IT administrators need a clear picture of what is happening in the system at all times, so they can address potential issues before they become support calls. They must be able to troubleshoot effectively and continuously improve system performance.

1. How does the IBM Cognos 8 platform provide reliable performance?

• A 100% zero-footprint solution. No downloads, plug-ins, or PC configuration changes, so you can deploy to large numbers of users with minimal effort.
• Linear scalability. Services scale up or out, to provide predictable linear response to workloads.
• Single sign on for user authentication. Integrate with one or more third-party or custom security providers for seamless single sign on.
• Comprehensive security. Data-level security, full encryption, and an application firewall ensure data is accessed by only authorized users.

2. How will the IBM Cognos 8 platform help me meet and exceed my service level agreements?

• New System Management Methodology. Includes proven practice technical white papers, sample reports, models, and tools to continuously improve how deployments are managed.
• Task-oriented system monitoring. Provides administrators with a consolidated view of all system activity, from scheduled and interactive reports to servers and dispatchers, reducing the time and effort needed to monitor the system.
• Proactive administration. Provides administrators with detailed metrics, thresholds that identify anomalies, and intuitive ongoing monitoring capabilities that spot issues before they are problems.
• Queue prioritization. Provides administrators with the ability to change priority of a scheduled report based on a user request.
• Report execution rerun. Provides administrators with the ability to rerun a failed report on a user's behalf and restart from the point of failure.
• Integration with third-party EMS. Provides administrators with the ability to leverage the metrics within enterprise management systems (EMS) solutions, such as IBM Tivoli.

3. How will the IBM Cognos 8 platform help me manage environment change?

• Visual Upgrade Manager. Administrators can test, compare, and record results between two versions of IBM Cognos software, to identify and quantify issues during the upgrade process, ensuring faster, more streamlined upgrades.
• Automated environment validation. Provides the ability to test, compare, and record results between IBM Cognos environments for faster rollout of environment changes.
• Simultaneous shipment on Windows, UNIX, and Linux. IBM Cognos software is available at time of release on Windows, UNIX, and Linux, supporting deployments in heterogeneous environments.

Learn more:

• IBM Cognos 8 BI Demo: System Administration Module
• Read about IBM Cognos 8 BI capabilities