IBM Cognos Insight

IBM Cognos Insight - Sanjeev Datta

This book, written by Sanjeev Datta, Business Analytics expert and Practice Director of PerformanceG2, is a guideline about how to use IBM Cognos Insight, a desktop Analytics tool that combining an in-memory analysis engine with capabilities of data exploration and data visualization. IBM Cognos Insight can be used stand-alone for personal analytics or as a collaborative application, working with others IBM Business Analytics tools, like IBM Cognos Business Intelligence or IBM Cognos TM1.

The book covers all the aspects of IBM Cognos Insight, since how to install and configuring, the usability, until the examples of Strategic Decision Making using the tool. In the Chapter 1, he explores the concepts of Business Analytics and how the IBM Cognos Insight fits this concept. In the Chapter 2, he explains how to install and configure the tool.

In the Chapter 3, Usability of IBM Cognos Insight, he demonstrates in detail the features to import data, analyze it, build workspaces, and also how to reorient, restructure, and display data in rich visual formats. In the Chapter 4, he brings some interesting examples on how to use the tool for Strategic Decision Making. And in the last Chapter, he explains how to share the information in a enterprise collaboration environment.

The book is well detailed and illustrated, and a good resource to get started with IBM Cognos Insight.


Book Details
Book: IBM Cognos Insight
Publisher: Packt Publishing
Language: English
Paperback: 142 pages
Release Date: November 2012
ISBN: 184968846X
ISBN 13: 9781849688468
Author: Sanjeev Datta

Profiles in Performance: Business Intelligence Journeys and the Roadmap for Change

Profiles in Performance: Business Intelligence Journeys and the Roadmap for Change - Howard Dresner

Howard Dresner touched on a crucial point in this book: before an organization can succeed, it first must create a culture that values performance, transparency, and accountability.

He said when he began work on his book, his intention was to capture and present best practices of performance management, but along the way, he realized that the missing element that determines success or failure really boils down to the notion of culture. Just as well that he decided to write about performance-directed culture, because he wrote a great and insightful book.

In the book, Howard explains the Performance Culture Maturity Model, a comprehensive model created by him to understand the way of organizations have taken in their search for better performance. The model has six dimensions and four levels of achievement, where the four levels of maturity determine how mature an organization is in each of six performance-directed culture criteria.

He used the Performance Culture Maturity Model as a filter to help select four organizations, and wrote well detailed case studies about them. He wrote one chapter for each organization, showing the issues and efforts to build and sustain a performance-directed culture, and also sharing their setbacks and successes.

I completely agree with his definition: “The performance-directed culture is a journey, not a destination.”

The book is an outstanding reference on how to build a culture of performance in the organizations, and is highly recommended reading for everyone involved with performance management.

Data Mining: Practical Machine Learning Tools and Techniques, Second Edition

Data Mining: Practical Machine Learning Tools and Techniques, Second Edition - Ian H. Witten and Eibe Frank

The second edition of this book, published in 2005, and written by Ian H. Witten and Eibe Frank, professors of University of Waikato in New Zealand is, in my opinion, the most complete and comprehensive book about data mining. The authors define Data Mining: is about solving problems by analyzing data already present in databases, and their book is about looking for patterns in data.

They divide the book into two parts, the first one called Machine Learning Tools and Techiniques and the last one called The Weka machine learning workbench. In the first part, consisting of 8 chapters, they start describing what is data mining and machine learning, and the fielded applications. After, are described the concepts, instances and atributes involved in data mining, that they call input. They consider output the knowledge representation. The knowledge representation is a key topic in classical intelligence artificial, and the word knowledge is used just because they need some word to refer to the structures that learning methods produce. In a chapter, are described the types of knowledge representation, since the simplest decision tables, the decision trees, called for them a "divide-and-conquer" approach, the classification rules, the association rules, rules with exceptions, rules involving relations, trees for numeric prediction, the instance-based representation and the clusters.

