PerformanceG2 » Business and Strategy

IBM Business Analytics Partners Improve Deployments for Clients

candace taylor — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:44:19 +0000

By Candace Taylor, Marketing Manager for PerformanceG2

In a recent business analytics study produced and published by Nucleus Research, Nucleus found that not only do midsize organizations turn to IBM business partners to implement business analytics projects, but also partners play a significant role in the business analytics deployment for organizations by reduced training costs, shorter project implementation times, lower software costs, and improved effectiveness – benefits delivered through out the entire project life cycle.

Specifically, Nucleus found that organizations were able to reduce project cycle times by an average of 50% when working with IBM business partners.

According to Nucleus Research, for every $1 invested in analytics, organizations get back $10.66. Implementation challenges can be solved by turning to IBM business partners who are experienced in implementing analytics tools, as well as creation of data warehouses and other infrastructure support solutions.

The benefits of working with IBM partners highlighted in the Nucleus study include:

Increased project team productivity- partners have extensive knowledge of data assets and Cognos BI
Reduced training costs- partners provide knowledge transfer through Cognos training
Lower software costs- partners provide cost-efficient routes of deployment
Increased end-user productivity- partners improve usability of reports and create analytical assets to fulfill business requirements
Greater analytics benefits- partners improve usability of reports and create analytical assets to fulfill business requirements

Read the Nucleus Research Note Improving Analytics Deployments with IBM Partners in its entirety.

PerformanceG2 is proud to be an IBM Premier business partner and Authorized Software Value Plus Cognos business analytics provider. PerformanceG2 provides both technical and business experience to not only deliver and deploy business analytics applications such as IBM Cognos BI, Cognos Express and TM1, solutions and services to client organizations, but also to create and deliver project maps dedicated to meeting organizations’ data and analytics goals through skilled and experienced business intelligence and analytics consulting and training.

Learn more about PerformanceG2′s Premier IBM Cognos Business Analytics partnership.

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Business Intelligence vs. Business Analytics

dnelson — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 15:02:03 +0000

By Dave Nelson, Practice Director – BI for PerformanceG2

Over the past couple of years a number of Business Intelligence users have asked me how the concepts of Business Analytics (BA) and Business Intelligence (BI) differ. This is no easy task given the many different definitions for each concept mentioned. While these two concepts are different, it is imperative for an organization to understand how these concepts are complimentary.

Gartner defines BI as an umbrella term spanning the people, processes and applications to organize information, enable access to it and analyze it to improve decisions and management performance. An ideal BI solution provides the right information to the right people at the right time in a user preferred medium. The source of the information (i.e. enterprise data warehouse, planning, real-time, etc.) is not pertinent.

Traditional BI delivers historic information to assist in making more informed decisions impacting tomorrow. For instance, a sales manager might want to see monthly revenue for a business unit as compared to prior year actuals and current year plan to create next year’s plan.

According to Thomas Davenport, and Jeanne Harris, authors of Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning, BA refers to the skills, technologies, applications and practices for continuous iterative exploration and investigation of past business performance to gain insight and drive business planning. With business analytics, the data output is forward looking and predictive in nature. The output is used to assist organizations in making informed decisions by providing insight into the future. Think of BA as a crystal ball used to foresee business outcomes.

Analytics assists an organization by applying advanced mathematical and statistical techniques to analyze historic information. The goal is to drive organizational efficiencies and overall improvement. A true analytic solutions will help an organization to tackle their most complex problems and create unique, predictive capabilities, driving intelligent decisions. For instance, we would use analytics to determine how business unit revenue is trending statistically in an effort to predict future period plan.

The challenge is how to provide analytics output for executives and business managers to assist them in making informed decisions. An integrated BA and BI systems provides organizations with pertinent historic and analytic information at the right time, for the right people within in a specific medium. In the past, analytic output was controlled by statisticians and analytics who then create disconnected reports and deliver a slice of the output to select users. When organizations take this approach to analytics, valuable output is often not distributed to the people who needed it the most.

