New MetaManager Module: Report and Output Compare
BSP Software is pleased to announce a brand new MetaManager feature module: Compare Reports. This brand new feature provides long asked for functionality to aid with IBM Cognos Upgrades and report maintenance. In the Deploy bundle, Compare Reports allows you to compare a report, set of reports, or folder of reports against the same subset of reports in another environment. In addition to comparing the full set of report... read moreBSP Software Continues to Provide Superior Support for IBM Cognos User
Tech Data BSP Software is on fire – not literally of course, but according to current and former customers, and potential customers who are exploring the best support software for IBM Cognos, BSP Software continues to come out on top. In late October, the Tech Data BSP Software team travelled to Miami to attend the IBM Data & AI Forum where they met with Cognos end users and resellers.... read moreICS Updated with Cognos 11.1.4 Compatabilitiy
BSP Software is pleased to announce that the latest versions of Integrated Control Suite for Cognos Analytics (3.2.0.7 and 3.1.0.27) are fully compatible with the most recent release of Cognos 11.1.4. In addition to compatibility with the newest version of Cognos, the BSP Software development team also implemented several bug fixes and enhancements requested by our users. Our products are continually updated in response to changes to Cognos and... read moreUsers Can Now Extract Report Outputs With MetaManager
As IBM Cognos environments grow and mature, the amount of manageable content grows as well. One easy way to free up space in the content store is to remove outdated report outputs from the content store. The new MetaManager 5.5.0.22 update allows users to save their report outputs in their original format and put them in an external file structure- or delete them from the content store- and still... read moreMetaManager Update Allows Users to Compare Against Backups
With the latest release of MetaManager 5.5.0.22 new functionality has been added that allows you to compare users’ current IBM Cognos environments against a backup to identify changes including security policies, report versions, architecture, and more. This new functionality also allows users to understand how the environment has changed over time, and utilize the same MetaManager backup to restore changes back into your environments with just a couple of... read moreLicense Auditing in a Matter of Minutes With MetaManager
The newest MetaManager update- MetaManager 5.5.0.22 – has drastically reduced the time and effort it takes for users to audit IBM Cognos licenses. The new version of MetaManager has been updated to match the latest licensing model from IBM- solving many of the challenges administrators face when organizing licensing. Complex security models, while effective, can make it difficult to manage capabilities and understand if the environment is compliant with... read moreNew Enhanced Security With MetaManager 5.5.0.22
With the release of Cognos Analytics there are now more than 20 additional enhanced user capabilities to manage at the folder and package level, and with MetaManager 5.5.0.22 users can now manage these features and functions in bulk! MetaManager’s Security Painter module allows users to simply drag a folder or package over and update object security for the individual object without having to open the Cognos administrative portal. Users... read moreHow to Survive an IBM Cognos Security Audit
Security access is the No. 1 vulnerability for IBM Cognos Administrators, where the stress of making one false move can significantly damage an admin’s reputation and jeopardize job stability. Please enjoy this webinar replay where Tech Data will offers a Survival Kit for Security Audits, putting admins’ minds at ease. In this 30-minute tutorial, you’ll discover how the content store documentation and auditing features of our MetaManager and Integrated Management Suite solutions alleviate... read moreIntroducing: Integrated Management Suite 2.0
Tech Data BSP Software just updated the Integrated Management Suite to Version 2.0! Version 2.0 includes an updated and module specific user interface as well as new functionality. Security Audit Security Auditor displays detailed membership and access right information describing who has access to what and why. Security Auditor can be configured to include access rights and datasources when running the audit. The resulting Security Audit will contain security... read moreIntegrated Management Suite for IBM Cognos
Tech Data’s Integrated Management Suite allows IBM Cognos administrators and Cognos users the ability to search, audit, and document a variety of issues within a Cognos environment then output that documentation into a user-friendly format for analysis. Integrated Management Suite allows users to identify unknown issues before they cause problems. Reduce documentation and audit tasks from weeks to minutes! As a feature-rich IBM Cognos Analytics enhancement, Integrated Management Suite is fully... read moreFree Sticky Notes Extension for Cognos Analytics
BM Cognos Analytics brings a whole new API for extending and customizing Cognos. With the new IBM Cognos Analytics Extensions Framework users can customize the theme of the portal, show or hide functionality and integrate dashboards, portals or self service tools directly into Cognos. Not only can customers create their own perspectives to host in the portal, but they can also modify existing perspectives, such as the Authoring tool.
