitor your data and perform tasks when business events or exceptional conditions occur in your data.

IBM Cognos Metric Studio (web based)

In IBM Cognos Metric Studio, you can create and deliver a customized score carding environment for monitoring and analyzing metrics throughout your

organization.

IBM Cognos Administration (web based)

IBM Cognos Administration is a central management interface that contains the administrative tasks for IBM Cognos BI.

IBM Cognos Framework Manager (Windows based)

IBM Cognos Framework Manager is the IBM Cognos BI modeling tool for creating and managing business related metadata for use in IBM Cognos BI analysis and reporting.

IBM Cognos Transformer (Windows based)

IBM Cognos Transformer is the IBM Cognos BI dimensional modeling tool for Designing and creating cubes for use in IBM Cognos BI analysis and reporting.

IBM Cognos Mobile

2011-08-08T03:53:00.000-07:00

Cognos Mobile supports the following mobile technologies1:

BlackBerry

iPhone

iPad

Nokia devices using the Symbian operating system

Windows Mobile operating system

Enhanced user experience

Cognos Mobile offers a familiar Cognos Business Intelligence interface for users. It processes each BI report that it receives and renders it mobile-friendly. No additional authoring, special formatting or other device-specific adaptations are required

Interactive user interface

Users have a rich, interactive BI experience, and can fully interact with BI content using the following:

Drill up/down

Drill through

Zoom in/out

Cell highlights

Cognos Mobile also supports a comprehensive list of prompt types, including:

Basic (text box, list, etc.)

Multiselect

Range

Tree

Search and select

In-page cascades

Multiselect Range

Prompt Page layout

Cognos Mobile includes the following security measures:

Standard Cognos data encryption

Standard Cognos authentication, including support for custom Cognos authentication providers

Lease key technology

Device user authentication policies

Device-based mobile encrypted database

Standard device-specific secure data transmission and encryption

Device-based password protection

Remote locking function for the device database

Remote device wiping