To provide analytic output successfully to the right people, the two systems must be highly integrated. This is the case with the complimentary IBM tools, Cognos BI and SPSS analytics. One of the many examples of integration is where Cognos 10 now offers a subset of the SPSS statistical engine as part of the BI suite. This level of integration allows an organization to deliver forward looking analytics using dashboards, reports and analysis driving informed decisions and thus, higher value from the system investments through improved business outcomes.

For more information, or questions on Business Intelligence and Business Analytics, contact us at info@performanceg2.com.

Plus, don’t miss out on the year’s premier Cognos BI and Business Analytics conference! Register before August 31 with PerformanceG2 discount code, G11PERFG2 to save $400. And visit our booth number 1101 during the event on October 23 – 27 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, for free demos, to hear the latest and greatest in BI and much more!

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Metric Studio: Huge Bang for your BI Buck

ccolangelo — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:33:30 +0000

By Craig Colangelo, Senior Consultant for PerformanceG2

Every time that I utilize Metric Studio to solve a business problem, I am reminded of how valuable the application truly is. I believe that sometimes Business Intelligence developers do not often get the opportunity to utilize this technology; therefore, I thought that I would take a couple of minutes to share some of the reasons I think this application is different than some of the other studios and presentation methods.

Here are some differentiators and value, to prove how this application is a huge bang for your BI buck:

Helps drive performance rather than just present information. This is a corporate performance management application designed to align operational metrics with higher level strategies. You can ensure that all levels of your organization are all working towards the correct, shared goals. A thoughtful implementation of this app drives performance in the right direction by use of explicit links between metrics and strategies, cause and effect diagrams, and simple red light / green light performance at a glace. Additionally, each metric needs an owner, so accountability is brought to the forefront as well.

Quick to market. It’s easily overlooked how quickly you can roll out a Metric Studio application. In terms of development, there are really three main distinct chunks of work related to rolling out the app: (1) install/configure, (2) create the scorecarding environment and (3) load the data. I have implemented large scale scorecarding apps in less than two weeks, which is very quick. Keep in mind, there are additional considerations that need to be evaluated too (not to minimize the scope), such as how to feed data on an ongoing basis.

Out-of-the-box value adds. Each Metric Studio app has its own performance application or head start. That is, once you do the initial setup/configuration and load work, an FM package is automatically created and published based on the Metric Studio application data itself. You automatically get some valuable audit and dashboard type reports that extend the presentation abilities of the application itself. If you use Cognos 10, you can quickly and easily add these dashboard components to Business Insight and expose via the Cognos portal. The auto-generated FM model is useful as is, but can also be extended to whatever degree you would like.

System of record for performance management data. This application needs three main pieces of data for each metric: (1) actual, (2) target and (3) tolerance. Often times, getting at actual metric values is not too difficult, but pieces like target and tolerance are not as nearly as accessible. Many times, this data exists only in spreadsheets. By pulling actual, target and tolerance data into metric store for key leading and lagging metrics, the metric store can then become the true system of record for disparate target and even actual data. There are many ways to load data into this applications – you can event open up the front end to select users to manually input target or actual numbers, if you would like. This is particularly helpful for those hard to capture measures that do not exist elsewhere.

Truly effective information at a glance. The use of clear performance indicators (red, yellow and green spotlights) and trend indicators (green up arrow and red down arrow) make for a quick understanding of how your metrics are doing. Clever hover-over’s that show 12 months of bar chart data for a metric, allow for a bit deeper understanding. Impact diagrams and default reports allow for an even deeper understanding via guided analysis. End users are able to use the application in whatever way is most meaningful for them.

Graceful presentation of mixed grain metrics. The ability to view ‘most recent values’ allows for a clean, meaningful view of associated metrics, regardless of how often they are gathered. Naturally, different metrics are measured at different time grains (annual customer surveys, monthly financial $’s, daily order totals, etc.). In a standard report, displaying these metrics with different time dimension attributes is tricky. This is not he case in Metric Studio – users can select a specific year, quarter, month, day, or ‘most recent values’.

What do you think? Comment on this post and tell me your thoughts on Metric Studio.

