This document discusses the differences between dashboards and reports in Cognos Analytics. It provides an overview of common use cases for each and their limitations. Dashboards are meant for visualizing and interacting with data, while reports allow for more complex formatting and data manipulation. The document also includes a question and answer section covering additional capabilities and best practices for each tool.

1. Cognos Analytics
Dashboards or Reports?
1

2. 2
Hundreds of resources
Visit the Resource Library
on the Senturus website
to download this presentation
and explore other assets:
senturus.com/resources
2

3. Introductions
•Patrick Powers
3
•Data Scientist, Consultant and Trainer
Senturus, Inc.
•Michael Weinhauer
•BI Consultant
Senturus, Inc.

4. Agenda
• Introductions
• Dashboarding use case overview
• Reporting use case overview
• Demos
• Senturus overview
• Additional resources
• Q&A
4

5. Enjoy the full webinar presentation
This slide deck is from the webinar Cognos Analytics
Dashboards or Reports?
To view the FREE video recording and download this deck,
go to https://senturus.com/events/cognos-analytics-
dashboards-or-reports/
5

6. Dashboard use case overview
Dashboards are meant to answer questions in a visual
format.
6

7. Dashboard use case overview
• It’s about making data accessible and easy for a user of any
skill level
• Dashboards can be as simple or complex as needed to
answer your business question
• Dashboards can be static or interactive as appropriate for
the information presented
7

8. Dashboard use case overview
• Almost any data source can be used for a dashboard:
• Framework Manager packages
• Data modules
• Uploaded XLSX or CSV files
• Data sets
• Multiple data sources can be used for a single dashboard
8

9. Dashboard use case overview
• Dashboards can be for a single person looking to answer
an immediate question or be made to distribute to a larger
group
• The amount of formatting done to a dashboard will depend
on how the dashboard will be used
• In the current version of Cognos Analytics, dashboards
have reached near technical par with reporting, but there
are still limitations
9

10. Dashboard use case overview
• Dashboards do not allow for as much granular control over
objects as reports
• Unable to work at the query level
• Can’t use joins, unions or intersections directly
• No prompting controls for advanced prompt functions
• Macros for security or OLAP development are not available
• Formatting options are more restricted
10

11. Reporting use case overview
•Reporting is usually more targeted than a dashboard
•Reports can be a single page or dozens of pages
11

12. Reporting use case overview
•A report may not always be a visualization
•Reports can have visualizations, lists, data tables,
crosstabs, singletons and more for the data containers
12

13. Reporting use case overview
•A typical report author is building a report to be distributed
•Reporting allows for more complex data sources such as
raw SQL
•Advanced authors can leverage capabilities such as joins,
unions or intersections
13

14. See dashboard and reporting demos
To view the video recording and download the slide
deck go to https://senturus.com/events/cognos-analytics-
dashboards-or-reports/
Visit our website to access our library of free BI
knowledge resources including events, blogs, demos,
whitepapers, other on-demand webinars and our
dashboard gallery https://senturus.com/senturus-
resources/
14

15. Dashboards or reports
If there are so many similarities, why use reports over
dashboards?
• More granular control with reports
• Advanced scheduling options not available for dashboards
• Prompting more in-depth
• Reports can be made to emulate dashboards as shown in the demo, but
the report gives more flexibility and control
• Drill-through functionality expanded with more features in reporting
15

16. Dashboards or reports
Reporting provides more technical capabilities
• Complex calculated fields with macros and functions
• Ability to manipulate data at the query level
• Advanced filtering options for both detail and summary level filters
• Parameters can be added and customized
• More data container options available
• Allows for creation of briefing books with table of contents, hyperlinks
and bookmarks
• Can add in HTML JavaScript, API function calls
• Use raw SQL to work with any source environment
16

17. Answers to participant questions
17

18. Cognos dashboarding or reports?
18
Q: How do I change the color to red on the -233M? Does Cognos Analytics
have Format Painter tool like in MS Office or dropper like in Report Studio?
A: Unfortunately, you can't, changing colors is limited to reporting. There is no
dropper for format painter available in dashboarding.
Q: We attended the Senturus Cognos Framework Manager vs. Data Modules
webinar and would like to view the recording, is that available?
A: Yes, it’s on our website at: https://senturus.com/resources/cognos-
framework-manager-vs-data-modules/.
Q: Can Cognos dashboard tables be exported into Excel?
A: Dashboarding only allows export to PDF as of 11.1.6.

19. Cognos dashboarding or reports?
19
Q: Is there a concept of filter in Cognos using radio buttons rather than check
boxes?
A: Yes, you can filter; however, it is a multi-select checkbox option only.
Q: Can we set defaults for formatting in dashboarding and reports in Cognos?
A: You can set defaults only in reports, not dashboarding.
Q: How can we share the dynamic dashboards with non-Cognos users?
A: You can share a static screenshot of it as a PDF file.
Q: Is there a way to lock Cognos dashboard filters so that users can't modify
them?
A: No, the filters area will be available to all users.