In other chapter, well detailed, are described the basic methods of algorithms, with a topic of discussion in the end of each method. They explain how evaluate what's been learned, and also how to implement the real machine learning schemes, developing the types of knowledge representation. They define the transformation used in the input and output, and finish the first part showing the main applications of data mining.

The last part is about Weka, an open source collection of machine learning algorithms and data preprocessing tools, for data mining tasks. It includes all the algoritms described in the book. The Weka development project started at University of Waikato in New Zealand, where the authors are professors, and part of academic staff that defined the project. Weka is an interesting data mining tool and since 2006, it forms the data mining and predictive analytics component of the Pentaho business intelligence suite, that has become major sponsor of Weka development.

This is a nice book, the authors explain the subject using pratical applications, and it is a good source for someone interested in learning about data mining and machine learning.

IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence: The Official Guide

IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence: The Official Guide - Dan Volitich

This book, written by Dan Volitich, is a complete reference to Cognos 8 BI. He is an experienced BI consultant, specialized in Cognos, and president and owner of John Daniel Associates, a Business Intelligence Consultancy that is Cognos-exclusive partner.

The book is well-structured, he divides the book in four parts. In the Part I, called Introduction to Performance Management and IBM Cognos 8 BI, he talks about the concepts of performance management, how monitoring performance using dashboards and scorecards, and an introduction to Cognos 8 BI.

In the Part II, entitled Accessing and Using IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence, he writes about the Cognos Connection, the web-based portal that allows users to run reports, queries, metrics and analyses; perform administrative functions; and access other Cognos 8 content.

In the Part III, Authoring IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence Content, with 7 chapters, he covers all the Cognos 8 Suite of tools (Query Studio, Report Studio, Analysis Studio, Metrics Studio and Event Studio), teaching how to use the concepts of query, reporting, analytics, events, scorecards and metrics in Cognos 8 BI.

In the Part IV, Administration of IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence, he talks about the Cognos Framework Manager, since how to build a model, to how to manage projects using Framework Manager.

Dan Volitich did a great job, the book covers all the Cognos 8 BI suite, and in my opinion, should be read for everyone that develop BI/PM projects using this excellent suite of tools.

The Balanced Scorecard - Translating Strategy Into Action (Classic Book)

The Balanced Scorecard - Translating Strategy Into Action - Robert S. Kaplan, David P. Norton

This book arose from a research that culminated with an article entitled "The Balanced Scorecard - Measures That Drive Performance", published in the Harvard Business Review, in early 1992.

The book has a preface and two chapters with an introduction to the concepts of Balanced Scorecard. In the preface, they explain the path to publish the book, since the research, publication of articles, to the application of the concepts of balanced scorecard in several companies.

After the introduction, the book is organized within two Parts, Part One is about measuring business strategy and Part Two deals with managing business strategy.

In the Part One, entitled Measuring Business Strategy, they define the four perspectives: financial, customer, internal business process, and learning and growth, one chapter for each perspective. This part has more two chapters, one about linking balanced scorecard measures to your strategy, and the last chapter about structure and strategy.

The Balanced Scorecard Provides a Framework to Translate a Strategy into Operational Terms:


(Source: www.balancedscorecard.org, based on the book)

In the Part Two: Managing Business Strategy, they describe in four chapters how several companies are using the balanced scorecard as the foundation of the strategic management system.

This is a great book, where Kaplan and Norton explain how to use this excellent tool. The Balance Scorecard is considered nowadays one of management practices most important and revolutionary.

Of course, Kaplan and Norton, using their experience, based on extensive applications in organizations worldwide, updated and evolved the concepts in their next books: The Strategy-Focused Organization: How Balanced Scorecard Companies Thrive in the New Business Environment, Strategy Maps: Converting Intangible Assets into Tangible Outcomes, Alignment: Using the Balanced Scorecard to Create Corporate Synergies

The Data Warehouse Toolkit: The Complete Guide to Dimensional Modeling (Classic Book)

The Data Warehouse Toolkit: The Complete Guide to Dimensional Modeling (Second Edition) - Ralph Kimball and Margy Ross

I consider this book a classical book about Dimensional Modeling. The first edition was published in 1996 and in this second edition, published in 2002, Ralph Kimball and Margy Ross updated, increased, and enhanced the original concepts of dimensional modeling with new and complementary techniques.

