IBM Cognos BI

Bursting Reports in Cognos BI with Version 10 & 11

February 7, 2019November 9, 2016 by Heather Cole

11/9/2016

Do you find yourself spending exorbitant amounts of time sending multiple reports to multiple people? Maybe you have a report that you have to manually slice to get to the right people? Do you want that time back to spend analyzing and providing real value to your organization? Bursting reports in Cognos BI may be a great time savings option for you!

Make Sure You Have a Burst Table or Fields Created

The first step in setting up bursting in either version 10 or 11, is to make sure that you have burst receipts available. You can do this by setting them up in a data warehouse table or through creating a calculated field that contains the info you need. You will need an email address, name and some sort of ID field that is used in your reports.

Now that we have the burst tables or fields created, it is time to build your report. Keep in mind that your report will need the data points for the burst table. In the example above, we are building a report based on product line code and the associated recipient. To save time, we will only build 1 report with all of the data that can be sliced on the product line code and distributed to the associated email address. With your report built, it is time set up bursting. Please check out the instructions below associated with the version of Cognos BI you are utilizing.

IBM Cognos Analytics 11 – Set up in Report

With the “Burst Options” open, you need to supply the query that contains the burst groups and the recipient. Identify the data item and the type of burst receipt. You will also need to drag the data item that represents the burst id to the group field. Lastly, if the report contains two nested data containers, you will need to set up the master detail relationship. You can find more data on master detail relationships at the IBM Knowledge Center site.

IBM Cognos Analytics 11 – Enable in Cognos

With the report set up to burst, we now need to enable bursting and set the output. Find the location of your saved report and click the more icon and then the “Run as” option.

Enable run in the background, choose the format of the report and then click into the advanced area. In this area, ensure that you have selected burst the report and then set the delivery method as seen below.

If you want to send by email, you can choose how it is delivered and write a message in the email body. You can also have the report printed or save it to a specific spot on the system. Now that you have set up bursting, you can schedule this to be automatically sent whenever you want. For more on scheduling BI reports, check out our blog HERE. Furthermore, you can read more about bursting reports HERE.

IBM Cognos BI 10 – Set up in Report

Like in Cognos 11, you need to set the report up for bursting. Follow the above guidelines on building your report for bursting and then click file and burst options. With the burst options open, you need to supply the query that contains the burst groups and the recipient. Identify the data item and the type of burst receipt. You will also need to drag the data item that represents the burst id to the group field. Lastly, if the report contains two nested data containers, you will need to set up the master detail relationship. You can find more data on master detail relationships and bursting by visiting the IBM Knowledge Center.

IBM Cognos BI 10 – Enable in Cognos

From Cognos Connection, find your burst enabled report and click the more button. Next, click run with options. In the options area, select the format of report you want to burst and the type of delivery. In order to have the burst option you will need to choose something other than “view the report now”. Once selected, click on advanced options. You should be here:

The next step is to ensure you have the correct format of the report and will need to click the “burst the report” box. Next choose the deliver option(s) and then any options within that delivery type and you are all set to burst. To fully automate it, click on the schedule icon in Cognos connections and schedule your report to automatically run on the days and times you choose. You can read more about scheduling reports HERE.

By taking the time to build your reports correctly and use options like bursting, you can save numerous hours per week or per month. As a result, you will be utilizing that time to analyze data and provide more value to your organization.

And here's your call to action...

*If you are current on your IBM Cognos support, then you already own Cognos Analytics (Cognos 11), Release 4. For more information on Cognos Analytics, check out last week’s blog HERE!

Should you be looking to upgrade or if you are considering adding Cognos Analytics to your organization, we highly suggest giving us a call so we can guide you through the processes needed. Feel free to contact us at Coaching@LodestarSolutions.com or call us at 813-254-2040.

