Upgrading from Cognos BI 10 to Cognos Analytics

[M.Mistry]

Helllo all

I have few questions that hopefully someone can help and answer.

1) CAM security that is used on Cognos BI10, can we implement the same strategy on Cognos Analytics, there are  no difference or any changes are there?

2) Anyone experienced issues with CAM on Cognos Analytics, any issues during configurations or anything?

3) Can there be a share of experiences or knowledge on any issues whilst upgrading from Cognos BI to Cognos Analytics?

It would be a great help to not only me but many people who are on this wild journey of trying to upgrade their BI Platform.

Thank you

[HelloCognos]

Hi there,
:)
We migrated from Cognos 10 to Cognos 11 Analytics without any issues except for a Map. We were able to get the Export from 10.2.2 and use the deployment file to deploy to Cognos 11. Same for Framework Manager 11. Of cource, that is just for the application files. I'm not sure about the security and other features.

We did not have many graphics (charts, etc) involved but the only issue we faced was the Cognos MAP that was done in Cognos 10. The Mapping feature is totally replaced by the new Analytics Visualization which is a lot cooler than Cognos 10 but if you have Maps in Cognos 10, you may have to redo them. The simple Bar, Column charts went through just fine.

Nice work Cognos!!!

[MFGF]

Hi there,
:)
We migrated from Cognos 10 to Cognos 11 Analytics without any issues except for a Map. We were able to get the Export from 10.2.2 and use the deployment file to deploy to Cognos 11. Same for Framework Manager 11. Of cource, that is just for the application files. I'm not sure about the security and other features.

We did not have many graphics (charts, etc) involved but the only issue we faced was the Cognos MAP that was done in Cognos 10. The Mapping feature is totally replaced by the new Analytics Visualization which is a lot cooler than Cognos 10 but if you have Maps in Cognos 10, you may have to redo them. The simple Bar, Column charts went through just fine.

Nice work Cognos!!!

Hi,

The old Cognos 8/10 maps are still part of the product in Cognos Analytics, and you can still continue to use them. I'm guessing you were using a custom map in C10 and you forgot to copy it into the maps folder in CA?

Cheers!

MF.

[M.Mistry]

Hello all.

Thank you for that. Did you upgrade on a windows platform or on a linux platform? Did you use any IBM Documentions or manuals? Reason I ask is because my thoughts are towards using the same implementation plan previously used for cognos bi but then also need to understand time and effort.

Thank you soo much for your time guys. This is quite useful and you guys do an amazing job with the help you guys provide :)

[HelloCognos]

You right. I do see the option for legacy maps.

For understanding the migration, I would suggest to do the following,

1) How many Report Studio Reports and how complex they are? i.e. if Java Scripts is used, there might be some compatibility issues depending on your JVM.

2) The Cognos Analytics utilizes a much more powerful interface compared to the older Workspace Advanced. I had to write some documents to explain the differences after playing with the new Analytics options. Workspace Advanced is bundled or combined into the Analytics.

3) I didn't face many issues with Framework Manager 11 but we had to switch to DQM at the same time and that brought some validations of our objects that wasn't a pretty picture.

4) At the server level, we migrated to a Linux environment but I wasn't the Server Admin so no clues on what the guy did.
Analytics has a different Folder System (My Content and Team Content) so you'll need to educate your power users and others.

It took us an approximate 3 months to move to the Cognos 11 Analytics which included Server, Application migration and End User Training.

Hope the above helps.  :) :)

[Blue]

G'day HelloCognos.

You wrote "It took us an approximate 3 months to move to the Cognos 11 Analytics". May I ask how large was the environment please? I.e. Number of reports, dashboards, packages, nodes, environments, users, etc.

How did you handle the conversion of My Folders from CBI 10 Connections to CA11 Portal?

Cheers,

Blue

[MFGF]

G'day HelloCognos.

You wrote "It took us an approximate 3 months to move to the Cognos 11 Analytics". May I ask how large was the environment please? I.e. Number of reports, dashboards, packages, nodes, environments, users, etc.

How did you handle the conversion of My Folders from CBI 10 Connections to CA11 Portal?

Cheers,

Blue

Hi Bob,

If you keep the same authentication provider in CA as you used in C10, and configure access to it in the same way, the CAMIDs will be the same in CA as they were in C10. This means every user's My Folders content from C10 will automatically appear in the user's My Content area in CA. I'm guessing your question is part of the evaluation for moving to CA on Cloud? If so, you can still keep your on-prem authentication provider if you wish - the CA SAAS instance communicates with it (and any on-prem data sources) via a secure VPN tunnel.

Cheers!

MF.

[dougp]

I use Cognos 11.0.13 right now.  If you are asking about upgrading from 10.2.2 to 11.1.x, this information may be outdated.

3 months sounds about right.  Consider politics, organizational change management, and testing.  The actual change is not that big for the person doing it.  The main change is the UI shock to the user.

Cognos still uses the same Content Store database with small changes (I think they doubled the length of two varchar fields).  Even the settings in Cognos Configuration remain (mostly?) the same.  Like MFGF says, you can use deployment export and import to migrate your content, including My Folders -> My Content.

One positive difference:  If you run Cognos on a Windows Server using IIS:  IBM made the process even easier by providing a .bat file that will configure IIS correctly -- even if you use SSO.

You'll want to read about deprecated items, like workspace, and learn how to deal with those.  Although, I may be thinking about my experience with I went from 10.2.1 to 11.0.4.  I think the newer installer just does that for you.  Also, (I didn't use them, but...) I've read some issues with portal pages being challenging (or maybe not being available at all?).

[MFGF]

Also, (I didn't use them, but...) I've read some issues with portal pages being challenging (or maybe not being available at all?).

IBM did some work on Portal Pages integration for the 11.0.11 release. You can now enable a "My Portal Pages" folder in the new UI which allows you to continue to use your C10 portal pages. What you can't do, however, is to create new portal pages. It was just about allowing users to continue to use their old portal pages, presumably until they eventually get replaced with some of the newer technologies available in CA.

Cheers!

MF.

[srmoure]

It is possible to create new Portal Pages in Cognos 11.1.2 or edit the ones migrated from CA10.

An issue I found after migrating from CA 10.2.1 to 11.1.2 is that some CQM packages stopped working. I can search for the items within the package but I cannot expand it or use them to create reports. It seems there is a hot fox for it.

Another issue is when using conditional formatting on a chart's secondary axis. e.g. In CA10 I had a growth percentage (secondary axis of a chart ) which showed green when >0 or red when <0 - CA11.1.2 doesn't like at all and the only solution is to delete the conditional formatting for the secondary axis.

[Blue]

srmoure, we had exactly the same two issues.

Routing rules, as you say, can be addressed by installing the hot fix.
The other issue can be resolved using a custom parameter

Administration Console > Configuration > Dispatchers and Services
Select first dispatcher to view the list of services
Open the settings for the ReportService
and on the line "Environment" "Advanced settings" click Edit
Select "Override the settings..." box
Add the parameter RSVP.LAYOUTEXPRESSION.IGNORERECOMPILEERROR with a value of "true"
Click OK and OK again.
Repeat for the BatchReportService
Repeat above for each dispatcher.