PVU licensing

IBM Cognos BI Dispatcher and PVUs

by
8/9/2016

Are your IBM Cognos BI reports taking a long time to run? Do you have certain reports that are scheduled to be sent to a certain department? Are you looking at adding another Cognos BI server and want to limit your PVU rating? Depending on how your system is set up, you may want to control how reports are distributed through the use of Cognos BI dispatcher.

Simply put, the dispatcher is the entry point for Cognos BI service requests sent by a web server or other software. The dispatcher handles routing and balances the load of users. You can have more than one dispatcher and as such, each dispatcher configures to each instance of the content manager.

Options for IBM Cognos BI Dispatcher

You can set up the dispatchers to distribute reports based on user group, roles, or package. In other words, financial reports based on an income statement package can be directed to be run through the “finance server dispatcher”, sales report through sales dispatcher and so on.  Furthermore, you can also set up the rule so that anytime any sales report is run, without regard to package, it can go to a specific dispatcher.

Why does this matter? Depending on your licensing structure, setting up dispatchers with appropriate size hardware could limit your PVU expense.  You also have the option of setting up the dispatchers to handle x’s of the process requests or set them equally. These are commonly referred to as load balancing.

Cognos BI Dispatcher

One area of importance is tuning the dispatchers.

Below are some of the options available to tune:

  1. Load Balancing

  2. Balance Dispatcher Load with In-Progress Load Factor

  3. Setting the dispatcher load balancing property to cluster compatible mod

  4. Balancing the data movement task execution

  5. Usage Peak Period

  6. Maximum Number of Processes and Connections

  7. Affinity Connection

  8. Queue Time Limit

  9. Maximum Execution Time

You can find all of the information on Cognos BI dispatcher and PVU in the IBM Cognos Business Intelligence Version 10.2.2 Administration and Security guide.

For troubleshooting your Cognos BI dispatcher, head on over to the IBM Cognos BI Dispatcher Diagnostic to download a tool help you out.

Setting up a dispatcher is confusing. Add in the licensing aspect and it can be downright maddening. Lodestar Solutions is here to help answer any questions you have regarding dispatchers, tuning, licensing impact or all the above. We have experts in each area that can make this process simple and possibly SAVE YOU MONEY on your licensing additions or support renewal! Please contact us at services@lodestarsolutions.com   for more information.

cognos bi dispatchers

Finally, to learn more about PVU licensing, check out a very informational blog called What the Heck is an IBM Cognos PVU? that is definitely worth the read.

Cognos TM1 Licensing 13 Most Common Questions

by
2/4/2016

Little unsure about your TM1 licenses? Lodestar Solutions brings you the 13 most common TM1 licensing questions:

TM1 Licensing
Little unsure about your TM1 licenses? Lodestar Solutions brings you the 13 most common TM1 licensing questions:

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  1. What is the Difference in TM1 and IBM Cognos Performance Management? Pretty much they are the same. The license is called a Performance Management license but it’s for TM1.
  2. I heard TM1 has to two flavors of licensing what are they? IBM offers a Cognos Performance Management Express license or an IBM Cognos Enterprise license. The Express version is designed for smaller deployments as long as it doesn’t have more than 50 TM1 users. It is a lower cost and a great entry point. The Express version requires a connector as well as user licenses. If you exceed 50 users, you must purchase the upgrade to the enterprise version. With the 10.2.2 release, the code bases are the same, meaning they are on the same version. Blog on various licensing types: https://lodestarsolutions.com/lodestar/?p=5109
  3. What are the licensing options for Enterprise Performance Management/TM1? TM1 users are licensed as authorized users and can be either TM1/ Performance Management Modelers (power users), Performance Management/ TM1 Users, or TM1 Explorers (read only). Additionally, you must purchase the IBM Cognos Analytics Server license which is a Processor Value Unit (PVU) license. See blog on PVU’s https://lodestarsolutions.com/lodestar/?p=423 It’s highly recommended that you also purchase the Non-Production Analytics Server which is PVU based so you can have a test environment.
  4. Do I need a separate license for a non-production environment? Yes, if you want a test, or development environment for TM1 you much purchase the Non-Production Analytic Server PVU license.
  5. What functionality does the PM Modeler license include? PM Modelers have access to administration and modeling interfaces: Performance Modeler, Architect, Turbo Integrator and Operations Console. All IBM Cognos TM1 server deployments require a minimum of (1) IBM Performance Management Modeler license.
  6. What functionality does the PM User license include? All licensed PM Users have R/W access to any end user interface of TM1 including Cognos Insight, TM1 Applications Web, Cognos Analysis for Microsoft Excel, or custom developed interfaces through the TM1 API.
  7. Is Scorecarding included in my licensing? Yes, under the latest licensing model, IBM Scorecarding is including in the TM1 User and TM1 Modeler license. http://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/ShowDoc.wss?docURL=/common/ssi/rep_ca/9/897/ENUS213-359/index.html&request_locale=en
  8. Is Cognos Analysis for Excel (CAFÉ) included in my TM1 licensing? Yes, under the latest licensing model, IBM CAFÉ is including in the TM1 User and TM1 Modeler license. Previously, this was a separate license so you might want to check your support renewal bill and make sure you aren’t paying for it twice.
  9. Do I need a license for a TM1 consultant working on my model? Yes. Clients are responsible for owning a license for every person including consultants that log into their system. Authorized user licenses cannot be shared.
  10. I’m considering migrating from Cognos Planning to TM1. My rep said the Planning licenses work on TM1. Is this correct? Well….kind of. The only Cognos Planning license that has legal rights to TM1 is the Enterprise Planning Contributor which has Performance management/TM1 user rights. Note that the Planning model does not have TM1 rights! Additionally, if your planning contributor entitlements do not have the word “Enterprise”, they do not have TM1 rights and need to be upgraded.
  11. Why do I need PVU and Authorized Users licenses? TM1 is a mixed licensing structure which requires an Analytic Server which is PVU based and the users which are Authorized users. This means that everyone that logs in needs a user license.
  12. I want to use TM1 Data in a BI report but use TM1 security to pass through from BI. Do I need a TM1 license for the Cognos BI user? TM1 is just another data source to BI. If you want to use TM1 as a base for Cognos BI, you need to have the appropriate Cognos BI license. However, real issue is that to assign security on the TM1 data which is being passed to BI, you need to put the user in a TM1 group. For example, if you need to have cell level security, you need to set them up in TM1. If the user will not access TM1, and are only set up in TM1 to assign security, they will NOT need a TM1 user license. This is specified in the TM1 License which states that BI Analytics Users or Explorers don't need additional authorized user entitlements to TM1. They do however, need the appropriate IBM Cognos Analytic Server license.
  13. Can I have a Dashboard in all TM1? TM1 user and Modeler licenses include rights to Cognos Workspace for Dashboards but the TM1 licenses restrict workspace to TM1 data. If you want to include other data, you need a Cognos BI license.

So, with those 13 points in mind, how would you like to have a place where you could have a licensing & audit workshop and learn not only about TM1 licensing but all IBM Cognos licensing and functionality? It just so happens that this place does exist and it’s in Tampa, FL!

Lodestar Solutions is holding an IBM Cognos Functionality, Licensing & Audit workshop on March 25th, 2016 in beautiful sunny Tampa! In this workshop you will learn:

* What Cognos functionality is included in each license

* Which Cognos tools to use when

* How to determine what tools to use for future projects

* Techniques so you can self-audit licenses

* Tips for negotiating the best price on software purchases

For more information on TM1 licensing or to register for the workshop, visit www.analyticleadership.com. You may also call us at 813-254-2040 (extension 205).

Cognos BI Information Distribution Licenses – Now Available as Named User

by
12/1/15

Lodestar wants to draw your attention to an exciting new option for IBM Cognos BI customers. In the past, the Cognos BI Information Distribution roles were only available via PVU licensing.   Now, however, Cognos BI Information Distribution is available as an Authorized User License role. This allows users to view saved reports, burst reports, or consume active reports.

The following legacy authorized user roles can evolve into Cognos BI Information Distribution (Authorized User) roles:

  • D06ZPLL – IBM Cognos Business Intelligence Recipient Authorized User License + SW Subscription & Support 12 Months
  • D0L8HLL – IBM Cognos Business Intelligence Remote Recipient Authorized User License + SW Subscription & Support 12 Months
  • D0L8JLL – IBM Cognos Active Report Recipient Authorized User License + SW Subscription & Support 12 Months
  • D072MLL – IBM Cognos Mobile Add-on Authorized User License + SW Subscription & Support 12 Months
  • D06ZVLL – IBM Cognos Mobile Consumer Authorized User License + SW Subscription & Support 12 Months

Before you renew or make any changes to your licensing mix, please contact Lodestar Solutions at renewals@LodestarSolutions.com.  We offer a free, license review session to make sure that you have the correct license mix for your software needs.  We also validate year-over-year cost increases, as product evolutions can cause pricing errors, and make sure you are not paying for “Add-in” licenses that may now come standard in other licenses.  Our sales team can negotiate volume-discount pricing on your behalf with IBM, plus we offer our Lodestar discount on applicable S&S renewal licenses.  If cash flow is a concern for your organization, we can offer 0% and/or low interest financing options*.

*WAC – with approved credit

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