Scheduling Reports in Cognos BI with Version 10 and 11

February 7, 2019September 7, 2016 by Heather Cole

9/7/2016

Do you have lots of reports that need to be run daily and you sometimes forget to run them or send them out? Think you need more time in your day? Did you know that scheduling reports in Cognos BI is a simple process that can automate sending reports and save you time? Below I will take you through the easy steps of scheduling your reports in both IBM Cognos Analytics 11 and IBM Cognos 10.

IBM Cognos Analytics 11

In IBM Cognos Analytics 11, scheduling reports is now call subscriptions. There are a number of different options to consume reports and if you want to email them you will need to have your Cognos BI administrator ensure that the email server is set up through IBM Cognos Configuration. Now that we have that set up, I will take you through the simple steps!

1. Open the report you want to subscribe to and click on the …(more) and click subscribe.

2. As the subscribe menu comes up you will see a number of different options.

3. Choose the day or days you want the report generated or sent.

4. Choose the time of day you want the report generated or sent.

5. Chose the format of the report – you can choose more than one.

6. Choose the type of delivery for the report – you can choose more than one.

7. You have now scheduled this report to be sent, saved or printed and it will run based on the schedule you provided.

8. To see a list of scheduled reports, click on the Cognos icon at the top and then click my subscriptions.

9. To modify or delete – click on the down arrow next to the modified date.

10. In the notification area, you will be alerted to all generated reports.

11. You can click on the links and be taken directly to your reports or check your email or printer!

IBM Cognos 10

Much like Cognos 11, Cognos 10 has the ability to schedule reports to save you time and frustration. The steps are similar and explained below. As with Cognos 11, you will need to ensure that your Cognos administrator has your email server set up through IBM Cognos Configuration.

1. In Cognos Connection, find the report you want to schedule and click on the schedule icon located on the far right of the below picture.

2. Schedule menu has many different options starting with the time period and time.

3. Next, choose options for the schedule. Within the options you can choose the type of report to be delivered and the type of delivery.

4. Set any prompt values you might have in your report.

5. You can check what reports you have scheduled by clicking on the preference icon and then choose my activities and schedules.

6. You can find your reports in Cognos connection, your email or on the printer!

As you can see, the instructions are a little different for Cognos 11 and 10 and there are certain things not yet available in Cognos 11. However, no matter the version you own, by spending a few minutes to set up your reports on a schedule can save you lots of time in your day!

Check out THIS LINK to learn more about scheduling reports in Cognos BI.

Follow this link if you would like to read about schedule management.

To take your BI system to the next level, check out our blog on Dashboards 101 or feel free to reach out to us at Services@lodestarsolutions.com.

IBM Cognos software and Law Firm KPIs

February 7, 2019August 5, 2016 by Heather Cole

8/15/2016

We at Lodestar Solutions get asked by law firm clients what should they be doing with IBM Cognos software specifically their TM1 and/or IBM Cognos BI? The answer usually is, “a lot more than what you are probably doing”. Many times they use TM1 to plan budgets, but under-utilize it for streamlining data analysis. Other times they use IBM Cognos BI to create all kinds of jazzy reports that only tell a story about the past. For those that already own IBM Cognos software, expand your usage and get all that you can from your investment. For those that are looking for tools to solve their KPI reporting needs and especially for legal firms wanting to determine the best law firm KPIs, IBM Cognos can do it. With IBM Cognos, you can create your financial dashboard, performance dashboard, and KPI analysis on top of meeting your budget and forecasting needs.

Here is an excerpt from the American Bar Association regarding key law firm KPIs reporting. While this does not specifically mention IBM Cognos software, it definitely has good points you can take away. Check the list and see if you can currently answer questions for these KPIs in your firm. If you can, are you getting them answered timely enough? If you can’t answer them, is it due to lack of access to source data? Is data not being captured? Is there no time to produce answers? Do you not have the tools or just no one was asking?

Three criteria to qualify as law firm KPIs:

It must be key to the firm's success.
It has to be quantifiable.
It must reflect the firm's strategies and goals.

