​Cognos Non-Production License - Do I need one?

A Cognos non-production License environment is any development or test environment that is not used for a production environment. A non-production environment allows for development of models, testing of changes, or new functionality without impacting the production system that users are actively using.

It is possible to complete development and testing in a production system, but it can be difficult to keep your TM1 models or BI packages in sync if you have them in the same environment as production. What is the risk of pushing out changes that are not completely tested? What if security is not established completely and new models are visible to people who should not have access to confidential data like salaries? The risk is that you lose credibility and the trust of senior management.

As an analytics coach, I am often asked, "Do we really need a non-production environment for our Business Analytics deployment?"

Trust is difficult to build but easy to destroy.

Ideally, you will have multiple environments. The first environment should be for development of new content and models, Development. The second environment should be for testing which is often called Test or Quality Assurance (QA). When people are testing, there should be no changes being made by developers or it destroys the integrity of the testing. Therefore, a QA or Test environment should be different than Development environment. You may want to configure the QA or Test with the same hardware configuration as your Production environment as this will allow for performance testing.

Like many software companies, IBM Cognos does require clients to purchase Cognos Non-Production License to cover their non-production environment if they are using Cognos Express, Performance Management/TM1, or if their Enterprise BI licenses are PVU licenses. If your licenses are all Enterprise BI authorized users, the authorized users have legal rights to be used in multiple environments without requiring an additional non-production license. Where Express is concerned, there is a non-production connector. For Performance Management/TM1 Enterprise version, the non-production is a Processor Value Unit (PVU) license.

​Cognos Non-Production License

I realize for many of you purchasing non-production license may not be in your budget. However, I strongly encourage you to invest in at least one non-production environment to test patches, new models or reports, and security. When building your request for funding of a non-prod environment, consider incorporating the following benefits in your request:

• Minimize risk of accidentally deleting live data with changes or patches
• Testing Bug, Patches, and new Releases
• Validate the Application of Security Settings
• Confirming modified or new calculations are correct and that data is flowing properly
• Restrict data viewing during testing so confidential data is only loaded in production
• Test and validate new interfaces to subsystems

As you know, you should never release un-tested models, changes, or reports in production. Investing in a non-production solution minimizes your risk, reduces the stress on core team members, and provides you the security your organization should require.

If you would like to discuss how you can leverage a non-production environment or how to get funding for a non-production environment or non-production licensing that you may need, email Sales@LodestarSolutions.com to set up a call to discuss your options.

Did you like this blog onthe need for a Cognos non-production License? If so, then check out this blog on a virtual enviroment needing the ILMT tool by clicking here.