Migrating to Self-service BI with IBM Cognos

By CIOReview | Thursday, June 8, 2017

The age-old Business Intelligence (BI) tools have always failed to live up to the expectations of the users. Not only are they too slow to process data but also fall short of delivering rich user experience. Now, IBM Cognos Analytics, the formidable force in the BI world is enabling millions of enterprises across the globe to discover data and manage reporting. The power of automation it injects in report and dashboard creation liberates the users from the monotony of report generation and helps them expedite subsequent business processes. With sheer focus on user experience, the product has been designed in such a way that business professionals can create and envision the content with the help of in-built intelligence tools. The suite has basic components such as Cognos Connection, Query Studio, Report Studio, Analysis Studio, Event Studio, Workspace, and Workspace Advanced. Together these components allow the users to perform a gamut of tasks that range from content search to report analysis.

Of late, IBM has realized the importance of self-service in the world of BI. Its latest version is loaded with self-service features that allow the users to harness the insights and create personalize dashboards and reports on their own. IBM Cognos Analytics is proving to a worthwhile asset for IT department in scaling up the analytical process. Irrespective of the business vertical, the suite allows the users to apply standards and include tools and processes. The solution helps the decision makers find a freeway to quick decision-making through rich insights at their fingertips.

How IBM Cognos is changing the paradigm?

The integrated solution for data discovery and reporting simplifies identification of the required data sets and expedites the process of accessing the data. Irrespective of the type of device used by the user, seamless user experience is the monumental feature that stands out for the product. The users can login through their preferred device and even while being offline they have the privilege of accessing the tools.

Conventionally, the role of IT has been integral in leveraging any product, but with the new offering, it diminishes to a great extent. The users can visualize business scenario and create informative and engaging visualization without the help of IT. Its intuitive interface enables the users to create content and drag and drop functionality allows creation of dashboards on mobile device or desktop. The product recommends the best visualizations for particular data templates and style allows users to format reports instantly.

Data, which is the fuel of analytics process, can be uploaded with an ease and irrespective of its form—personal or external. Businesses can perform direct reporting from data sources, integrate data sources, and generate automatic data model based on keywords. To ensure the integrity of data, it is protected with layers of permissions, authentication, and history. Subsequently, integrity of reports is maintained irrespective of cardinality of inputs from numerous businesses. The solution provides controls protect data devoid of type of consumers. For example, the report can be created for single or multiple consumers.

Added Benefits of using self-service BI

If an organization wants to adhere to the practice of delegating authority through multiple levels in the organization, then self-service BI model fits the need. Self-service model creates decentralized data governance in which decision making ability is lent to more people. Analysts have full control over data modeling and data analysis can be done in freeform and natural language. All data sources can be brought together in a simplified way but final user experience largely depends on partnerships with other providers to fully manage flow of data from source to insight.

In the age of myriad data streams proliferation and numerous tools to decipher it, applying human efforts or deploying time consuming solutions can affect business results. However, IBM Cognos Self-Service BI emerges as the recourse to success.