However, we would offer a couple of cautionary notes, with the most important being that law firm KPIs should serve as a guide and not a hitching post. KPIs are simply a tool. They are no substitute for the use of common sense and good judgment when it comes to the management of your law firm.

LEADING OR LAGGING INDICATORS

To translate this point into meaningful terms to firms, the following chart divides a sample of common law firm KPIs into the two categories:

LAGGING KPIs	LEADING KPIs
Fees billed in a month	Number of matters opened
Hours billed	Hours worked
Cash receipts	Number of average days billing in lockup*
Revenue per lawyer	Number of matters per client; number of lawyers billed per client; number of types of matters billed to clients
Effective hourly rate	Average fee per matter; average fee per new matter; ratio of average billed to average worked rate (realization)

*This is the sum of the unbilled work in progress and accounts receivable divided by the average fees billed on a daily basis for the past 12 months on a rolling basis (the most recent 365 days, not a fixed year).

Table 1: Business Development KPIs

WHAT	WHY	HOW
Client Growth Rate	This is a simple measurement to quickly determine if your practice’s client base is growing, or whether growth in revenue has all come from existing clients. This helps firms to focus their business development spend accordingly.	This is the ratio of the number of clients that the firm handled its first matter in the past 12 months to the total number of active clients (active can be defined as having handled a matter for in two of the past three years).
Average Fee per Client	You would track this to see if your client legal spend with you is growing, flat or declining. It allows you to think about whether the change is rate-driven, client-driven, etc., and then you can respond accordingly.	This is the fee revenue for the year divided by the number of clients billed during the year.
Average Fee per New Client	Firms use this indicator to measure whether the clients being added are contributing to the overall revenue growth as it is, compared to the same ratio for existing clients, from a cost-of-doing-business perspective; in the long term, firms want to generate more revenue from fewer clients.	This is the related fee revenue for the year divided by the number of new clients (clients that the firm handled its first matter for in the past 12 months).
Number of Matters per Client	Firms use this as another indicator of growth, because of the focus on existing clients and the ease and lower cost of generating work from them, compared with searching for and landing new clients.	This is the ratio of number of matters billed to the number of clients billed and is calculated by dividing the former by the latter.
Client Retention	Again, firms use this as another indicator of the health of the practice, because of the focus on existing clients and the ease and lower cost of generating work from them, compared with searching for and landing new clients.	This is the ratio of number of clients billed in the last 12 months to the same clients that had been billed in the 12 months before that.
Growth in Top Clients	Firms, while growing the business, also want to make sure they don’t become overdependent on any one or small group of clients that could adversely impact the firm’s finances if those clients left. Also, firms want to understand where the bulk of their fees are coming from and where they should focus the bulk of their business development efforts.	This is the ratio of fees billed to top 100 clients (number can be adjusted to size of firm) in the past 12 months to the fees billed to the top 100 clients in the 12 months prior to that.
Dormant Client Percentage	Clients that you once had are the easiest ones to pursue for new work, so this is important for that reason and also as an early warning sign of whether you have a quality-of service issue to follow up on.	This is the ratio of the number of clients that the firm has not handled a matter for in two of the past three years to the number of total clients.

