About this Course

This accelerated offering is intended for core project team members wanting to acquire a broad understanding of IBM Cognos Analytic platform implementation. During the ILT segments, participants will perform hands-on demonstrations and exercises that cover three essential topic areas: modeling, report authoring, and administration of IBM Cognos Analytics. During the WBT portion of the course, students will be required to complete 17.5 hours of eLearning (7 WBTs and 1 recording).

Audience Profile

• Core Project Team members
• Project Managers
• Technical Analysts
• Developers

Prerequisites

• Knowledge of common industry-standard data structures and design.
• Experience with SQL
• Experience gathering requirements and analyzing data.
• Knowledge of Web application server architectures
• Security systems administration
• Knowledge of your business requirements
• Experience using the Windows operating system
• Experience using a web browser

Course Outline

1: Introduction to IBM Cognos Analytics

• Describe IBM Cognos Analytics and its position within an analytics solution
• Describe IBM Cognos Analytics components
• Describe IBM Cognos Analytics at a high level
• Explain how to extend IBM Cognos Analytics

2: Identifying common data structures

• Define the role of a metadata model in Cognos Analytics
• Distinguish the characteristics of common data structures
• Understand the relative merits of each model type
• Examine relationships and cardinality
• Identify different data traps
• Identify data access strategies

3: Defining requirements

• Examine key modeling recommendations
• Define reporting requirements
• Explore data sources to identify data access strategies
• Identify the advantages of modeling metadata as a star schema
• Model in layers

4: Creating a baseline project

• Follow the IBM Cognos and Framework Manager workflow processes
• Define a project and its structure
• Describe the Framework Manager environment
• Create a baseline project
• Enhance the model with additional metadata

5: Preparing reusable metadata

• Verify relationships and query item properties
• Create efficient filters by configuring prompt properties

6: Modeling for predictable results: Identifying reporting Issues

• Describe multi-fact queries and when full outer joins are appropriate
• Describe how IBM Cognos uses cardinality
• Identify reporting traps
• Use tools to analyze the model

7: Modeling for predictable results: Virtual star schemas

• Understand the benefits of using model query subjects
• Use aliases to avoid ambiguous joins
• Merge query subjects to create as view behavior
• Resolve a recursive relationship
• Create a complex relationship expression

8: Modeling for predictable results: consolidate metadata

• Create virtual dimensions to resolve fact-to-fact joins
• Create a consolidated modeling layer for presentation purposes
• Consolidate snowflake dimensions with model query subjects
• Simplify facts by hiding unnecessary codes

9: Creating calculations and filters

• Use calculations to create commonly-needed query items for authors
• Use static filters to reduce the data returned
• Use macros and parameters in calculations and filters to dynamically control the data returned

10: Implementing a time dimension

• Make time-based queries simple to author by implementing a time dimension
• Resolve confusion caused by multiple relationships between a time dimension and another table

11: Specifying determinants

• Use determinants to specify multiple levels of granularity and prevent double-counting

12: Creating the presentation view

• Identify the dimensions associated with a fact table
• Identify conformed vs. non-conformed dimensions
• Create star schema groupings to provide authors with logical groupings of query subjects

13: Creating Analysis objects

• Apply dimensional information to relational metadata to enable OLAP-style queries
• Sort members for presentation and predictability
• Define members and member unique names
• Identify changes that impact a MUN

14: Introduction to IBM Cognos Analytics - Reporting

• Examine IBM Cognos Analytics - Reporting and its interface
• Explore different report types
• Create reports in preview or design mode
• Create a simple, sorted, and formatted report
• Examine dimensionally modelled and dimensional data sources
• Explore how data items are added queries
• Examine personal data sources and data modules

15: Creating list reports

• Group, format, and sort list reports
• Describe options for aggregating data
• Create a multi-fact query
• Create a report with repeated data

16: Focusing reports using filters

• Create filters to narrow the focus of reports
• Examine detail filters and summary filters
• Determine when to apply filters on aggregate data

17: Creating crosstab reports

• Format and sort crosstab reports
• Create complex crosstabs using drag and drop functionality
• Create crosstabs using unrelated data items

18: Present data graphically

• Create charts containing peer and nested columns
• Present data using different chart type options
• Add context to charts
• Create and reuse custom chart palettes
• Introduce visualization
• Present key data in a single dashboard report

19: Focusing Reports Using Prompts

• Identify various prompt types
• Use parameters and prompts to focus data
• Search for prompt types
• Navigate between pages

20: Extend reports using calculations

• Create calculations based on data in the data source
• Add run-time information to the reports
• Create expressions using functions

21: Customizing reports with conditional formatting

• Create multi-lingual reports
• Highlight exceptional data
• Show and hide data
• Conditionally render objects in reports
• Conditionally format one crosstab measure based on another

22: Drill-through definitions

• Discuss parameter-driven drill through
• Discuss dynamic drill through
• Set up package-based drill-through definitions
• Set scope
• Use the Drill Through Assistant

23: Introduction to IBM Cognos BI Administration

• IBM Cognos Analytics enterprise components
• Role of the Administrator in relation to the IBM Cognos Analytics administration workflow process
• Role of IBM Cognos Administration and IBM Cognos Configuration

24: Identifying IBM Cognos architecture

• The features of the IBM Cognos Analytics architecture
• The three architectural tiers
• IBM Cognos Analytics servlets and services
• The default servlet container and alternatives to its use
• An example of IBM Cognos Analytics request processing
• Installation options
• Load balancing mechanisms
• Configuration options
• The IBM Cognos Application Firewall

25: Securing the IBM Cognos Analytics environment

• Identify the IBM Cognos Analytics security model
• Define authentication in IBM Cognos Analytics
• Define authorization in IBM Cognos Analytics
• Identify security policies
• Secure the IBM Cognos Analytics environment

26: Managing run activities

• Manage current, upcoming and past activities
• Manage schedules
• Enable and disable schedules
• Set queue priority for schedules
• Suspend a schedule until a later time

27: Managing content in IBM Cognos Administration

• Add a data source
• Distribute data and create a distribution list
• Add visualizations to the Library
• Plan and perform a deployment
• Identify how to maintain the IBM Cognos Analytics content store
• Configure saving content outside of the content store
• Customize the appearance of IBM Cognos Analytics using styles
• Use portlets to display custom Web content