#ibmiod

Best Practices for Upgrading to IBM Cognos 10 BBI-1894A

Mike Armstrong, Senior Product Manager IBM Canada

#ibmiod

Why Upgrade? •  IBM Cognos 10 is no longer a *new* release

o  In market since October, 2010

•  Your business is demanding new feature and functionality o  IBM Cognos 10 can deliver on these requirements

•  The current BI environment is becoming dated o  Conformance with other components of your solution

•  O/S versions

•  RDBMS versions

•  Browser support

•  etc…

2

#ibmiod

What’s Holding You Back? •  It’s Complicated!

o  Upgrading impacts 100’s to 100’s of thousands of users o  BI environments are a reliant upon a complex IT ecosystem

•  Users won’t tolerate disruption o  Failure is not an option

•  The last upgrade was PAINFUL!

3

#ibmiod

The Great Escape? •  So how do you…

•  Meet the needs of the business

•  Keep your job J

•  Come out looking like a super-hero?

4

#ibmiod

Face the Truth!

5

#ibmiod

Do your Homework! Create your Plan

6

#ibmiod

The Standard Upgrade Workflow

7 http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/cbi/v10r2m0/topic/com.ibm.swg.ba.cognos.inst_cr_winux.10.2.0.doc/c_upgrade_upgradeprocess.html?path=0_12_5_0#upgrade_UpgradeProcess

#ibmiod

Valuable Resources Before You Begin

8

•  Upgrade page in the Customer Center http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/cognos/customercenter/upgrade.html

o  Links to many resources •  Proven practices area on

developerWorks http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/analytics/practices.html

o  Upgrade information o  Upgrade case studies

•  Lifecycle Manager o  For content Validation o  V10.2 Part #CI9KBEN

•  Multi-Version Coexistence o  For content continuity http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21459041

Must Visit!

#ibmiod

Cognos 10 Upgrade Supported Path

9

C O G N O S

C O G N O S C O G N O S

Upgrade first, then leverage new features…

Use Lifecycle Manager to

validate results Cognos 8 and

Cognos 10

Accept desired results

Move business users

into Cognos 10

Use Lifecycle Manager to

validate results to leverage new

features

Accept desired results

Promote reports to production

Leverage Cognos 10 New Features (e.g. Dynamic Query, etc)

#ibmiod

Upgrade Approaches

Upgrade all your content at once •  The fastest and easiest upgrade

strategy •  Move all content to Cognos 10

quickly and efficiently: o  Beta results show 99% success

•  Continued improvements in upgrade process

•  Part of the quality plan for all releases

Upgrade in a staged approach •  Assess your applications and

user requirements: o  If some users or applications

cannot upgrade to Cognos 10 while others need to leverage new capabilities from Cognos 10

o  If a new LOB has specific requirements for Cognos 10 while the rest of the organization needs to stay on Cognos 8

•  Use the multi-version coexistence feature to upgrade part of your applications or users to Cognos 10

10

#ibmiod

Preparing for Success

11

#ibmiod

Before You Start

12

Ensure you have dedicated resources

Ensure you have commitment

Get Buy-in!

Clean house! Remove unused content

Perform consistency check before and after upgrade http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21474185

Prepare

#ibmiod

Content Store •  Whenever possible a full content store upgrade is recommended

o  Perform RDBMS backup and restore to new content store o  Start new Content Manager service to update the content store

schema o  Use Content Administration tasks to update content – not content

upgrade during startup

13

Ensure “Upgrade report specifications?”

is not selected during startup of the Cognos Service

#ibmiod

Cognos Configuration (cogstartup.xml) •  Recommend that Cognos Configuration settings are exported and

imported o  Reduces risk of human errors

•  Must modify/verify the following settings: o  Content Store details o  Audit Database details o  Hostname for Content Manager and Dispatcher services o  Port numbers -- must be different if running on same server o  Authentication Provider details o  Java Runtime Environment (JRE) details

•  Test the following from within Cognos Configuration: o  Content Store connection o  Audit Database connection