Table 2: Productive KPIs

WHAT	WHY	HOW
Percentage of Partners' Hours	Firms track this to see who is doing the work in their firms, to address potential issues such as work delegation, complement imbalance, etc. It is seen to be an overall barometer to determine whether partners are working harder or smarter.	This is the ratio of partners' hours worked to the total hours worked by all timekeepers.
Billable Hours per Full-Time Equivalent Timekeeper	This measure is more relevant than just measuring change in gross billable hours, as the total hours can increase as a result of more timekeepers, but the actual workload per lawyer could be shrinking, resulting in firms facing a situation of more lawyers than work and an imbalance in their complement.	This is calculated by taking the gross number of billable hours worked by paralegals, associates and partners and dividing by the number of full-time equivalents in each category.
Ratio of Average Billed to Average Standard Rate	Firms use this for a variety of reasons, including extrapolating what the likely impact will be on billed fees of potential rate increases, as an early warning flag of possible quality issues depending on the magnitude of the gap between billed and standard, and to see if there is a billing issue.	This is the ratio of the average billed hourly rate for a timekeeping category—which is calculated by dividing fees actually billed by the hours billed—to the average standard hourly rate for the category of timekeeper— which is the value carried in work in progress of the hours that were billed.
Billings per Full- Time Equivalent	Some firms look at this in conjunction with their average overhead to ensure profitability is being achieved, to identify potentially underperforming timekeeper groups, to balance complements, and to determine appropriate levels of compensation.	This is calculated by dividing the gross amount of fee billings by paralegals, associates and partners by the number of full-time equivalents in their respective categories.
Billable Hours per Legal Assistant	Firms use this as a basis for targeting staff levels and increasing or reducing existing complement on a basis that most lawyers understand—the billable hour.	This is calculated by dividing the total billable hours for all timekeepers by the number of legal assistants.
Number of Matters Opened	Firms, particularly those not driven by billable hours, use this as another measurement of workload, often in conjunction with the Average Fee per Matter.	This is calculated by totaling up the number of new matters opened in the past 12-month period and comparing it to similar totals from prior years.

Table 3: Financial KPIs

WHAT	WHY	HOW
Net Income Ratio	Firms use this for a variety of reasons, including the direction their overhead is going, as a benchmark of profitability that is not subject to the manipulations of how many partners one has today, and as a comparative for compensation.	This is the ratio of the firm's net income (income prior to any distributions to partners) divided by the total fee billings of all timekeepers.
Average Net Overhead	This is the net cost that each partner must cover before any profits are generated by his or her billings. It is a handy tool for putting relativity into compensation levels.	This is calculated by taking the total expenses of the firm before any distributions or salaries are paid to partners minus the billings of all nonpartner timekeepers. This number is then divided by the number of partner full-time equivalents (equity and nonequity
Unbilled Days	Firms use this KPI to measure the length of time it takes to bill the work they do.	This is calculated by dividing the fee portion of unbilled work in progress by average billings per day (which is calculated by dividing the firm's total fee billings for the past 12 months by 365 days).
Uncollected Days	Firms use this KPI to track the length of time it takes to collect their accounts after they are rendered.	This is calculated by dividing the fee portion of accounts receivable by average billings per day (which is calculated by dividing the firm's total fee billings for the past 12 months by 365 days).
Charge-Off Percentage	Firms use this to track how much of their accounts receivable are actually going uncollected.	This is simply the amount of billings written off as uncollectible divided by the fees billed for the year.

FIVE COMMON LAW FIRM KPIs

Approaching the list of KPIs enumerated in Tables 1 through 3 is similar to the challenge of a buffet. There’s a desire to sample everything, but if you are not careful, you will miss out on the “good stuff.”

Given the breadth of experience of the readers of Law Practice, we have selected five KPIs that most firms, irrespective of the type of work or clients they focus on, are likely to track because of both their ease of calculation and practicality.

Context is critical to the effective use of a KPI. Too many firms only benchmark against their own past experience rather than comparing their KPI metric to the same KPI of other law firms. In part, this is because access to benchmarking data in the legal profession is limited. However, we have managed to obtain benchmarking data for these five KPIs for 2012 and 2011, which is presented in the chart after each KPI description. The source of the benchmark information is Lexis Firm Insight, which is an online solution that provides information ranging from billing rates to collection days and is updated quarterly.

Our brief analysis of the five law firm KPIs follows:

1. Lockup measures the combined time it takes to bill and collect a firm’s accounts. This is critical to projecting cash flow and projecting when you might need to borrow against your bank credit facility. It is the sum of the Unbilled and Uncollected Days, which is calculated by dividing the unbilled fee portion of a firm’s work in progress and the fee portion of the receivables by the average billings per day. This latter calculation is derived by dividing the Fees Billed for the 12 previous months by 365 days.

