Web-based User Interfaces

IBM Cognos Connection

IBM Cognos Connection is a Web portal provided with IBM Cognos Business Intelligence, providing a single access point to the corporate data available for its products. It provides a single point of entry for querying, analyzing, and organizing data, and for creating reports, scorecards, and events. Users can run all their Web-based IBM Cognos BI applications through IBM Cognos Connection. Other business intelligence applications, and web addresses to other applications, can be integrated with IBM Cognos Connection.

Like the other Web browser interfaces in IBM Cognos BI, IBM Cognos Connection uses the default configurations of your browser. It does not require the use of Java™, ActiveX, or plug-ins, and does not install them.

In addition to selections for viewing data and creating objects, IBM Cognos Connection includes

• portal pages

  The New Page button opens a wizard where users can create a customizable page that uses portlets to show different types of content at the same time.

• Public Folders

  Public Folders store shared IBM Cognos BI content, such as packages Creating Reporting Models and Packages, reports, agents, shortcuts, and jobs.

• My Folders

  My Folders store personal IBM Cognos BI content, such as reports, shortcuts, and jobs.

• User preferences

  The My Area Options button includes links to My Watch Items, alert lists and watch rules that help you monitor business events; My Preferences, settings for format, language, time zone, contact information, and portal content; and My Activities and Schedules, status windows where you can set priorities for and monitor your IBM Cognos BI activities.

• Link to tools and applications

  The Launch button provides links to the IBM Cognos BI studios, Drill-through Definitions, which are used to navigate through related data when querying or analyzing data, and IBM Cognos Administration.

For information about using Cognos Connection, see the IBM Cognos Connection User Guide.

The open IBM Cognos BI architecture means that you can choose to integrate IBM Cognos BI into your organization's existing Web portal. You can use Portal Services, provided with IBM Cognos BI, to integrate IBM Cognos BI with a number of portals, including

• SAP Enterprise Portal
• IBM WebSphere® Portal
• Oracle WebCenter Interaction Portal
• SharePoint Portal

For more information, see the IBM Cognos Administration and Security Guide.

IBM Cognos Administration

IBM Cognos Administration is a central management interface that contains the administrative tasks for IBM Cognos BI. It provides easy access to the overall management of the IBM Cognos environment and is accessible through IBM Cognos Connection.

IBM Cognos Administration is organized into three sections:

• Status

  Use the links in this section to monitor activities, server status, and system metrics, and change some system settings.

• Security

  Use the links in this section to define users, groups, and roles for security purposes, configure capabilities for the interfaces and studios, and set properties for the user interface profiles (professional and express) that are used in Report Studio.

• Configuration

  Use the links in this section to set up data source connections, deploy IBM Cognos BI content from one content store to another, create distribution and contact lists, add printers, set styles, manage portlets and portal layout, start or stop dispatchers and services, and change system settings.

For information about using Cognos Administration, see the IBM Cognos Business Intelligence Administration and Security Guide.

Cognos Query Studio

Using Query Studio, users with little or no training can quickly design, create and save reports to meet reporting needs not covered by the standard, professional reports created in Report Studio.

For information about using Cognos Query Studio, see the IBM Cognos Query Studio User Guide.

Cognos Report Studio

Using Report Studio, report authors create, edit, and distribute a wide range of professional reports. They can also define corporate-standard report templates for use in Query Studio, and edit and modify reports created in Query Studio or Analysis Studio.

For information about using Cognos Report Studio, see the IBM Cognos Report Studio User Guide.

Cognos Analysis Studio

In Analysis Studio, users can explore, analyze, and compare dimensional data. Analysis Studio provides access to dimensional, OLAP (online analytical processing), and dimensionally modeled relational data sources. Analyses created in Analysis Studio can be opened in Report Studio and used to build professional reports.

For information about using Cognos Analysis Studio, see the IBM Cognos Analysis Studio User Guide.

Cognos Event Studio

In Event Studio, you set up agents to monitor your data and perform tasks when business events or exceptional conditions occur in your data that must be dealt with. When an event occurs, people are alerted to take action. Agents can publish details to the portal, deliver alerts by email, run and distribute reports based on events, and monitor the status of events. For example, a support call from a key customer or the cancellation of a large order may trigger an event, sending an e-mail to the appropriate people.

For information about using Cognos Event Studio, see the IBM Cognos Event Studio User Guide.

Cognos Metric Studio

In Metric Studio, you can create and deliver a customized scorecarding environment for monitoring and analyzing metrics throughout your organization. Users can monitor, analyze, and report on time-critical information by using scorecards based on cross-functional metrics.

For information about using Cognos Metric Studio, see the IBM Cognos Metric Studio User Guide.

Cognos Workspace

In IBM Cognos Workspace, you can create sophisticated interactive workspaces using IBM Cognos content, as well as external data sources such as TM1® Websheets and CubeViews, according to your specific information needs. You can view and open favorite workspaces and reports, manipulate the content in the workspaces, and e-mail your workspaces. You can also use comments, activities and social software such as IBM Connections for collaborative decision making.

For more information about using Cognos Workspace, see the IBM Cognos Workspace User Guide.

Cognos Workspace Advanced

With IBM Cognos Workspace Advanced, a component of IBM Cognos BI, you can perform advanced data exploration and author simple reports.

With Cognos Workspace Advanced you can extend your data exploration by specifying additional measures, adding conditional formatting, and using advanced calculations.

You can also create reports with relational or dimensional data sources that display your data in lists, crosstabs, and charts. You have the option of using your own external data source.

For more information about using Cognos Workspace Advanced, see the IBM Cognos Workspace Advanced User Guide.