What is Cognos
Cognos is the business intelligence solution for enterprise reporting. It enables users to write, schedule, run and view reports which use the Operational Data Store (ODS) as its main source of data.
Who Manages Cognos
The Office of Technology Services supports the Cognos system for Illinois Tech. This includes all system maintenance and patching as well as report development, packaging and deployment. The Enterprise Reporting Team manages the Cognos application for all report requests:
www.iit.edu/oii/cognos-and-operational-data-store-resources.
CONTACT THE SUPPORT DESK (see across) for any support requests.
Appropriate Functional Use
Cognos Business Intelligence solutions help understand, monitor and manage business performance which includes business reporting & analysis, profitability measurement, budgeting, forecasting optimization and cost management.
Cognos is a fast and efficient system for delivering multidimensional business intelligence data.
Cognos Report Studio can be used to produce the following report types:
- Blank report, which is completely customizable, lets users create a report using any of the report objects that are available in Report Studio.
- List report lists data in rows and columns, where columns typically contain data items but may also contain various layout objects, such as images or URL's. It is usually used when reporting transaction or definition details, such as customer lists and invoice lines.
- Crosstab report shows data in rows and columns in a pivot table fashion. The values at the intersection points of rows and columns are calculated and provide summarized information, such as sum, average, standard deviation, percentile, etc. Crosstabs are useful for displaying large amounts of precise data in a tabular, summarized format.
- Map report presents data geographically. For instance, map charts can be used to depict the level of revenue generated by divisions around the world.
- Chart report visualizes data graphically. There is a large number of chart types available in Cognos 8. Charts are useful for identifying relationships between items, comparing data and understanding trends.
- Financial report provides a template for creating such financial reports as profit/loss statements, customer profitability records and balance sheets.
These reports are used at the university on a daily basis.