Table 1

LOCKOUT/YEAR	TOP 25%	MEDIUM	BOTTOM 25%
Unbilled Days 2012	50	63	87
Unbilled Days 2011	51	62	81
Uncollected Days 2012	67	76	80
Uncollected Days 2011	68	78	89
Total Lockup 2012	117	139	173
Total Lockup 2011	119	140	170

2. Billable Hours per Full-Time Equivalent Timekeeper measures the number of hours worked by paralegals, associates and partners. This is more relevant than just measuring change in gross billable hours, as the total hours can increase as a result of more timekeepers, but the actual workload per lawyer could be shrinking, resulting in firms facing a situation of having more lawyers than work and an imbalance in their complement. This KPI is calculated by dividing the gross number of billable hours worked by paralegals, associates and partners by the respective number of full-time equivalents in each category. Note that a full-time equivalent reflects how many actual timekeepers your firm had for the period in question. For example, a lawyer who was with the firm for six of the past 12 months would be treated as one-half of a full-time equivalent in determining your lawyer count.

Table 2

BILLABLE HOURS//YEAR	TOP 25%	MEDIUM	BOTTOM 25%
Equity Partners 2012	1,676	1,526	1,440
Equity Partners 2011	1,646	1,559	1,482
Nonequity Partners 2012	1,584	1,438	1,311
Nonequity Partners 2011	1,727	1,504	1,383
Associates 2012	1,740	1,647	1,518
Associates 2011	1,736	1,642	1,544
Paralegals 2012	1,418	1,274	1,151
Paralegals 2011	1,395	1,298	1,172

3. Average Billed Rate measures the effective rate actually billed by the timekeepers (which will frequently differ from their standard or work rate by anywhere from 5 to 11 percent) and is key to monitoring and raising flags as to whether it is potentially client discounting, lawyer discounting or work quality issues. This KPI is calculated by the gross value of time billed for a timekeeping category divided by the related hours billed.

Table 3

AVG.BILLED RATE/YEAR	TOP 25%	MEDIUM	BOTTOM 25%
Equity Partners 2012	$512	$401	$322
Equity Partners 2011	$514	$390	$315
Nonequity Partners 2012	$393	$334	$285
Nonequity Partners 2011	$378	$334	$271
Associates 2012	$283	$243	$213
Associates 2011	$306	$238	$200
Paralegals 2012	$174	$156	$122
Paralegals 2011	$174	$150	$126

4. Leverage measures the ratio of associates to partners. This measurement is still thought be a critical driver of law firm profitability through the leveraging of a high ratio of associates to partners. (Note that in 2013 and beyond, this should be broadened to include all nonpartner timekeepers ratio to partners.) It is calculated by dividing the associate full-time equivalents by the partner full-time equivalents.

Table 4

LEVERAGE/YEAR	TOP 25%	MEDIUM	BOTTOM 25%
2012	.98	.78	.56
2011	1.06	.71	.51

5. Billings per Full-Time Equivalents measures the revenue generation by each timekeeper type, which is important to both budgeting for the future and historical analysis with the intent of not repeating past mistakes, which has included losing overachieving partners due to impact on the firm’s overall profitability. It is calculated by taking the gross amount of fee billings by paralegals, associates, and partners and dividing it by the respective number of full-time equivalents in each category.

Table 5

BILLINGS/YEAR	TOP 25%	MEDIAN	BOTTOM 25%
Equity Partners 2012	$693,391	$532,146	$405,765
Equity Partners 2011	$699,782	$541,316	$430,595
Nonequity Partners 2012	$478,845	$427,130	$339,679
Nonequity Partners 2011	$568,266	$466,581	$333,892
Associates 2012	$449,470	$345,489	$281,084
Associates 2011	$416,833	$346,501	$269,524
Paralegals 2012	$210,135	$171,979	$140,737
Paralegals 2011	$195,793	$167,368	$119,950

Another, but less timely, source of benchmarking data is ALM’s annual Survey of Law Firm Economics. However, it does have the benefit of providing data both by geographical region and firm size.