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EBIS’ Forecast Mostly Sunny Through 2013

ccolangelo — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 15:35:37 +0000

By Craig Colangelo, Sr Consultant for PerformanceG2

“Compound annual growth rate of well over 8%” – sounds good to me in this economy. That growth rate is what Gartner predicts for Enterprise Business Intelligence Systems’ through 2013. While this isn’t the 25% growth that application software like SalesForce.com expects, it reminds me that many consider EBIS core to their company’s business stack. Decision support systems drive top line revenue and bottom line profitability. Systems that allow for smarter, more agile and efficient business, are truly valuable in times of economic instability.

In Gartner’s most recent survey of CIO’s, top 10 business priorities included:
– Business process improvement
– Reducing enterprise costs
– Increasing use of information/analytics
– Improved workforce effectiveness
– Attracting/retaining new customers
– Managing change
– Targeting customers and markets more effectively
– Expanding current customer relationships

Considering each of those business priorities, it’s no surprise that BI ranked in the top five technology priorities. As a matter of fact, it’s been in the top five technology priorities for the past five years. EBIS continues to prove its worth as a core enterprise component providing serious competitive business advantage for those who truly get it.

What do you think? Is BI part of your business priorities for 2011?

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Dedicated to a healthy Cognos system

candace taylor — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 22:01:48 +0000

By Candace Taylor, Marketing Coordinator for PerformanceG2

Do you know the current health of your organization’s Cognos environment? Is your Cognos system mature, up-to-date and conforms to industry standards? Is your Cognos platform efficient and organized? Do you want to be dedicated to making sure your Cognos system is healthy?

While organizations focus on utilizing Cognos software to its fullest through training and best practices, it is also important to think about your Cognos system’s overall health to ensure that the architecture is stable, logical, clean and fully-functional.

Through PerformanceG2′s Cognos Health Check service, your system is assessed by certified technical specialists who know what they are doing, know what they are looking for and can provide recommendations on how you can get your system cleaned up. They do this by reviewing the overall system and architecture through a validation process, scan the content store for corruption, check for broken reports and inconsistencies, identify broken links and run a variety of other diagnostics to offer a full-view, and grade of the health of your Cognos platform.

To take advantage of our Cognos Health Check service, call us at (877) 742-4276 or email us at info@performanceg2.com and see how you can get started.

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Guidelines for Efficient Cube Builds in Cognos 8.4

kwiseman — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 18:21:23 +0000

Kirk Wiseman, VP of Training for PerformanceG2

In Cognos 8.4, it is now possible to use existing IBM Cognos 8 packages and reports as a data source in Cognos Transformer. This has made building data sources that much easier since any Cognos 8 report can be leveraged in Transformer, improving development time and ensuring that the data is all coming from the same underlying data source.

When using IBM Cognos 8.4 as a data source for Transformer, use the following guidelines to achieve efficient cube build times:

If filtering and/or calculations are required, use Cognos 8 reports as the data source
Create separate data sources in Transformer for each required dimension as well as for measures
Include foreign keys found in fact tables to transformer modelers
Avoid unnecessary local data processing on IBM Cognos 8 servers

Use IBM Cognos 8 Reports when Filters and/or Calculations are Required

While you can request that the IBM Cognos Framework Manager modeler include certain filters and calculations in an IBM Cognos 8 package, this requires extra maintenance on the Framework Manager modeler’s part. Instead, Transformer modelers can use list reports that incorporate filters/prompts and calculations as needed. If prompts are used in the report, Transformer modelers can control which filters are applied when the PowerCubes are built.

Regardless of whether the work is done in the Framework Manager model or in a report, the net gain remains the same; where supported, processing will be pushed to the database and the load on Transformer will be reduced. If filters/prompts are used, then Transformer will deal with a reduced record set, thereby decreasing build times.

Using reports allows for a greater degree of control to meet requirements and removes the need for additional development support.

Create Separate Queries in Transformer
When using a package as a data source in Transformer, individual queries should be created based on the data sources for the cube; one for each required dimension and one or more for the measures depending on how many underlying fact tables there are and what the business need is.

When using a report as a data source, either use separate list reports, again, one for each dimension and one or more for the measures, or create separate list report queries in one report. Then in Transformer, a query is created for each of the separate list reports or separate list queries within a single report.