14

#ibmiod

Customizations •  Most organizations customize the appearance and functionality of

their environment via: o  The style management utility o  Manual modification of custom style sheets (.css files) o  Modification of the system.xml

•  It is important to know what has changed and needs to be applied in the upgraded environment

•  The presentation service will automatically attempt to upgrade at service start or you can upgrade manually o  Failed upgrades of system.xml are logged in cogserver.log o  If automatic upgrade fails run system_upgrade (.bat or .sh)

•  See “Customization” in “Administration and Security Guide” http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/cbi/v10r1m0/topic/com.ibm.swg.im.cognos.ug_cra.10.1.0.doc/ug_cra.html

15

Upgrade Tip: Recording customizations made and files modified will simplify future upgrades. Modify your Upgrade Plan now for next time.

#ibmiod

New Features, Changes, and Release Notes •  Generally new features do not impact upgrades •  Always a good idea to be aware of what they are and how they might

impact you. •  Consider the following:

o  Dynamic Query and new Query Service o  Dynamic Cubes o  Go! Search and content indices o  Multi-Tenant features o  Architectural changes and new services

•  Always review the Release Notes o  Fix lists – are your issues fixed? o  Known APAR’s

16

#ibmiod

Validating your Work

17

#ibmiod

Validate Your Efforts •  Your plan must include success

metrics •  Consider the following dimensions:

o  Content coverage o  Acceptable % difference o  Public vs. Private content o  Last used? Last Run? o  User expectations/requirements o  Performance – Overall and/or per report

•  Once you have identified your metrics, how will you measure them? o  Lifecycle Manager o  IBM Acceptance Testing Tool

http://download.boulder.ibm.com/ibmdl/pub/software/data/cognos/DiagnosticToolsAndUtilities/flyers/AcceptanceTestingTool.pdf

o  Report Spec Validation https://www-304.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=0&uid=swg24021205

18

#ibmiod

Lifecycle Manager •  Lifecycle Manager:

o  Benchmark a single environment o  Validates content between two

environments

•  Compare large numbers of reports: o  Different formats (PDF, HTML, XML,

CSV, Microsoft® Excel 2002/2007 and Microsoft Excel 2000 Single Sheet format)

o  All supported languages

•  More than just upgrades o  Verify impact on the environment after

an external change or tuning operation o  Validate after model changes o  Perform periodic comparisons to ensure stability

19

#ibmiod 20

#ibmiod

Case Study •  About Daptiv

o  Over 15 years experience providing Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) PPM solutions

o  Global company with offices in North America, Europe and Asia

o  Recognized as an industry leader by Gartner, Forrester, and IDC

o  Over 500 customers and 80,000 subscribers

•  About the Daptiv environment o  Single, multi-tenant, content store with over 30,000 reports o  One package per customer – estimated 30% in private content o  Application on Cognos 8.2 o  Distributed Windows environment with MS SQL backend

21

#ibmiod

•  Upgrade was deferred, postponed o  Effort was perceived as too great o  Multi-tenant added additional complexity o  More important things to do!

•  Small engineering team – limited development resources o  Business value of upgrade not seen as providing sufficient ROI o  Browser compatibility (Mainly Firefox – Chrome growing)

•  Pressure to move off v8.2 due to end of service

22

à Background

#ibmiod

•  In depth analysis of existing 8.2 environment o  Cleansed the content store o  CMTools

•  SDK validation of non-prompted reports o  Caution not to overload system

•  Lifecycle Manager for data difference o  Used a smaller sample – time constraints, common content o  Results matched SDK validation which increased confidence o  Inclusive prompts value selection – slowed validation, increased

confidence •  Big-bang vs. incremental upgrade

o  Decision to go with big bang upgrade

23

à Preparation

#ibmiod

•  Originally planning v8.2 à v10.1.1

•  With launch of v10.2 in September decided to try v8.2 à v10.2 o  No significant difference between 10.1.1 and 10.2 o  Go direct to 10.2

•  Repeated in-house testing and validation with Lifecycle Manager o  Used thorough testing of a ‘sampling of content’

•  Beta performed internally with Daptiv internal application

•  Fully live on IBM Cognos v10.2 in November, 2012

24

à Execution

#ibmiod

Let’s Recap…

25

#ibmiod

In closing…

26

SUCCESS!

