Cognos Licences

[erics]

Hi there,
So, as far as I know, giving access to users to Cognos 10 is done through the LDAP. The sysadmin does this for me thankfully.
My boss is asking me for lists of which user uses which type of license (we have 4 types).
Is there a way of pulling that out?
I found a DB with an audit trail, and managed to pull how many users are currently using Cognos, but I don't believe that there's some kind of license manager, correct?

Eric

[Brennan]

You can see who is using Cognos by reviewing the Audit database, that is true, but it wont give you an indication of license capability or features.    There are many ways to nest capabilities and grant access to studios within Cognos administration.   Admittedly IBM has granted features to "Everyone" out of the box that should not be granted to "Everyone" without being in violation of licenses.    There is a free tool from our friends at BSP Software that goes thru your capability and user setups and tells you exactly what license level each person has.   You will definitely learn some interesting things by running it.   :)   http://www.bspsoftware.com/BSPLicenseAuditor

Good luck!
Brennan

[erics]

Tool looks quite interesting, but is it any good? Any security concerns?
I'm always apprehensive of companies/products when I can't figure out how they're profiting from a service/tool.

Eric

[MFGF]

Tool looks quite interesting, but is it any good? Any security concerns?
I'm always apprehensive of companies/products when I can't figure out how they're profiting from a service/tool.

Eric

It's a robust tool and a trustworthy company. BrightStar Partners (AKA BSP AKA Avnet) are the good folks who give this very forum a home, and they are one of IBM's leading business partners worldwide. I think they provide the license auditor for free so that you can get an idea of the quality and usefulness of the tools they provide, and I'm sure their hope is that you will be so impressed you will invest in some of their paid-for offerings. Hopefully Andrew from BSP will notice this thread and will be able to comment too :)

Cheers!

MF.

[bdbits]

You do know this community - one of the most prominent for Cognos - is hosted by BSP, right? (See the upper right corner of the page.)
Not to mention they are an IBM premier partner, with an established Cognos management toolset and a stable of knowledgeable muppets like our very own MFGF. 8)

You can decide for yourself if it is "any good". But I am quite sure there are no security concerns whatsoever.

[MFGF]

...a stable of knowledgeable muppets like our very own MFGF. 8)

I'm just one of many posters here, and constantly amazed and impressed by the knowledge and willingness to share shown by so many talented people (yourself included).

Just to make it clear to anyone new - we don't work for BSP and we're not representing them in the posts we write - so when muppets like me get things wrong you can't blame BSP :) We work for a variety of employers and clients - the only real thing we have in common is a love of Cognos and (in many cases) an awful sense of humour ;)

MF.

[bdbits]

I'm terribly sorry MFGF. I know most here do not, but I actually thought you did work for BSP. My apologies.

(For the record, I do not work for BSP, either. I am currently in US state government.)

I will not address anybody's sense of humor.   ;D

[Brennan]

LOL   I never meant my comment to look like a paid plug for BSP, but I have used the tool in several environments to help explain licensing.   You can talk to 10 different IBM salesmen and get 10 different explanations on licenses.   One of the most annoying aspects of working in the IBM BI space are trying to sell it as a solution.

[MFGF]

LOL   I never meant my comment to look like a paid plug for BSP, but I have used the tool in several environments to help explain licensing.   You can talk to 10 different IBM salesmen and get 10 different explanations on licenses.   One of the most annoying aspects of working in the IBM BI space are trying to sell it as a solution.

Lol. Nobody's getting paid on here - we know that :) Putting in a good word for BSP is nothing to be ashamed of either - they deserve the good reputation they have! If you can find a reliable source within IBM who can get you an accurate answer on licensing, keep their contact details handy - they are well worth knowing! :)

MF.

[Andrew Weiss]

For the record... I work for BSP (AKA Avnet). Thank you all for volunteering your time on this forum and the occasional comment on our reputation, which I will be sure to share with the team at the start of this week.

As for the question about why is License Auditor free.  Well MFGF pretty much nailed it.  License Auditor has a lot of value in it and many have questioned whether we should be offering this for free at all.  We feel strongly that anyone of any size managing an IBM Cognos environment can find value in using MetaManager.  MetaManager is not free and it's not the only option available, but we believe it's the best option with stellar support and will hands down pay for itself in a very short amount of time.  We hope that by giving you License Auditor (and a few other modules) away for free, you'll constantly use the free stuff, wish you had the other stuff and one day will bring us in to help make a business case for procuring the tools. 

What's the catch with License Auditor being free?  You can't export the information, that's all.

It's free, go get it.
http://www.bspsoftware.com/freestuff

Thanks!
-Andy