Expose Fact Table Foreign Keys in the Package
Typically, foreign keys found in the tact table are not presented in the fact query subjects in a Cognos 8 FM model. Either they are not included in the model query subject, or they are hidden form the user. For most ad hoc query users or report authors, they provide little benefit and can cause confusion. To prevent confusion to the larger authoring audience, security can be used to expose the keys to a select group of authors only. For example, only Transformer modelers. In certain cases such as with Tranformer modelers, there is a clear benefit to exposing the foreign keys to the users. It will be more efficient to create a measures data source in Transformer that takes its keys from the actually fact table, rather than from its related dimension tables. In this way, the query will go against one table in the data source, rather than several. The database may rewrite the query to be more efficient before executing it, but a a general rule of thumb, the cleaner the SQL Cognos submits to the database, the more likely an efficient query will be run at the database layer which takes advantage of database optimization.

Avoid Unnecessary Local Data Processing on IBM Cognos 8 Servers
Certain query scenarios may require data processing on IBM Cognos 8 servers. In some of these cases, performance is not an issue and may even be required to produce a result set where a database vendor does not support the query. However, there are cases where local processing can adversely affect query performance and in turn, affect PowerCube build times. A typical example of this is when a function that is not supported by the database vendor is used in a calculation. This will cause a retrieval of the entire data set from the database and then perform the calculation locally on the Cognos 8 servers. To rectify the situation, use an equivalent function that is supported by the database vendor.

To see if local processing is occurring for a slow performing query, there are a couple of troubleshooting techniques. One is to look at the Cognos SQL generated for the query and compare it to the Native SQL. This can be done in Framework Manager or in Report Studio. Actions being performed in the Cognos SQL and not in the Native SQL indicate that processing is done locally. Another technique is to set query processing to Database Only. In Framework Manager this setting is found in the properties of the Data Source objects and is called Query Processing. In Report Studio, the setting is found in the properties of the query and is called Processing. When the setting is set to Database Only, an error will be generated in cases where the query can not be fully pushed to the database. The error will typically identify the offending time preventing the push to the database.

NOTE: This is based upon the IBM Best Practices Document which can be found at: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/data/library/cognos/modeling/transformer/page512.html?ca=drs-

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Migrate Cognos Enterprise Planning to TM1 – The Time is Now

candace taylor — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 16:57:46 +0000

By Candace Taylor, Marketing Coordinator for PerformanceG2

For many years, Cognos Enterprise Planning has been made the market choice for budgeting and forecasting – providing users with a powerful alternative to spreadsheet-based financial modeling. However, the core of the EP application was built more than a decade ago, and lacks the scalability and flexibility necessary to deal effectively with the increasing volumes of financial data that are now common in most organizations. The result is that EP is often difficult to change and costly to manage.

Cognos TM1 is designed to fix many of the current EP challenges. The time is now to make your Cognos EP to TM1 conversion, and with IBM’s limited time offer of an EP license trade-in promotion, you can receive a TM1 Contributor license for every EP Contributor license you currently own, making the process easier and cost-efficient for your organization.

Why convert to Cognos TM1? Here are just some reason why your organization should make the move:

TM1 allows for a more scalable solution which provides for easier handling of increased volumes of data, unlike its predecessors
TM1 functions in real-time, providing on-demand updates and forecasting capabilities
TM1 incorporates the breadth of Cognos 8 Studios for optimal reporting capabilities
TM1′s cutting edge financial analysis and reporting capabilities is backed by its powerful database engine that delivers comprehensive views of your organization’s financial picture
Migrating Cognos EP to TM1 could never be easier and more cost-efficient with IBM’s limited time conversion offer

Read more about the TM1 Advantage, TM1′s new features and how you can start your EP to TM1 migration by downloading our EP to TM1 Fact Sheet. Learn more about how you can save and get started with your migration, also get all of your questions about the process answered - connect with one of our TM1 experts today by emailing us at info@performanceg2.com or call 877.742.4276.

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To Ensure the Success of your CPM Initiative, Don’t Ignore the End User

ken_davenport — Tue, 25 May 2010 15:10:49 +0000

Ken Davenport, President of PerformanceG2

If your company is struggling to match the promise of BI and Performance Management (CPM) technologies with the reality of day-to-day work flow and implementation challenges, take heart: you are not alone. According to a recent Ventana Research study of BI and CPM, customer that examined the maturity and direction of technology adoption strategies, a significant percentage of customers face considerable obstacles.