Planning

Preparation

Verification

#ibmiod

Remember…

Review the many available resources

Assess your current environment

Make a detailed plan

Before you

begin: Execute on your plan

Review and adjust plan as you go

Document and save for next time

Execute on your

plan Create a testing strategy

Validate and verify as you go

Ensure user satisfaction

Validate your work

27

#ibmiod

Thank-you!

•  There is no Easy button for upgrade •  Planning and preparation bring success •  You can be the Hero!

28

#ibmiod

Acknowledgements and Disclaimers:

Availability. References in this presentation to IBM products, programs, or services do not imply that they will be available in all countries in which IBM operates.

The workshops, sessions and materials have been prepared by IBM or the session speakers and reflect their own views. They are provided for informational purposes only, and are neither intended to, nor shall have the effect of being, legal or other guidance or advice to any participant. While efforts were made to verify the completeness and accuracy of the information contained in this presentation, it is provided AS-IS without warranty of any kind, express or implied. IBM shall not be responsible for any damages arising out of the use of, or otherwise related to, this presentation or any other materials. Nothing contained in this presentation is intended to, nor shall have the effect of, creating any warranties or representations from IBM or its suppliers or licensors, or altering the terms and conditions of the applicable license agreement governing the use of IBM software.

All customer examples described are presented as illustrations of how those customers have used IBM products and the results they may have achieved. Actual environmental costs and performance characteristics may vary by customer. Nothing contained in these materials is intended to, nor shall have the effect of, stating or implying that any activities undertaken by you will result in any specific sales, revenue growth or other results.

#ibmiod

Acknowledgements and Disclaimers Continued: © Copyright IBM Corporation 2012. All rights reserved.

–  U.S. Government Users Restricted Rights - Use, duplication or disclosure restricted by GSA ADP Schedule Contract with IBM Corp.

IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com, TM1®, Cognos® , Cognos 7™, SPSS®, Cognos FSR™, OpenPages®, WebSphere®, DB2®, ALGORITHMICS, Ai Logo, ALGORITHMICS & Ai Logo, ALGO, MARK TO FUTURE, RISKWATCH, KNOW YOUR RISK, ALGO RISK, ALGO MARKET, ALGO CREDIT, ALGO COLLATERAL, ALGO FIRST, ALGO ONE, ALGO FOUNDATION, ALGO FINANCIAL MODELER, ALGO OPVAR and TH!NK Logo , are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both; Varicent™ is a trademark of Varicent Software Incorporated, an IBM company.

If these and other IBM trademarked terms are marked on their first occurrence in this information with a trademark symbol (® or ™), these symbols indicate U.S. registered or common law trademarks owned by IBM at the time this information was published. Such trademarks may also be registered or common law trademarks in other countries. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the Web at “Copyright and trademark information” at www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml

.

Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.

#ibmiod

Communities •  On-line communities, User Groups, Technical Forums, Blogs,

Social networks, and more o  Find the community that interests you …

•  Business Analytics bit.ly/AnalyticsCommunity

•  Information Management bit.ly/InfoMgmtCommunity

•  Enterprise Content Management bit.ly/ECMCommunity

•  IBM Champions o  Recognizing individuals who have made the most outstanding

contributions to Business Analytics, Information Management, and Enterprise Content Management communities

•  ibm.com/champion

#ibmiod

We Value Feedback – Submit YOUR Survey!!!

•  Access SmartSite to complete your session surveys o  Any web or mobile browser at iodsmartsite.com o  SmartSite applications for iPhone, iPad, Droid and Blackberry o  Any SmartSite kiosk onsite

•  Each completed session survey increases your chance to win an Apple TV with daily drawings sponsored by Alliance Tech

Apple TV Giveaway

#ibmiod

Questions

33