read morePerformance Monitoring in MetaManager™
Building on our Performance Dashboard, users now have the ability to monitor the Cognos Gateway, Dispatcher, and the Active Content Manager, and to be alerted to any change in status, such as a Gateway or Dispatcher failure. Based upon the status of these areas, MetaManager™ can take several actions.
read moreOptimize Performance in IBM Cognos Analytics with Integrated Control Suite
Rarely does one software solve all of your business needs but that does not mean you should quickly dismiss your investments or accept existing limitations as decree. Often times, a customer is unaware of their software potential due to the lack of seamless integration within processes and tools. Integrated Control Suite provides the necessary version control and change management solution needed to unleash the full potential of IBM Cognos Analytics.
read morePopulating Framework Manager Descriptions from SQL Server Extended Properties
In SQL Server you can supply extended properties for columns, which is a good feeder for the Description and Screentip fields in a Framework Manager model. Below is an example of these Extended Properties.
read moreFind and Fix IBM Cognos Issues FAST with MetaManager
In this article we’ll be touring through MetaManager’s new and improved Object Editor, Object Viewer and Canned Reports modules. The Canned Reports module is designed to quickly export pre-designed and formatted reports that cover a number of questions and concerns that arise in the content store.
read moreNew MetaManager Pricing Starting at $4,900
MetaManager BI & Performance Bundles provide all of the tools needed to manage, secure and maintain a healthy IBM Cognos Analytics environment. With our simple subscription licensing you can access the whole of MetaManager for a single user at fixed and competitive cost. With pricing starting at $4,900 using MetaManager to cover your daily IBM Cognos maintenance is a no-brainer.
read moreMetaManager™ Environment Compare Module
The MetaManager™ Support and Development teams are very happy to release the Compare module. Easily compare a source and target IBM Cognos Environment to determine what’s new, missing or different between Development, Test and Production.
read morePopulating Framework Manager Descriptions from SQL Server Extended Properties
In SQL Server you can supply extended properties for columns, which is a good feeder for the Description and Screentip fields in a Framework Manager model. Below is an example of these Extended Properties.
read moreTech Data BSP Software at IBM World of Watson – Showcasing Integrated Control Suite™
Every year, thousands of people flock to Las Vegas for the World of Watson conference (formerly IBM insight). The World of Watson is one of the largest IBM Analytics conferences in the world. Conference attendees come to Las Vegas to discuss and learn about all things data, analytics, cloud and more. This year, Tech Data BSP Software is forgoing a convention booth and instead will join forces with IBM to showcase the seamless integration and change management tools of Integrated Control Suite™ within Cognos Analytics.
read moreTabbed Modules in MetaManager™
The MetaManager™ Support and Development teams are very happy to release this new feature in version 5.4. Tabbed Modules in MetaManager™ bring a couple of productivity enhancements to users.
read moreIBM Cognos Analytics Compatability
The current release of MetaManager™ and Integrated Control Suite™ are both dynamically compatible with all releases of IBM Cognos Analytics, including Cognos Analytics 11.0.3, released July 11, 2016.