The book contains several case studies, where you can learn the design techniques by example, in the main business subjects. There is a chapter for subject, starting with Retail sales, that they consider the classical example to illustrate dimensional modeling. The next chapters are about Inventory, Procurement, Order Management, Customer Relationship Management, Accounting, Human Resources Management, Financial Services, Telecommunications and Utilities, Transportation, Education, Health Care, Electronic Commerce and Insurance.

There is an important chapter, called Building the Data Warehouse, where they introduce the Business Dimensional Lifecycle Road Map, starting in the project planning, passing by all steps to build a Data Warehouse, and finishing in deployment, maintenance and growth.

All the Kimball Toolkit books are excellent books about data warehousing techniques, but this in particular, should be read for everyone involved in dimensional modeling and data warehouse projects.

The Profit Impact of Business Intelligence

The Profit Impact of Business Intelligence - Steve Williams and Nancy Williams

In this book, Steve and Nancy Williams focused on to show the side business of Business Intelligence, explain that the BI is not mainly about technology and also how the companies should looking for to use the BI to improve profit and performance.

The book is organized in three parts, in the Part 1: Identifying and Leveraging BI-Driven Profit Opportunities, they introduce the terms of BI, show the BI opportunity analysis, and also key barriers and business risk.

The Part 2: Creating the BI Asset, they provide a business and technical overview that how to design, build, deploy, and leverage a BI environment, using what they called the BI pathway method, and how the BI should be business-oriented.

The Part 3: Leveraging BI for Profit Professional, they define more deeply how companies have used BI in different ways to drive profits.

All the chapters have in the end two sections: Key Points to remember and Think Tank, where they summarize the chapter, define tips and make questions about the subject of the chapter.

The authors wrote a very good book, where they show the direction to improve how the companies use the BI to achieve their strategic goals.

Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning

Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning - Thomas Davenport and Jeanne Harris

This book originated from an excellent article that the authors wrote to the Harvard Business Review. In this book, the authors define the analytical competition, and why and how the companies are using sophisticated quantitative and statistical analysis and predictive modeling to competing in a world where the companies are offering similar products. The globalization finished with several previous bases for competition and the companies need increasingly build their competitive strategies using the concepts of analytics.

They divide the book in two parts. In the part one, called The Nature of Analytical Competition, they wrote about the fundamentals that define the analytical competition.

In the first chapter, they define analytics as: "By Analytics we mean the extensive use of data, statistical and quantitative analysis, explanatory and predictive models, and fact-based management to drive decisions and actions. The analytics may be input for human decisions or may drive fully automated decisions. Analytics are a subset of what has come to be called Business Intelligence: a set of technologies and processes that use data to understand and analyze business performance."

They explain the use of analytics to improve the business performance and the business process to gain competitive advantage, divided into two categories: internal and external. In the internal process, they explain the use in financial analytics, cost management, mergers and acquisition, manufacturing, operations, research and development, and human resources. In competing on analytics with external processes, they define how the analytical competitors are using the data from customer-based process and supplier-facing processes to improve their external processes (sales, marketing, procurement, logistics).

In the part two, called Building an analytical capability, they define a road map, through five stages to the companies develop the analytical capability, and also how the companies should managing efficiently the analytical professionals.

It is an excellent book that to point the direction that the companies need to drive to become an analytical competitor.

Performance Dashboards: Measuring, Monitoring, and Managing Your Business

Performance Dashboards: Measuring, Monitoring, and Managing Your Business - Wayne W. Eckerson

In the preface of the book, Wayne Eckerson wrote his original focus to write this book was Performance Management, but in his initial research he realizes PM meant different things to different people. Just as well that he decided to write about performance dashboards, because he did a great job and wrote an exceptional book.

