Friday, February 3, 2012

Configuring DB2 as content store for IBM Cognos BI

Are you getting issues while configuring DB2 as content store for IBM Cognos BI?

The configuration is a little tricky, where you need to modify certain DB2 parameters for the content store database on DB2. The following document embodies all the required steps fpr configuration. The document had been authored for IBM Cognos 8.x, but the steps hold good for IBM Cognos 10 as well:

http://public.dhe.ibm.com/software/dw/dm/cognos/infrastructure/databases/blue_stack_-_setting_up_db2.pdf

IBM Cognos Mobile on Blackberry PlayBook and smartphone


Did you know that you can access your trusted IBM Cognos BI content using your Blacknerry PlayBook and smart phones? You can use a native application on your Blackberry smartphone or a web application in case of PlayBook to access Cognos reports. Its easy to use and the information you access is safe and protected by a combination of RIM and IBM Cognos platform security.

Here is a video on this seamless experience -

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Take your BI reports home with IBM Cognos Mobile

IBM Cognos Mobile has been designed for the business users who need to access, analyze and share IBM Cognos Business Intelligence contents irrespective of their location. The business users can work with trusted BI content in a rich and visual experience whether offline or online for uninterrupted productivity.
IBM Cognos Mobile can leverage the existing BI content. A single administrative environment is used for Cognos BI and Cognos Mobile which helps the IT teams to keep up with the demands of users on varied devices.The product currently supports Apple iPhones, iPads and RIM Blackberry smart phones and playbooks. It terms of platforms, it supports Android 3, Symbian and Windows Mobile phones.

Why Mobile BI ?

  • Mobile BI empowers the business users to access the Business Intelligence contents using mobile phones and tablets.
  • Mobile BI lets the decision makers take their business decisions on the go.
  • Mobile BI has been the game changer over the past few years and is one of the leading trends in the BI market today.
  • With the increasing adoption of the tablets, Mobile Bi is getting more and more popular among the Business Users.
IBM Cognos Mobile is one of the market leading BI softwareswhich enables the users to consume their Business Intelligence reports from anywhere.

Take better business decisions using External / Personalized data in Cognos 10

Ever thought of supplementing enterprise data with your own or personal data file? This will allow you to create a report using an external file that contains data which is not a part of the enterprise data that your Business Intelligence tool regularly accesses. With IBM Cognos 10 BI you can link this type of scenario data with enterprise data and create a professional report easily.

The following types of files can be used:
  • Microsoft Excel spreadsheets (.xls files)
  • Tab-delemeted files (.txt files)
  • Comma-separated files (.csv files)
  • XML data (.xml files)
To work with external data the administrator should first grant the permission Allow External Data capability (under the Report Studio capability) to report authors considering the report authors can already access Report Studio and Business Insight Advanced (you cannot use external data in Business Insight).

Before importing external data, the report author should start with an existing Cognos package. Then, the report author will have to import the external data file and link the columns in the external data file to those of the enterprise data (this can be a relational or dimensional data source). As a next step, the report authors need to publish a new package that enables the users to create reports using both external data and enterprise data.

Here is a video that explains the process of using external data in IBM Cognos 10 Report Studio: