Learn how the Senturus Report Insights app decodes Cognos reports and models accelerating report migrations to Power BI and Tableau. Save time. Save money. View this on-demand webinar with demos: https://senturus.com/resources/accelerate-report-migrations-from-cognos-to-power-bi-tableau/. Senturus offers a full spectrum of services in business intelligence and training on Tableau, Power BI and Cognos. Our resource library has hundreds of free live and recorded webinars, blog posts, demos and unbiased product reviews available on our website at: http://www.senturus.com/senturus-resources/.

1. Accelerate Report Migrations from
Cognos to Power BI & Tableau
2

2. 3
Hundreds of resources
Visit the Resource Library
on the Senturus website
to download this presentation
and explore other assets:
senturus.com/resources
3

3. 4
Introductions
Steve Reed-Pitman
4
Practice Lead Installations, Upgrades
and Optimization
Senturus, Inc.
Todd Schuman
Director of Enterprise Architecture
and Engineering
Senturus, Inc.

4. Agenda
• Introductions
• Report migration process
• Current inventory process
• Assess models
• Assess reports
• A better way?
• Live demo
• Senturus overview
• Additional resources
5

5. Enjoy the full webinar presentation
This slide deck is from the webinar Accelerate Report
Migrations from Cognos to Power BI & Tableau
To view the FREE video recording and download this deck,
go to https://senturus.com/resources/accelerate-report-
migrations-from-cognos-to-power-bi-tableau/
6

6. Migration process
7

7. Sample scenario
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•Run audit report to identify “most
used reports”
•Get “essential” reports into new
BI tool
•Locate reports
•Identify packages used for report
•Open/edit report to capture
report specs
Page Object Data Item Path
Page 1 List Customer Name [Sales Query].[Customers].[Customer Name]
Page 1 List Quantity Sold [Sales Query].[Sales].[Quantity]
Page 1 List Revenue [Sales Query].[Sales].[Revenue]
Page 1 List Year [Sales Query].[Time].[Year]
Page 1 List Month [Sales Query].[Time].[Month]
Page 1 List Sales Rep [Sales Query].[Sales Rep].[Sales Rep]
Page 1 List Region [Sales Query].[Region].[Sales Region]
Page 2 Crosstab Year [Sales Query].[Time].[Year]
Page 2 Crosstab Customer Name [Sales Query].[Customers].[Customer Name]
Report Name:
Location:
Package Name:
Package Location:
Top Customers
Team ContentReportsCustomers
Customers
Team ContentPackages

8. 9
Migration process
Create model
• Tables
• Joins
• Calculations
• Filters
• Business logic
• Business terminology
Create report/dashboard
• Pages
• Layout
• Data containers
• Queries
• Filters
• Calculations
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9. Inventory: assess
current model
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10. FM model
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• Multiple layers
• Namespaces
• Data sources
• Parameter maps
• Packages

11. FM SQL and table relationships
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• Physical database
table names
• Relationships to other
tables
• Join keys

12. Inventory: assess
current reports
13

13. Report layout
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• Pages
• Queries
• Classes
• Variables

14. Report page
15
• Multiple pages
• Multiple objects per
page
• Lists
• Crosstabs
• Visualizations
• Maps

15. Query page
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• Multiple
• Data/query items
• Calculations
• Aggregations

16. Data items
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• [Namespace]
• .[Query subject]
• .[Query item path]
• Calculations
• Functions

17. Query filters
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• Filter objects in query
• Filter directly from the
package/model
• Hard coded or parameters

18. A better way?
19

19. What if?
20
• Report path location
• Summarized view of
each report
• Number of pages
• Objects on pages
• What query is being
referenced
• Query overview
• Full [Namespace].[Query Subject].[Query Item] Path
• Aggregation property
• Filter details
• Data item lineage
•Presentation to database layer details

20. What if?
21
• Minimum tables
Required to rebuild
reports
• Details on table
relations found in
the FM model
• Skip/eliminate the extra objects in the model

21. 22
Quickly recreate reports
22

22. Demo
23

23. See demo
To view the video recording and download the slide
deck go to https://senturus.com/resources/accelerate-
report-migrations-from-cognos-to-power-bi-tableau/
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/
24

24. Answers to participant questions
25

25. Accelerate report migrations from Cognos
to Power BI & Tableau
26
Q: Would you recommend we import tables depending on what the report
needs rather than trying to build a generic data set that multiple reports
can use?
A: This depends on how broadly the query subjects in your existing model are
used by the reports that you wish to migrate. We often see complex, "kitchen-
sink" models in Cognos that have evolved over many years, where only a small
portion of the model is currently used for a collection of reports. In such cases, a
more agile, iterative approach can give you quicker migration results by starting
with only a subset of the tables from the existing model and then building on
that over time.