The book is well defined, he divides into three sections. In the part one, "The Landscape for Performance Dashboards", he explains in details what are performance dashboards, the role of Performance Management and Business Intelligence, and also the architecture and the framework to implement a Performance Management.

He shows performance dashboards is more than just a screen with fancy performance graphics and also shows why is very different from plain dashboards or scorecards.

A performance dashboard is a multilayered application built on a business intelligence and data integration infrastructure that enables organizations to measure, monitor, and manage business performance more effectively. Performance dashboard is a powerful agent of organizational change. The performance dashboard is considered the new face of BI, because can transform BI from a set of tools used by business analysts and power users into information available to everyone in a company.

He defines performance dashboards as three applications in one, woven and working together:
- monitoring application: convey information at a glance
- analysis application: let users analyze exception conditions
- management application: improve alignment, coordination and collaboration

He also shows performance dashboards have three layers or views of information:
- summarized graphical view
- multidimensional view
- detailed reporting view


He defines three types of Performance Dashboard: strategic, tactical and operational. Each applies the three applications and layers described above in slightly different ways.

In the Part two, "Performance Dashboard in action", he explains in details the three types of Performance Dashboard: strategic, tactical and operational, and how to implement which one, with cases study detailed, using real-world examples.

In the Part Three, called "Critical Success Factors: Tips from the Trenches", there are recommendations and guidance from dozens of performance dashboards projects that the author has researched, and define how to start the project, how to create effective metrics, how to design effective dashboard screens, how to link and integrate performance dashboards, how to align business and IT, and the strategies to ensure adoption and manage performance.

There is an useful appendix with the criteria for evaluating performance dashboards.

This is an exceptional book, that defines and explains which the role of Performance Dashboards as factor of success to focus business people to drive to a well managed performance of their business.

Five Key Principles of Corporate Performance Management

Five Key Principles of Corporate Performance Management - Bob Paladino

Bob Paladino wrote an excellent book, the book offers an approach for the design,development and implementation a strategic planning, integrating several methods to optimize results, with dozen of best practices and detailed case studies, using examples from both private and public sector organizations.

He organizes the book in nine chapters, three chapters are the introduction, the principles definition and barriers to strategies implementation; five chapters to the principles (one chapter to each principle) and a final chapter with diagnostic and CPM research resources.

He talks about why the most companies fail to implement strategies, explain the four barriers to strategy implementation, based in the results of research conducted by Robert Kaplan and David Norton, the creators of Balanced Scorecard Methodology: vision, management, resource and people.

The five key principles are:
1 - Establish and deploy a CPM Office and Officer
2 - Refresh and communicate strategy
3 - Cascade and manage strategy
4 - Improve performance
5 - Manage and leverage knowledge



He explains in details each principle and how to implement the concepts to apply the principle. For each principle there are best practices cases.

He also argues the necessity to create the CPM office (Principle 1) as the focal point to translate strategic intent to operational actions.

This book is an excellent guideline and works like a lighthouse to people that want to implement a successful performance management in their companies.

Successful Business Intelligence

Successful Business Intelligence - Secrets to making BI a Killer App - Cindi Howson

In this book, Cindi Howson describes about all the issues to define, develop and implement a successful Business Intelligence project.

The book is well structured, she divides the subjects in chapters, and focus on both business and technical.

She starts talking about Business Intelligence from the Business side, and in the book her concerns about business issues is evident, she talks about: the business-IT partnership, executive support, BI Steering Committee, Business Intelligence Competency Center. I agree with her, the business issues are very important for a BI project.

The book has an interesting chapter called "The LOFT Effect", where she defines four factors to implement a successful BI: Luck, Opportunity, Frustration, and Treat: the initials of LOFT.

All the chapters have a section, with best practices and tips about the subject mentioned. She always also mentions real-world case studies.

