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Join COGNOiSe.com, the largest independent, worldwide FREE IBM Cognos Support Community.
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| Greetings!
Welcome to the May 2009 BSP Newsletter. We hope you like the new look and feel to our newsletter this month! With over 7,000 IBM Cognos customers around the globe subscribing to our monthly mailers, we want to thank each and every one of you for your continued support of our organization, both on the services and software side! In recent months, we've spent a good amount of time redesigning both our Professional Services ( http://www.brightstarpartners.com) and Implementation-Based Software ( http://www.bspsoftware.com) websites to continue provide our customers with updated information on current topics in the IBM Cognos community. We'd like to encourage each of you to take a peek. Additionally, the world's largest independent Performance Management peer-to-peer community ( http://www.cognoise.com) has just reached 8,000 participants around the globe! BrightStar Partners is truly thrilled to host such a widely-used web community that is 100% focused on IBM Cognos. For those of you attending Cognos Forum 2009 in Orlando next week, we look forward to seeing you again and meeting those of you whom we've not yet had the chance to see in person. We'll be spending most of our time at Booth 20 in Performance World unveiling our groundbreaking release of Integrated Version Control 1.1 and handing out CDs with information, product demonstrations, and a few free samples! Please stop by to say, "Hi!" As always, we enjoy hearing your suggestions regarding the content you'd like to see. Please e-mail us at Newsletter@brightstarpartners.com if you have a topic you'd like to see discussed in future newsletters. |
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BSP RELEASES INTEGRATED VERSION CONTROL 1.1 | |
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New Release Addresses Governance, Risk, and Compliance for IBM Cognos
At the opening of the IBM Cognos Forum 2009 in Orlando, Florida next week, BSP will officially announce the 1.1 release of Integrated Version Control (IVC). IVC is the ONLY Real-Time, Transparent, and Truly Integrated Versioning and Governance, Risk, and Compliance Solution for IBM Cognos.
"This release catapults IBM Cognos ahead of the competition by providing complete and integrated Versioning and Governance, Risk, and Compliance within IBM Cognos 8 customer environments" says Andrew Weiss, Director of Product Development at BSP Software.
To find out more information about this and our other solutions, please visit our software website at http://www.bspsoftware.com or contact Andy Rachmiel at arachmiel@brightstarpartners.com. |
| DEPLOYING/PROMOTING CONTENT THE EASY WAY | |
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BSP Podcast Channel Episode 8
Over the past few years, we've seen our share of complex architectures and many multiple server environments as customers of all sizes deploy Performance Management solutions enterprise-wide. With multiple developers and various IBM Cognos environments (development, test, production, etc.), the need for tight controls and operational efficiency within the promotion / migration process is critical.
After numerous customer examples of how they are managing this process, we decided to focus one of our Podcasts (visit our Podcast Channel ) this month on how to Deploy and Promote Content Between Environments the Easy Way! |
| DATA MANAGER FACT BUILD DELIVERY METHODS |
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By Greg Jungels, Consultant
When using SQL Server 2005/2008 as your target for a Data Warehouse, there is a new Fact Delivery method available that provides increased performance: "SQL Server Bulk Copy via API Delivery."
This new Delivery method uses the SQL Server 2005/2008 supplied API for bulk copying of records.
The drawback of using this delivery method is that it does not support UPDATE or UPDATE/INSERT, making it useful primarily for work/temp tables.
Below is a test scenario comparing the performance of the standard Relational Table Delivery and the SQL Server Bulk Copy via API Delivery. This scenario was set up to demonstrate the Delivery method only. There were no transformations and/or calculations involved.
Test scenario: 11,986,030 records in SQL Server 2005 database.
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Relational Table |
SQL Server Bulk Copy via API |
| Build Run Time |
1:38 |
0:31 |
| Insert Start Time |
8:19 |
9:15 |
| Insert End Time |
9:57 |
9:29 |
Result: Although it took about 15 minutes for the "SQL Server Bulk Copy via API" delivery method to commit the records, it still had a 200% improvement (or 1/3 the time) over the "Relational Table" delivery method. For any questions , e-mail to newsletter@brightstarpartners.com. |
| DATA APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY FLOWERS |
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By Chris Howard, Consultant
As the saying goes, "April showers bring May flowers." Since the economy has been raining on your business, maybe it was time for you to take a step out of the garden and to evaluate your planning process to help your business bloom. If you haven't had the time to think of a planning process, here are a few things to consider:
- The enterprise planning process contributes to a company's success or failure by delivering key targets to measure your progress against Corporate Objectives. Although many see the initial process as being burdensome and complicated, having the foresight to implement such a technology and manage your business appropriately can make all the difference in your business' success.
