what after demos

[cognos4321]

Hi experts,
Iam new to cognos and have completed all the demos (models provided during training)cognos 8.4 and understand them as well.
Most organisations have the latest version like 10.2.1 or TM1. So, will I be able to understand them if I understand 8.4 version.
Basically please guide me what next should I do which would be helpful in job environment.
Iam completely blank on this after completing the demos.

[blom0344]

TM1 is an entirely different kind of product, your demo training will not help you. Cognos 10  Report Studio uses the 8 version engine with more and better graphics. There are a number of new modules compared to version 8 that acquire some additional training.  The biggest - technology wise -  new feature are the active reports. You can design them within Report Studio, but the technical stack is entirely different. The design approach is radically different, I had a lot of trouble wrapping my 'old' reporting head around this  ;D

[cognos4321]

Thanks a lot for the reply.

Iam learning about active reports and I fully understand cognos 8.4 Model demos
See, Iam in my learning process and seek a job in cognos report sudio in future.

Can you please elaborate on type of work expected in report studio work enviornment and is there something else I should emphasize and can be worked on at home like some specific websites or some specific type of preparation to be done as you already told me that just understanding demos is not enough.

Thanks in advance

[blom0344]

Well, the challenge largely lies in taking a functional report design described by 'the business' and turning this into an acceptable report. The big issue I guess is whether you are supposed to build reports against a given model or whether you are asked to develop a model as well.  My experience with report developers is, that they often fail to grasp the underlying  model. If the model is a textbook type of starschema, then this may  academical, but more complex or OLTP like schemas require some insight into the model itself.

I always encouraged my report developers to study Cognos models, ask questions and look beyond mere reporting issues.

So ,my piece of advice:

Try to work out a case study, define some tables , populate them with data, build your own simple model and then develop some reports against the model. This will help you develop insight into more then just the report itself..