26. Accelerate report migrations from Cognos
to Power BI & Tableau
27
Q: How easy is it to set up Report Insights? Are there best practices to
determine which reports are best to migrate to another system like
Tableau?
A: Setup of Report Insights is performed by a Senturus consultant in
collaboration with an administrator of your environment. Determining which
reports are best suited for migration to a platform depends on the structure and
complexity of the existing reports and underlying data. Unfortunately, there is no
one-size-fits-all approach to this analysis.
Q: Is Senturus Report Insights free?
A: No. Report Insights is currently available as part of our migration kickstart
engagement and for larger, custom projects.

27. Accelerate report migrations from Cognos
to Power BI & Tableau
28
Q: How is the Cognos report generated in the demo?
A: The report is generated using our proprietary Report Insights database and a
custom Cognos data module. We extract and analyze the underlying source
data from the Cognos content store.
Q: Does Senturus Report Insights automatically convert to Cognos
reports to Power BI reports?
A: No. Report Insights provides a summary of the information that is needed to
create an equivalent Power BI Report, but automatic conversion isn't available
due to the complexity of feature-set differences and the closed/proprietary
nature of PBIX files vs. the open XML schema used by Cognos reports.

28. Accelerate report migrations from Cognos
to Power BI & Tableau
29
Q: Does the Senturus Report Insights work with Active Reports?
A: Report Insights doesn't include specialized support for Active Reports
objects; however, it can still analyze and summarize the queries and underlying
logic for any standard Cognos report object that is used within an Active Report.
Q: Does the Senturus Report Insights show calcs/logic on columns
including complex if then else statements?
A: Report Insights shows details of calcs/logic and if-then-else statements for
data items within reports; however, it does not currently show calcs/logic
embedded within the underlying Framework Manager model.
Q: How are Cognos reports with prompt pages handled in Power BI during
conversion?
A: Power BI recently rolled out additional bursting capabilities.

29. Accelerate report migrations from Cognos
to Power BI & Tableau
30
Q: Is it possible to schedule reports to run from Power BI and email them
out to users?
A: Microsoft just rolled out new bursting functionality. You can talk to one of our
Microsoft consultants to outline the distribution options with Power BI. Our
phone number is 800 601 6010 ext. 1.
Q: Can we run the Senturus Report Insights ourselves?
A: Setup of Report Insights is performed by a Senturus consultant in
collaboration with an administrator of your environment. After the initial setup is
complete and the insights database has been populated, you can run the tool to
explore the reports of your choice.

30. Migration Kickstart
• Collaborative engagement starting at two days
• Leverage Report Insights against all the reports within
one Cognos package
• Assistance with report creation on the target platform
based on Report Insights output
• Includes software setup, consulting and mentoring
31

31. The authority in
business intelligence
Exclusively focused on BI,
Senturus is unrivaled in its
expertise across the BI stack.
32

32. Decisions and actionsBusiness needs
Bridging the data and decisioning
gap
33
Analysis-ready data

33. 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
34

34. Senturus Analytics Connector
•Lets Power BI and Tableau tap directly into the data in
Cognos
•Perfect for bi-modal and transitional environments
•https://senturus.com/products/analytics-connector/
35

35. A long, strong history of success
•19+ years
•1300+ clients
•2500+ projects
36

36. Expand your
knowledge
37
Find more resources
on the Senturus website:
senturus.com/senturus-resources

37. Upcoming events
•Accelerating Deployment of Power BI Datasets & Reports
•Can Microsoft’s new deployment pipeline feature help?
•Thursday, Aug 27, 2020, 11am PT/2pm ET
38

38. Complete BI training
39
Instructor-led online courses Self-paced learning
MentoringTailored group sessions

39. Additional resources
40
Insider viewpointsTechnical tipsUnbiased product reviews
Product demos Upcoming eventsMore on this subject

40. © 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
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