A mere 9 percent of research participants are very satisfied with their organization’s BI efforts. They have only basic BI capabilities, such as querying sources for specific data (74 percent), generating reports from data (74 percent) and accessing data from a spreadsheet for further analysis (70 percent).
The capabilities organizations are currently working to deploy are only somewhat more sophisticated: communicating data in the right format (27 percent), searching for data (26 percent), presenting data effectively (25 percent) and creating measures and metrics (24 percent).
The research also found a small but growing desire to provide mobile device support for BI and performance management as well as what-if scenario analysis and collaboration.

As Julie Langenkamp at Information Management Online notes in a post on the Ventana study, the findings “indicate that most organizations revealed they’re still in early stages of development, with only 15 percent at the highest innovation level of maturity in the Ventana Research Maturity Index. Size of the organization was a relevant factor, and organizations with 10,000 or more employees, or more than $10 billion in revenue, found to be more mature. There is growth in advancing BI into performance management in the areas of operations, finance and customer management in more than half of organizations, and a strong desire to improve in 41 percent of them.”

“The market for BI has been advancing for decades, but organizations have not achieved the value of deployments with lack of sophistication use of technologies and overuse of spreadsheets,” says Mark Smith, CEO and EVP Research of Ventana Research. “But making BI efficient is not sufficient, as helping organizations enable performance management is just as important. Both BI and performance management are not as mature as you think, as this research found that we are at an inflection point of improvement.”

More than anything, the Ventana study shows that effective performance management initiatives require a substantial investment in time and resources – beyond the capital invested to acquire the technology. At PerformanceG2, we have seen many customers make substantial investments in software and services, only to fail to grasp the challenges of user-adoption, change management and end-user training required to ensure long-term success. This is why all of our service engagements include a post-implementation training program that ensures that both administrative and business users are sufficiently trained to get the most out of the new technology. In our experience, effective user-adoption is ofter the key variable in the success or failure of any CPM or BI initiatives.

For more information on CPM and BI services and solutions that can help your organizations, connect with us at (877) 742-4276 or email us at info@performanceg2.com

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MotioPI FREEware for IBM Cognos BI Admins

candace taylor — Thu, 20 May 2010 14:59:28 +0000

By Candace Taylor, Marketing Coordinator for PerformanceG2

Are you a Business Intelligence Admin looking for more transparency in your BI environment? This awesome app by Motio, MotioPI FREEware for IBM Cognos, allows you to investigate your BI environment’s components, users, content, report details, schedules, dependencies and more. It is the perfect tool to become familiar with a new environment, identify constraints, monitor usage behavior and ensure that your IBM Cognos BI environment is aligned with your resources and infrastructure for optimal performance.

The best part about this app, is that it is a free tool, designed with IBM Cognos BI admins in mind. Watch this short MotioPI demo to learn more about the app and what it can do. Or to start using the free tool, click here to download it.

Motio and PerformanceG2, together provide complete and comprehensive solutions and products for organizations to achieve maximum return on their BI and Financial Planning investments. For more information on the Motio and PerformanceG2 partnership, visit performanceg2.com/about/partners/

And if you are interested in learning how PerformanceG2 can help meet your needs with BI solutions, email us at info@performanceg2.com or call 877.742.4272. Or for complete access to BI, CPM and Cognos industry news, updates and tips and techniques, follow us on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook, watch our YouTube Videos or connect with us on LinkedIn.

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IBM in the News – Upswing in IT spending

ken_davenport — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 12:38:44 +0000

Ken Davenport, President of PerformanceG2

This week, IBM reported earnings and the company is reporting a significant shift in IT spending with Business Analytics leading the way, click on the link below to read more:

http://www.crn.com/software/224400777;jsessionid=DG3ZBLH3I40ZBQE1GHPCKHWATMY32JVN

Also, here is an interview with Rob Ashe that is a must-read:

http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/20/businesss-analytics-oracle-technology-cio-network-ibm.html?boxes=Homepagechannels

And finally, Gartner is to name IBM as leader in BPM for 6th consecutive year:

http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20100420-907753.html?mod=wsjcrmain

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