Before moving on to our conclusion, one note of caution: No single KPI tells the full story. Rather, they must be viewed collectively to achieve the best-informed decision-making results.

CONCLUSION

The messages that we hope you take away from this law firm KPI article can be summarized as follows:

Determine what is required for your firm to successfully execute its strategy and then select the law firm KPIs that help you know how you are progressing toward these goals.
Ensure you have a balance of leading KPIs and lagging KPIs so they enable your firm to act in a preventative mode as well as measuring progress.
No single KPI will provide all the answers that firms seek but rather collective vision is required.
KPIs are not that complicated to calculate but you need to be able to mine the data in your systems in order to have proper input.

As IBM Cognos consultants and business analytics coaches, Lodestar Solutions can guide you in your Business Analytics Roadmap (BAR) to make the most of your IBM Cognos investment. We can also guide you through getting the most functionality out of your IBM Cognos software.

If you are interested in collaborating with other TM1 users in law firms to expand and share your IBM Cognos software knowledge, please contact Serena D'Arpa at sdarpa@LodestarSolutions.com.

For the full article to which this blog is attributed, please visit the September 2013 article Your Financial Dashboard from the American Bar Association.

And if you'd like to read more about how these KPIs in relation to your dashboard, check out our previous blog on Determining KPIs & Metrics For Your Dashboard.

Cognos Workspace Advanced – 5 Dashboard Rollout Steps

February 7, 2019May 28, 2015 by Heather Cole

5/28/15

As a business analytics coach at Lodestar Solutions, I coach clients in planning and executing the deployment of dashboards with IBM Cognos Workspace. If you are not familiar with Cognos Workspace Advanced, it’s time to investigate because IBM is sunsetting, or as they say “deprecating”, IBM Cognos Query Studio and Analysis Studio. The replacement is Workspace advanced. Here’s a link to FAQ from IBM: https://www-304.ibm.com/connections/blogs/basupportlink/entry/query_studio_and_analysis_studio_deprecation?lang=en_us

You probably already own the licenses that include Workspace Advanced.

To learn more about it, watch our video on “Why Move to Workspace Advanced & Demo”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV6c5zuTvGc

Here are five steps you should consider so that you maximize end user adoption of the dashboards. Please remember that to effectively deploy dashboards in your company, you need to plan ahead.

First…check your Cognos licensing /entitlements to see how many users have access to Cognos Workspace Advanced. Call Lodestar Solutions if you would like a “What the Heck Do I Own” license review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkAdNgUC-bU
Plan what functional area you will roll-out first.
Host a Dashboarding Workshop with key players to determine what the users need on the dashboard. Don’t assume anything! At Lodestar Solutions, we offer a “Destination Dashboard” workshop that rapidly defines what the users need. Contact us for information on the workshop.
Prototype the dashboard – you might want to use Cognos Insight for this because you can easily grab data sources that might not be in your Framework manager today. You can also leave a copy with the user to play with.
Demonstrate the new dashboards to the users. You might want to watch our video on how to demonstrate software first: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dmGpBmdOMo.

It’s time to start planning. At Lodestar Solutions, we have a complete Destination Dashboard project checklist we would be happy to share with you. Lodestar also offers a 2 day training class on Workspace Advanced both virtually and onsite. For more information, just email us at Sales@LodestarSolutions.com or call us at 813-254-2040 for your free copy of our checklist.

Cognos TM1 Reporting Capabilities with BI

March 5, 2015 by Heather Cole

As a Lodestar Solutions business analytics coach, clients often ask us to help decipher the intersection of IBM Cognos licenses with that of the IBM Cognos software functionality. A client who is integrating IBM Cognos Performance Management (TM1) with Cognos BI version 10.2 approached us and posed this TM1 license question.

