BI Data Analytics

Below additional limitations discovered during POCs:- Cognos 11.0.9 on Cloud doesn't support MapBox. Earliest version where it's enabled is 11.0.11. Multi select custom control doesn't work with FireFox.  There is no way to upload Images/extensions/Custom Controls to Cognos Cloud without engaging IBM DevOPS team.

   Below are some finding while testing done for Tableau against IBM Db2 on cloud: Tableau seems to work better when using standard model instead of custom sql. Union is having performance issues. In some cases using cross join gives better performance results  Multi-language label changes solution is not extensive and need to create multiple worksheet and formatting compared to Cognos Analytics where you can assign query at Page level to place calculated columns anywhere.

Below are some of the tips/insights while working with Excel as data source in Cognos Analytics:- When you upload an excel, by default it's stored in My Content. You need to move it to Team Content for common use. When deploying excel from one environment to other, choose "Upload data option" in export options. That way data will be copied over as well. Once excel is uploaded, clicking on it opens Dashboard creation Interface by default. You will need to create a data module with excel as source and create a report out of it to access raw data for any future update. Excel Based reports doesn't show standard Report functions; however, you can copy variables created in other report to it and it will work. For example, ReportOutput() = 'HTML' to change layout based on html format output in excel based report is possible.  If any calculation is needed for cleaning, it can be done in data module. Hide original column and just expose calculated columns for re...

Typically on-premise environment, we keep a shared drive of deployment folder to share across environment so that  we don't need to copy them over each dispatchers and it's readily available for import in target environment. In Current IBM Cognos Cloud on 11.0.9, now there is script to sync up between environments and  it copies the deployment archive. We need to create new import for each new import and wait for 10-15 minutes before it will appear in new environment.  This was not the case in C10.2.2 Cloud Environment.

Issue   While navigating Manage > Account in IE renders blank screen. It works fine in Chrome.       Cause: There has been an NPS (net promoter score) application added to the Cloud Solution. It disables a Pop-up survey where you can rate the Cloud Solution. This NPS application can cause problems with IE. It was turned it off to resolve the issue.   There is a defect logged against issues with IE.

Since now IBM Cloud OPS team supports Cognos Environment and there is need to open ticket and have delays in response times to detect issues, we can set up Job to run some quick reports to run every 5 minutes. While scheduling, need to keep in mind Reports total tun time covers 3-4 minutes run time so that Job will keep running all the time. Exclude times in schedule where maintenance/backup going on.  Reports to be run in sequence so that it doesn't impact actual reports run by users. You can set Job run history to more time to see it on Page itself  You can set up to send an email via even after job completion to include run time. When you stop getting emails, it means there was an outage/issue in the environment. You can create Audit report to check mean, median and mode for Job run time performance to compare run times against.   This method can test dashdb and report run times consistency; however, actual navigational/interactive report run times can't b...

Changes in SQLs while migrating from Oracle to DB2 to improve performance: Instead of nvl or coalesce function use case statement Instead of using select clause within select statement, create joins with sub queries Don't use subqueries in where clause Creating small tables for required columns and joining them results in faster performance Use "AS" to qualify names Define Amount Type to decimal(15,2) to match with DB. They may be dropped while doing aggregations.

Below are issues identified  while working with IBM Cloud team PDF Font sizes are different. Fonts to be installed by IBM Audit DB not configured correctly. Extra set up done to change system Timezone to match with location Drill Through functionality not working. Interim Fix was provided having Multiple Data source Connections causing issue to work with reports having native sqls and based on data modules. Custom Controls path was changed making all reports using them not working.  Performance issues in running report. Environment moved to nearest location from original location. DASHDB ( Db2 Datawarehouse On Cloud)  performance tuning done for reports taking longer time compared to Oracle. Navigation to Cognos Administration is slow. Cache parameter is updated to improve on performance.

To have meta data information for an application available for analysis or troubleshooting,  All tables'metadata information should be filled.  At Cognos end, Framework manager should be single source to house all information with following below structure:- Database Layer: Description – Add data dictionary description from ETL  with example Model Comments – Any changes to types, relationships Screen Tips – N/A Business Layer: Description – Add Tables involved for Query subjects Model Comments – Any joins, data types update for using it, format etc Screen Tips:- What’s Business meaning and anyway to join to get information Presentation layer/Dimension Layer: Mostly Shortcuts. Can contain Report Names, Packages intended to be used in. Adhoc Layer: Hide columns not needed and reorganize based on Business Area