Cindi Howson is an expert on the BI industry and it is an excellent book with practical advice to implement a BI project.

Highly recommended reading for everyone involved with BI, from executives, businesspeople to BI Managers, Analysts and Consultants.

The Data Warehouse Lifecycle Toolkit - Second Edition

The Data Warehouse Lifecycle Toolkit - Second Edition - Ralph Kimball, Margy Ross, Warren Thornthwaite, and Joy Mundy

In this second edition, launched in January/2008, Ralph Kimball and his team from Kimball Group, updated the Kimball Lifecycle methodology, defined in the book's first edition. They refined the methodology, based on their experience in training, consulting and developing, always focused in Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence applications.

The Kimball Lifecycle methodology provides a general framework that connects all the necessary activities of a DW/BI implementation. They explain, step by step, all the sequence of tasks required for an effective DW/BI project, covering: Project Planning, Project Management, Business Requirements Definition, Technical Architecture Design, Dimensional Modeling, Physical Design, ETL Design and Development, Designing and Developing BI Applications.

The book is a complete and detailed roadmap and must be read for all professionals that designing, building and implementing DW/BI Applications.

Another excellent book by Mr. Kimball and Team.

The Performance Management Revolution

- The Performance Management Revolution - Business Results Through Insight and Action - Howard Dresner


This book, written by Howard Dresner, is a guideline to help who wants to understand and implement the concepts of Performance Management in the companies.

Howard Dresner is known as the analyst that coined the term Business Intelligence, when he was working in the Gartner, the world's largest IT advisory company.

It is very interesting how he divides the book into three parts, and puts the name on each party in reference to the steps to make a revolution.

In Part One, entitled "A call to arms", he talks about what need to change due a paradigm shift that is occurring in how business is organized nowadays and also how to define a model for a modern management system. For it, he defines as the better process to use is the Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) process, and divides the model view in four: Vision and Strategy, Goals and Objectives, Execution, and Evaluation. He talks also about the barriers to adoption the EPM and the current tools and technologies.

In Part Two, that he called "Preparing for Battle", he explains how to implement an Enterprise Performance Management, the best practices, how to define and implement a Center of Excellence, with its roles and responsibilities, required skills, and how to standardize and consolidate the tools. He also defines how deploy an EPM system, mentioning all the components that consist an EPM Applications: planning, modeling, dashboards, scorecards, reporting and analysis. Finally, he talks about forms to obtain a comprehensive view of Performance Management, and how you can link the specific elements of an EPM solution to specific business problems.

In Part Three, defined for him as "Let the Revolution Begin", he makes several questions to you determine your immediate priorities and explains how to implement a model EPM Methodology and how to measure outcomes and define metrics and targets that drive the right behaviors.

Great book, inspiring and instigating, written by an expert.

Highly Recommended Reading.

Business Intelligence Competency Centers

- Business Intelligence Competency Centers: A Team Approach to Maximizing Competitive Advantage - Gloria Miller, Dagmar Brautigam and Stefanie Gerlach

In this book, the authors explain the concepts, the reasons to establish and how to plan and implement a BICC in a company.

They define the BICC as a cross-functional team with defined tasks, roles, responsibilities, and process for supporting the use of BI across a company, mentioning the main challenges to implement a BI and how the BICC can help in this process.

They divide the challenges to exploit BI in six categories:
Data, Technology, Process, Strategy, Users and Cultural.

They also define five reasons to establish a BICC:
- Preserve and exploit the full value of technology investments
- Integrate and consolidade business and analytical intelligence process and initiatives
- Reduce overall risk of implementation projects and project realization
- Support business users in fully understanding data and acting properly and analyses
- Ensure that BI knowledge (BI values, concepts, and technology) is shared throughout the organization

As the three authors have been working in SAS, of course the point of view and the case studies of BI and BICC are based in the vision, tools and customers of SAS.

Good book, with interesting concepts and ideas to help the companies to drive a well implemented BI.