“If I want to use TM1 as a data source for Cognos BI and I want to set security up in TM1 to pass to Cognos 10 BI, do I need to purchase a TM1 license for the user who will NOT access TM1 directly? They will only access Cognos through Cognos Workspace or Cognos BI?”

So I posed this question to IBM and quickly realized I was not the only one that was unsure of the answer. We were all somewhat stumped. I could have seen the answer going both ways. I can see it being “NO” if the user is only accessing IBM Cognos BI, then TM1 should be treated as just another data source. But I can see it being “YES” because the client wants to use IBM Cognos Performance Management/TM1 to assign security and they would need to set the user up as a user in TM1 which assumes that it requires at least an IBM Cognos TM1 Explorer license or higher.

REAL ANSWER FROM IBM ABOUT TM1 LICENSE:

No: You do not need a TM1 license for the user that will only access the TM1 data for read only via IBM Cognos BI interfaces.

“BI Users are permitted to view reports and dashboards containing data from TM1, even if the security is set in TM1. They are not permitted to use TM1 Web to access this same data unless they are also licensed as PM Users. You are correct that TM1 does not currently have a technological capability model that would prevent BI users from using TM1 Web.; this is done via the license restriction. –IBM Product Manager of IBM Business Analytics

AUDIT WARNING:

It occurred to me how you set up the users in TM1 to pass security to BI could cause an IBM Cognos audit issue. So I asked:

“If a client set up the user in TM1 to pass the security and then they were audited, wouldn’t the IBM Cognos auditors see they had the users set up without TM1 licenses and find the client in non-compliance?”

This was the response from the IBM Business Analytics Product Manager. “If this happens, point the IBM auditor to me.” I appreciate how he took accountability while we wait for IBM to create an official document clarifying this situation, which I have requested.

IBM information on setting TM1 BI Security Integration

If you have a TM1 license question or are unclear about the integration of Cognos Performance Management (TM1) and Cognos Business Intelligence (BI), feel free to reach out to Lodestar Solutions at Sales@lodestarSolutions.com.

Cognos Mobile BI Solutions

October 8, 2013 by Heather Cole

As the world continually moves faster and faster in regards to its thirst for actionable data, the potential ROI on cognos mobile BI solutions continues to grow. A recent IBM Institute for Business Values study delved into the world of “upward mobility” solutions. They divided their survey group into two sects; one being the top 14% defined as “Leaders” and the remaining 86% defined as “Others”. Of the top 14%’ers surveyed, on average, greater than 70% of those responded positively when asked about their ROI on BI solutions and their current mobile capabilities. For example, 70% of Leaders responded they are effective at integrating mobile solutions into their existing systems, and another 73% are able to see measurable ROI from mobile initiatives, while the remaining “Others” answered 40% and 34% respectively. What this trend is showing is that mobile solutions are becoming one of the defining integral factors in gauging success within the business intelligence realm. This is due to the continual exponential growth globally and the saturation we are seeing within the smart phone and tablet markets for the business community.

On the opposite side of this, in a recent article from “Enterprise Apps Today”, it was discussed how mobile BI solutions in business intelligence are still not satisfying users. Though with the massive popularity of mobile BI solutions, several recently released Gartner reports have indicated a growing dissatisfaction and poor performance with the bigger vendors compared to the smaller. Customers of the smaller vendors cite their extreme ease of use and implementation compared to their counterparts for SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, and IBM. These large vendors’ products are less customizable and more cumbersome during implementation, with integration being described as “not an attractive element”.

Either way one may look at this, it can be seen that mobile BI solutions are a growing wave of the future. Now it is up to the large vendor to roll out a product that satisfies this growing demand within the market.

