Cognos 8 Training for 1.1 User?

[dfite]

Guys - would Cognos 8 report studio training classes help a 1.1 user like myself?  I *think* they would, as the course content list looks like much of the terminology is the same, etc.  But, I don't want to waste $3000 of my company's money if the training won't really apply to 1.1...  Anyone know?

[MFGF]

Hi,

You should be OK with the Report Authoring Part 1 - it's pretty much identical to the CRN version (except from the odd bits where dimensional packages are used).

The Part 2 is rather different, though, since tabular objects no longer exist, and there are numerous topics covered which relate to reporting off cubes or dimensionally modelled relational packages, which of course are not relevant in CRN.

If you do attend the C8 part 1 course, it may be worth mentioning to the instructor that you are using CRN - he or she will probably point out the minor differences during the course.

Best regards,

MF.

[dfite]

Thanks for the input!

[MDXpressor]

Guys - would Cognos 8 report studio training classes help a 1.1 user like myself?  I *think* they would, as the course content list looks like much of the terminology is the same, etc.  But, I don't want to waste $3000 of my company's money if the training won't really apply to 1.1...  Anyone know?

Having taken (and delivered) both courses, I would say the 1.1 training is more applicible to C8 than C8 training is applicible to 1.1.  1.1 requires that you set up tabular models and pass data items up the levels, C8 doesn't use the tabular models and is therefore more forgiving I find.  If you are going to work in 1.1, I would take the 1.1 training.  Once you are comfortable in 1.1 you could always take the 'What's new for Report Author's' course.

[MFGF]

Hi MDXpressor,

I fully endorse your point about the 1.1 training being the best solution.  The problem may be that some Cognos locations no longer schedule ReportNet courses, so dfite may not have the opportunity to attend them.  The same goes for the "Cognos 8 - What's New for Report Authors" course - not scheduled in many locations.

The Part 1 Report Authoring course does not really focus on the structure/details at the query level - this is covered in the Part 2.  If Dfite must attend a C8 course, the closest fit will be the Part 1, and will provide the relevant basics of report authoring (albeit with some minor changes eg level span->group span, repeater-> repeater table, slightly different structure to some dialogs etc), whereas the Part 2 is very different, both because of the changes to the Query/Tabular levels as you pointed out, and also because of the new dimensional content in the course.
There will obviously be one or two topics in the C8 Part 1 that are not relevant to CRN, such as maps and gauges, but I'm sure an experienced Cognos instructor wouldn't mind pointing these out to dfite where they occur.

Not exactly ideal, but certainly not a waste of his money either.

Best regards,

MF.

[dfite]

Thanks guys, but my company declined to pay for the training (because my division is being sold..).  So... with no readily apparhent documentation availble and no training possible - what do you guys recommend that I do to learn this stuff?  Is there ANY good documentation out there at all??  Fumbling around in 1.1 has allowed me to finish abour 40 reports or so, but they are pretty basic.  Any help out there at all?

Also, is Cognos dev as hot as people are saying?  Is it worth the $3000 to pay for it myself?

Also, yes, 1.1 training isn't being offered anymore, at least not anywhere near me.

[MDXpressor]

In that case, are you a supported customer?  If so, go to the proven practice section of the cognos site (http://support.cognos.com/supported/tti/public/index.html).  You will find a lot of content up there, some of it from Product Management, some of it from field consultants; all of it proven in the field and very helpful.