With both Integrated Control Suite™ and MetaManager™, we are able to offer same day compatibility with new IBM Cognos releases.
read moreRemove Users in Bulk from Groups and Roles
Managing user memberships can be tough. This particular pain point has been a hot topic with many of our clients over the last few weeks. We recently wrote a knowledgebase article that provides tips on how to make bulk updates to memberships. This article highlights the Security Editor module in MetaManager™ to assist with the updates. Our goal with Security Editor, as with all module in MetaManager™, is to help you automate these types of tedious or cumbersome tasks in Cognos so you can complete them more quickly and efficiently.
read moreFixing up IBM Cognos Schedules with MetaManager™
IBM Cognos Report Schedules seem to be one of those areas where things can get really messy over time. In the beginning we set up our reports to run on a reasonable schedule and email outputs to accounts in our namespace. But over time users add email addresses to schedules instead of their namespace account equivalents. Also as users remove themselves from schedules we end up with reports that run and that don’t email anyone. MetaManager™ has a few solutions to address these problems.
read moreWebinar – MetaManager™ & Integrated Control Suite™
In this webinar we cover a few of the most common use cases required when managing any IBM Cognos Implementation. Watch as we update Framework Manager Models, push changes to reports in bulk, analyze license compliance and usage, review security policies and modify security access.
read moreBest Practices with MetaManager™ for IBM Cognos BI
MetaManager™ works to keep your IBM Cognos BI Implementation clean and efficient. We’ve compiled a list of best practices which we think you should use occasionally to keep dibs on your content store.
read moreWhat just happened to the MetaManager™ Backup Module?
The new version is cleaner and more consistent with other modules in MetaManager™. You can now drag static items, such as reports or dynamic items such as folders and searches to the processing pane.
read moreWebinar – SOX and Regulatory Compliance with Tech Data BSP
Spend 45 minutes with us next week and find out how our Version Control and Administrative Tools solutions provide Auditing, Workflow and Process Management to help your IBM Cognos Environment meet your organization’s regulatory requirements.
read moreFind scheduled reports with no recipients
Resources can be scarce in an IBM Cognos environment. A lack of resources can quickly lead to performance issues in the environment causing problems for the end users and administrators. When performance issues do start creeping up, a common question administrators will ask is, “How can we clean up the Content Store to improve performance?” One piece of low-hanging fruit is to remove or disable all scheduled reports that have no recipients. It makes little sense to have these reports running when no one in the company is receiving or viewing them.
read moreCreate a List of Portal Tabs Available per User
Managing user portal tabs in IBM Cognos can be tough. Everything from deploying portal tabs to users, removing old portal tabs, or simply viewing which portal tabs each user can access. You may feel overwhelmed when needing to perform any of these tasks surrounding portal tabs, but don’t worry – MetaManager™ has you covered. A recent knowledgebase article outlines how you can create documentation listing what portal tabs a user, or list of users, has available to them, and then how to either deploy new portal tabs to those users or remove existing tabs that should no longer be accessed.
read moreQuery Studio and Analysis Studio Deprecation, MetaManager™ has you covered
Have you heard the news? IBM Cognos 10.2.2 will be the last release with Analysis Studio and Query Studio. While (soon to be) legacy content will continue to work in future versions, there will be no way to maintain or create new content in this form.
read moreSorting out IBM Cognos Security using MetaManager™
Managing Security in IBM Cognos can get confusing pretty quickly. Worst still, it can become obsolete or inaccurate over time and rooting out the issues is like an Easter Egg Hunt. It’s for this reason that MetaManager™ has an entire bundle of modules dedicated to the task.
read moreVersion Control for IBM Cognos + Webinar
Spend 45 minutes with us and find out how our solution makes managing the BI Project Lifecycle easy and affordable.
read moreUse MetaManager™ to Syncronize Security with a Database
A customer just hit us with a use case and we knocked it down with Script Runner. Check out this new article posted to the knowledgeBase which shows how to use MetaManager’s™ Script Runner module to synchronize IBM Cognos Groups with information stored in a Database Table (or in an Excel file). The article describes the technique and provides a copy of the database create script, the Excel file and most importantly the MetaManager™ script. Perhaps there’s something that we can automate for you?
read moreWelcome to the Tech Data BSP Software Blog
Our hope is that we can use this blog to notify you about events and information that you can use to better use our products within your organization. We don’t intend for the blog to be a bunch of sales and marketing hype. So please subscribe for updates and we’ll commit to making sure that the updates offer you valuable and relevant information.
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