3 Keys When Deploying IBM Cognos 10 BI

August 30, 2012 by shootermk

Maybe you invested in upgrading to IBM Cognos 10 BI but you are not realizing the benefits you thought you would experience. If so, you might have missed the fact that IBM Cognos 10 BI should change your approach to report design and deployment. It may even cause you to modify your Data Warehouse or Data Mart. Let’s talk about the how's and why's of deploying IBM Cognos 10 BI:
1. A SINGLE REPORT TO ANSWER MANY QUESTIONS – Historically, reports have been created to answer one specific business question. The reports are designed to answer that single question only, not to answer many questions at once. With IBM Cognos 10, reporting can be designed to answer many questions at once and empower the end user to interact with the data to answer all the questions they have. This allows the power users to create one report instead of many versions of a similar report. Always keep the end users experience in mind when designing reports and dashboards.
2. CREATING OBJECTS INSTEAD OF REPORTS – You might have a pie chart, a bar chart and a cross tab all being displayed in the same report. With IBM Cognos 10, Lodestar recommends you change your philosophy and build the three separate objects representing the pie chart, bar chart and cross tab, and create a dashboard with Business Insight to display the 3 components. This will allow the end users to interact by modifying the filter and even remove or change the objects in their workspace to better meet their needs. By creating objects, you empower the end users to “self-serve” their BI.
3. DON’T PUT THE LOGIC IN THE REPORT. Many BI developers build logic in Report Studio. Often, they use this as a patch to get the data to present the way they want it when the Framework or data source doesn’t have the necessary format. Although this has been effective over the years, it’s a bit of a duct tape and super glue approach, which could be exposed as you deploy C10 Business Insight. The idea of Business Insight is to empower the end users to “self-serve”, providing better information without burdening IT. If the Framework you provide to the end users is not clean and efficient, the end users will experience major issues, especially if they are not completely familiar with the data. To fully realize the benefits of Cognos 10 BI and its powerful Dashboarding capabilities, you may have to take a couple steps back and make sure your FM Packages and Data sources are optimized.

Lodestar Solutions can help you make the transition when deploying IBM Cognos 10 BI so you can maximize your ROI. We offer customized training for power users and end users. Additionally, we offer FM Package and Design reviews as well as consulting on all aspects of IBM Cognos.

How to Implement BI – Part 3

February 1, 2011 by shootermk

We continue our series How to Implement BI by showing you why educating yourself and your teammates can lead to success.

Educate

Know What the Software Can Do. IBM Cognos has a number of modules, so be realistic about what the software is designed to do. Clients often try to fit a square peg into a round hole by using modules beyond their capabilities.
Understand IBM Cognos Licensing. Take the time to understand what licenses you own and what they do. You might find functionality that you aren’t even using. For example, the IBM Cognos BI Consumer license and higher includes Go! Office, which will let you embed IBM Cognos BI reports in PowerPoint for presentations. The IBM Cognos BI Admin license includes Event Studio, which is a powerful scheduling tool.
Understand How the IBM Cognos Modules Integrate – Controller, Planning/ TM1, BI. Integration of the modules requires proper planning and design. Lodestar Solutions hosts regular webinars on integration and design considerations.
Clearly Understand the Condition of Your Data. Data sources are not always conducive to robust reporting. In many cases, it is recommended that data is staged in a data mart or data warehouse so that it can be cleansed. Cleansing the data will give it the hierarchy and rollups you desire so that reports can have informative drilling capabilities.
Explore the Benefits of Using Partners. Recognize that an IBM Cognos project requires mentoring from, and collaborating with, experts. Hiring experts that train you using best practices may cost a little more but long term it will be less expensive than hiring cheap resources that you have to call every time something changes.
Know Your Customer. Don’t assume you know what they want; ask them. Have periodic check points with the end users to get them excited and invested in the project.

To learn about the other 3 steps for a successful software implementation, here are the blog links:

See Part 1 of our How to Implement BI series HERE

See Part 2 of our How to Implement BI series HERE

See Part 4 of our How to Implement BI series HERE

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