- The economy has taken its toll on how companies plan and forecast. Some have not kept their Planning and Forecasting systems maintained or have put off implementing a new solution all together. Instead, they end up relying on spreadsheet solutions that require process management, manual version control, and excessive manual efforts to build. These methods are not dynamic, cannot manage large amounts of corporate data, do not support complex calculations, and make it almost impossible to use multi-dimensional reporting.
- As the following statistics show, use of offline Excel models carry inherent quality risks: "90% of the spreadsheets analyzed contained significant error. Spreadsheet error caused one company to undercharge a client by millions of dollars, another company to falsely inflate its estimated net present value by 54%, and yet another company to computer pre-tax profits 32% lower than the actual figure." - "Classification of Spreadsheet Errors," British Computer Society Computer Audit Specialist Group Journal, 2000.
To help avoid these common pitfalls with Excel planning solutions, leverage the Cognos Planning solution to ensure:
- One package plan - Ensure total strategic, operational, and financial planning integration in one system.
- Complete Administrator control of workflow, calculations, security, and versions.
- Versioning - Create multiple versions and "what-if" scenarios. This allows planning for multiple proposal of scenarios, good or bad.
- Integration with Cognos 8 BI providing key reporting & analysis tools for Plan/Forecast vs. Actual results.
- Web integration - If the product is completely functional for the users using a web application, there is less interference and introduction to a new product. If there is an Internet connection, the solution can be used.
To determine which product is best for you, head over here and use the checklist to determine what is important for you. |
| IBM COGNOS ARTICLES OF INTEREST |
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In the News...
IBM Information On Demand Conference
Cognos SupportLink Articles of Interest:
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About Henry VIII of England
Historically King Henry VIII of England (1491-1547) is famous for having six wives. Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr.
In total there were three Catherine's, two Anne's and one Jane.
He divorced Catherine of Aragon and Anne of Cleves and beheaded Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard.
Jane Seymour died naturally. The only wife to survive the saga was Catherine Parr.
The only queen who gave him a son was Jane Seymour but she died at childbirth and the sickly son Edward VI eventually died of TB in 1553 aged 16 years.
Catherine of Aragon bore him Mary I and Anne Boleyn gave birth to Elizabeth I, both of whom eventually became queens of England, despite having been declared illegitimate.
But what really made Henry VIII famous was his establishment of the Church of England. The highly powerful Rome-based Pope and Catholic Church did not approve his divorces so Henry went his own way and executed any objectors. It changed the course of history.
Another important event during his reign was the creation of a proper English navy, starting in 1536. The English fleet grew from three to 54 ships and established a professional administration, something that had a great bearing on the future development of the nation.
As a person Henry VIII was egotistical, arrogant, boastful and treacherous. He often used people for his personal ends.
While he led his extravagant arty and sporty lifestyle he left the hard work of government to others and punished them severely when things went wrong, often with death.
His cold heartedness is well depicted in his dealings with his second wife Anne Boleyn. When their daughter Elizabeth was born he refused to attend the christening because it was not a son.
While Anne was being beheaded he played a game of tennis. When they told him she was dead he went straight to Jane Seymour's chamber.
When he died he asked to be buried next to Jane Seymour, the only woman who had bore him the son he wanted.
But the son Edward VI's rule did not last long and he was to be the last male in the royal Tudor line.
After Edward's death in 1553 Lady Jane Grey became Queen of England but only for nine days. She was dethroned and beheaded by Mary I who reigned from 1553 to 1558.
Mary I died of natural causes, and Elizabeth I became queen in 1558.
Elizabeth I had her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots beheaded in 1587.
Elizabeth never married and became known as the Virgin Queen. Her death in 1603 saw the end of the Tudors, and the reign of the Stuarts began. |
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