Pennsylvania BANNER Users Group 2006 Integrate Your Decision Support with Cognos 8.
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Transcript of Pennsylvania BANNER Users Group 2006 Integrate Your Decision Support with Cognos 8.
Pennsylvania BANNER Users Group
2006
Integrate Your Decision Support with Cognos 8
General Announcements:
Please turn off all cell phones/pagers If you must leave the session early, please
do so as discreetly as possible Please avoid side conversations during the
session Questions will be answered at the end of
the session
Thank you for your cooperation
Session Outline
Why Cognos 8? Implementation Steps Current Status Example screen shots Q&A
Why implement a third-party solution?
The need for fact-based decisions based on enterprise-wide information
Timely and consistent data Ease of use Features Robustness
Why Cognos 8BI?
Meets the requirements listed on previous slide. They are the industry leaders in business intelligence software.
Meshes well with Oracle Provides for a single version of the metadata Relatively seamless integration between queries,
reports, charts, powercubes, and scorecards User-oriented interface
Implementation Stages
Create operational data store (ODS) Install Cognos 8BI on dedicated server Create packages Build reports using out-of-the-box ODS
tables Create custom reporting views in ODS
Resources
Three servers Three ODS instances Three analysts Oracle DBA support
Upgrade experiences
What has worked well:– Upgrade/deployment of Cognos ReportNet
(series 7) content store to Cognos 8 was relatively smooth and straight forward
– Automated, scheduled reporting– Financial statements used for fiscal year-end
audit prepared in Cognos– Security of data and control over user functions
utilizing the Cognos infrastructure.
Implementation (cont)
What has worked well (cont):– Integration of existing security architecture within
Cognos framework.– Flexibility of report package deployment via
Framework Manager.– Report writer very flexible – “tabular SQL’s” allow
the development of specifications in a SQL editor and then import the code directly into the Cognos report.
Implementation (cont)
What has worked well (cont):– Robust, dynamic, and user-defined self service
reporting is available for a large % of our consumers.
Benefits: 1) Data is available anytime, anywhere; 2) Reduces administrative burden on limited IT resources; 3) Promotes an environment of financial responsibility and accountability across the campus; and 4) Ensures data integrity which helps enable administrators and managers to tell “one story”.
Implementation (cont)
What has not worked well:– Some initial problems with emailing reports to
users – all issues have since been resolved - not 100% positive that the problem was even with the Cognos product.
– Documentation tends to be technically oriented (i.e. written by a programmer), which makes it non user friendly.
Implementation (cont)
Our favorite undocumented trick- Report specifications can be copied / pasted into Notepad for modification or moving from one server to another (i.e. from Test to Production).
Screen shot examples of user interfaceFinance Reporting Package
Numerous Reporting Capabilities, Including: 1) Financial Statements; 2)
Auxiliary P&L’s; 3) Self Service Reports; 4) Dashboards; and 5) Treasurer’s
Reports
Screen shot examples of user interfaceSchedule Manager
We currently
have ~ 30 reports
scheduled for
automatic distribution
Screen shot examples of user interfaceFunds Inquiry Report With User Defined Prompts
User defined prompts allow flexibility in report creation
Screen shot examples of user interfaceFunds Inquiry Report Output
Conditional formatting based on user defined
thresholds quickly allows the user to identify areas of
opportunity
Optional drill-down capability allows the user to view more details
Screen shot examples of user interfaceFunds Inquiry Drill Down Example Level #1
FOAPAL details are displayed in separate browser window
Screen shot examples of user interfaceFunds Inquiry Drill Down Example Level #2
Descriptive transactional level details are displayed in separate browser window
Screen shot examples of user interfaceOperating Ledger Inquiry With Report Layout Options
Multiple user defined prompts including report
design
Outcome and Current Status
Where we are in the implementation User satisfaction Maintainability
Pennsylvania BANNER Users Group
2006
Open Floor for Other Questions?
Pennsylvania BANNER Users Group
2006
Have a great day!