Creating Effective Dashboards in Cognos 8

June 25th, 2009

Kirk Wiseman VP, Training

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Agenda

  What are Dashboards?

  Three rules of Dashboards

  What to ask when creating Dashboards

  Examples of Dashboards

  Creating Dashboards with Cognos 8

  Tips

  Questions

What are Dashboards?

 Currentlytwodefini/onsofadashboard:  Asinglepagedisplaythatisreadableataglance  Afrequentlyupdatedanaly/caldisplaythatisclearandconcise

 Abe;erDefini/on:  Afrequentlyupdated,clearandconcisepagethatisreadableataglance.

 TIP:Adashboardreadershouldbeabletogeta“healthcheck”inabout45seconds fromthedashboard.Putimportantinforma/oninthetopleHcorner.

Scorecards VS Dashboards?

 ThetermsScorecardsandDashboardsaresome/mesusedinterchangeably

 ScorecardsandDashboardsarenotthesamething:  Dashboardsaregenerallymoredimensionallybiasedandusuallyhavetheability

toaddmoredimensionalcontext.  Dashboardsaremoreopera/onalinnatureanddataisusuallyupdatedmore

frequently.  Dashboardsusuallyansweroneorjustafewperformancetypeques/onsand

performanceisquicklygleanedwithjustaglance.  Scorecardsareveryperformancemanagementcentric…thinkaccountability,goals

andperformanceimprovement.  Scorecardsaremorestrategicinnatureanddataisupdatedlessfrequently.  Scorecardsaregenerallylessgraphic.  Dashboardsmaycontainsomescorecardelements.

3 Rules of Dashboards

 Placement  Dashboardshavetobeaccessible  TIP:Jus/fythecostofasecondmonitorandplaceyourdashboardwebpageon

thesecondmonitor.  TIP:S/llusingXP?TurnonAc/veDesktopanddisplayyourDashboardonthe

Desktop.  Design

 Dashboardshavetobeclearandconcise  TIP:Placethemostimportantac/onableinforma/oninthetopleHcorner.  TIP:Onlyusegaugesifyouhave4orfewerneedles

 Accuracy  Keeptheresultssimpleandaccurate.  Ifthedataissuspect,don’tincludeitontheDashboard

What to ask when creating dashboards

 Thereareseveralkeyques/onsthatneedtobeaskedwhencrea/ngdashboards:  WhataretheKeyMetrics?(TIP:Keepmetricsto10orless)  Istheinforma/onac/onable?

 Ifnot,don’tincludeitonthedashboard.  Doesthedashboardcontaincontext?

 Canareaderquicklyestablishthesource,freshnessandqualityofthedata?

Creating Cognos 8 Dashboard

Cognos 8 Dashboards

 SeveralwaystocreateCognos8Dashboards:  AReportStudioReportcontainingseveralreportobjects  APagePortaltoorganizemul/plereportsandotherobjectsononetab  Cognos8.4GODashboard

 Thiswebinarconcentratesoncrea/ngdashboardsusingPagePortals.

Dashboard examples

 Dashboarddesignisasmuchanartasascience.  Whatwillworkinoneorganiza/onwillbethrownoutinanotherorganiza/on.

Cognos 8 Page Portal Dashboards

 Cognosconnec/oncancontainmul/pletabsthatcontaindashboardportlets.  PortletscancontainCognosviewer,HTMLItems,RSSfeeds,SearchPortlets,Naviga/onportlets,Images,customizedportletsusingWSRPandmore

Cognos 8 Page Portal Portlets

 ACognos8PagePortalDashboardisusuallymadeupofNewsitems,Charts,Maps, Naviga/onportletstoPopularreports,scorecards,listsandcrosstabs

Newsitems

 NewsitemsarecreatedusingEventStudio  Greatwaytocreatealertsbasedonmul/plecriteria:

 Salesdropsby10percent  Invoicepastdue30,60,90days  Reminderstocontactclients

Charts

 TherearemanyChartstochoosefrominCognos8:  Column,Bar,Progressive,Pareto,Line,Pie,Area,Combina/on,Sca;er,Bubbles,

Radar,Guage,Ranges,Microcharts

 TIP:Useachartthattellsthestoryinasimpleandcleanmanner.Don’tjustuseaGuagebecauseit“lookscool”.Ifapiechartworksbe;er,thenuseit!

Maps

 MapsallowyoutellaGeographicorloca/onstory.  SeveralMapsareincludedwithCognos8.4.  YoucandownloadupdatedonesfromIBMCognoswebsite  MapManagerallowsyoutoimportmapsthatyoumayhavecreatedwithan

mappingtoolsuchasMapInfo

 TIP:Thinkoutsidethebox.MapInfocancreatemapsofanything:thehumanbody,Cars,Manufacturingequipment,etc.

Metrics

 Scorecardsallowyoutoalignyourcurrentperformancewithyourcompany’soverallstrategy.

 CognosMetricPortletsinclude:HistoryCharts,Lists,CustomDiagramsandImpactDiagrams.

Navigation Portlet

 Naviga/onportletsallowforquicknaviga/ontocommonorimportantreportsorlinks.

 TIP:CreateaPagePortalthatcontainstwocolumns.Onewithacoupleofnaviga/onportletandtheotherwithaCognosViewerportlet.Haveanyreportthatisclickedinthenaviga/onportletviewedintheCognosViewerportlet.

Take aways

 UseEventStudiotocreateAlertsthatwillappearintopleHCorner.  UseEventStudiotosendemailsaboutthecri/calalerts.  UseSparklines(microcharts)toaddvisualrelevancetolistsandcrosstabs.  Createareportthatreferencesthelastupdatedateofthedashboard’sdata.  Gaugesshouldbelimitedto4orfewerneedles.  Keepcolorschemessimple.Usetheexcelcolorschemeforvisualacceptance.  Placethedashboardonanexecu/vesdesktop,iftheyuseWindowsXP.  Createascheduledjobtorunallthereportsforthedashboardandhavethatjob

calledbyatriggerevent–suchasadbrefresh.  ScorecardsandDashboardsaredifferent.ADashboardcancontainScorecards.  Dashboardsarenotsta/c–expectthemtochangeandmorphwithinthefirst18

months.

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