20. Cognos dashboarding or reports?
20
Q: If I take a Senturus Cognos self-paced training class, is the software
provided?
A: You will need to provide your own software (Cognos access and/or
Tableau/Power BI desktop) for our self-paced courses. However, for our
instructor-led online classes we do provide a Cognos instance, but only for the
duration of the class.
Q: Are there any slicer/filter visualizations in Cognos that can be added to the
dashboard?
A: Yes, you can add a data item directly to the canvas and it will act as a slicer.

21. Cognos dashboarding or reports?
21
Q: What is an intersection in Cognos? I've only used unions and joins?
A: It's kind of the opposite of a union - another join type basically.
Q: Can we drag and drop reports into dashboards in Cognos?
A: No, just data items, visualizations or any of the built-in widgets such as web
pages, video, etc.
Q: Are there some visualizations that render in HTML fine, but do not render in
PDF when used in a Cognos report? We are using Cognos Analytics 11.1.6.
A: Yes, when you look at a visualization in reports it will state what its render
outputs are.

22. Cognos dashboarding or reports?
22
Q: Is there a way to set a parameter value without having to select a prompt
value in Cognos?
A: Not in dashboarding, but you can in reporting.
Q: Is drill through from the new graphs available in a Cognos report? We have
Cognos 11.1.2 and was wondering if it is available in later versions?
A: Drill through from dashboards is available in 11.1.3 and later.
Q: Why do you not use interactive reporting for sorting instead of filters in
Cognos during the demo?
A: You would. The demo was to show the conditional logic that is only available
in reporting.

23. Cognos dashboarding or reports?
23
Q: Can we embed a report in a dashboard in Cognos?
A: No.
Q: How can I shared a dashboard with others in Cognos?
A: Dashboards can be shared as a PDF or through Slack as well as embedded
in a webpage.
Q: Can we post dashboards to a website?
A: You can.
Q: Where can I find a recording of this webinar?
A: On our website at: https://senturus.com/resources/cognos-analytics-
dashboards-or-reports/.

24. Cognos dashboarding or reports?
24
Q: Do we always need to use visualizations?
A: No. While dashboards offer crosstabs and lists, reports offers even more for
non-viz presented data.
Q: Does Senturus offer self-paced Cognos or Tableau self-paced admin
courses?
A: We have a full offering of self-paced training for both Cognos and Tableau
(and Power BI) - check it out at https://senturus.com/training. Click on a platform
then you can choose to view our self-paced offerings or view our instructor-led
online schedule.

25. Like what you see?
To view the video recording and download the slide deck go
to https://senturus.com/events/cognos-analytics-dashboards-
or-reports/
Visit our website to access our library of free BI knowledge
resources including events, blogs, demos, whitepapers, other
on-demand webinars and our dashboard gallery
https://senturus.com/senturus-resources/
25

26. Need help with Cognos?
Business intelligence experts on demand
Access to an entire team of BI experts to fill in as needed
https://senturus.com/business-intelligence-staffing-and-support/
Upgrades
Quick starts and full implementation
https://senturus.com/ibm-cognos-upgrade-services/
Training
Professional Report Authoring
Dashboards, Explorations & Stories
https://senturus.com/training/cognos-training/
26

27. The authority in
Business Intelligence
27
Exclusively focused on BI,
Senturus is unrivaled in its
expertise across the BI stack.

28. Decisions & actionsBusiness needs
Bridging the data and decisioning gap
28
Analysis-ready data

29. Full spectrum BI services
•Dashboards, reporting and visualizations
•Data preparation and modern data warehousing
•Hybrid BI environments (migrations, security, etc.)
•Software to enable bimodal BI and platform migrations
•BI support retainer (expertise on demand)
•Training and mentoring
29

30. A long, strong history of success
•19+ years
•1300+ clients
•2500+ projects
30

31. Expand your knowledge
31
Find more resources
on the Senturus website:
senturus.com/senturus-resources

32. Upcoming event
•Accelerate report migrations from Cognos to Power BI & Tableau
•Maximize functionality while saving time and money. What’s not to love?
•Thursday, Aug 6, 2020, 11am PT/2pm ET
•Register: https://senturus.com/events
32

33. Complete BI training
33
Instructor-led online courses Self-paced learning
MentoringTailored group sessions

34. Additional resources
34
Insider viewpointsTechnical tipsUnbiased product reviews
Product demos Upcoming eventsMore on this subject

35. © 2020 by Senturus, Inc. This presentation may not be reused or distributed without the written consent of Senturus, Inc.
www.senturus.com 888 601 6010 info@senturus.com
Thank You