Vertica QuickStart for IBM Cognos Analytics

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The Vertica QuickStart for IBM Cognos Analytics is a set of sample reports created using Cognos Analytics and powered by the Vertica Analytic Database. The dashboards present sample retail data for analysis. The QuickStart shows how retail companies could use Vertica and Cognos Analytics to quickly explore, visualize, and gain insight into their data stored in Vertica.

You can download the Vertica QuickStart for IBM Cognos Analytics from the following location:

https://www.vertica.com/quickstart/vertica-quickstart-for-ibm-cognos/

About the Vertica QuickStarts

The Vertica QuickStarts are free, sample applications created using front-end products from Vertica technology partners. For an overview, watch this short video:

The QuickStarts are posted for download on the Vertica QuickStart Examples page.

Note The Vertica QuickStarts are freely available for demonstration and educational purposes. They are not governed by any license or support agreements and are not suitable for deployment in production environments.

About IBM Cognos Analytics

Cognos Analytics is a web-based solution for building applications that perform reporting and analysis. The components of Cognos Business Intelligence are:

  • Web Server: Allows web-based reporting.
  • BI Server: Includes Content Manager, Application Tier components, and gateway.
  • Framework Manager: Includes additional components for creating, modeling, and managing metadata for reporting and analysis.

For details, see the IBM Cognos Analytics documentation.

Requirements

The Vertica QuickStart for Cognos Analytics requires a Vertica database server with a default installation of the VMart example database, the Vertica JDBC driver, Cognos Analytics, and the QuickStart app.

We have tested the Quickstart with Cognos Analytics 11.0.9.0 and Vertica 9.0.1-0.

To determine if your system is compatible with Cognos 11, see Cognos 11 Supported Software Environments.

Install the Software

To install the software that is required for running the QuickStart, follow these steps:

  1. Install the Vertica Database Server
  2. Install the VMart Example Database
  3. Install IBM Cognos Analytics
  4. Install the JDBC Client Driver

Install the Vertica Database Server

If you do not have Vertica, you can download the Community Edition free of charge:

  1. Navigate to Vertica Community Edition.
  2. Log in or click Register Now to create an account
  3. Follow the on-screen instructions to download and install the Vertica Community Edition.

Install the VMart Example Database

The Vertica QuickStart for Cognos assumes a default installation of the Vertica VMart example database.

To install VMart, follow the instructions in the Vertica documentation:

For details, see VMart Example Database Schema, Tables, and Scripts.

Install IBM Cognos Analytics

If you do not already have Cognos Analytics, you can install a free trial version as follows:

  1. Navigate to IBM Cognos Analytics.
  2. Click Free trial.
  3. Follow the on-screen instructions to install IBM Cognos Analytics.

Note Install the components described in About IBM Cognos Analytics. Framework Manager is required only if you want to modify the Vertica QuickStart example application.

Install the JDBC Client Driver

IBM Cognos Analytics uses the Vertica JDBC driver to connect to your Vertica database. To install the JDBC driver:

  1. Navigate to the Vertica Client Drivers page.
  2. Download the JDBC driver for your platform and version of Vertica.

    Note Vertica drivers are forward compatible. You can use an older driver version to connect to a newer server version. For details about client driver and server compatibility, see the Vertica documentation.

  3. Extract the contents of the compressed file.
  4. Place the JDBC .jar file in the directory that contains the external Java libraries for Cognos. The default location is:
    Cognos_Installation_Directory\ibm\cognos\analytics\drivers

    Note If you upgrade your Vertica client, you must repeat these steps to replace the .jar file.

Deploy the QuickStart

The QuickStart example application is available as an export file for you to import into Cognos. To deploy the QuickStart, follow these steps:

  1. Download the QuickStart
  2. Import the QuickStart Package
  3. Connect to the VMart Data Source
  4. Open the QuickStart in Cognos Analytics

Download the QuickStart

  1. Navigate to vertica.com/quickstart.
  2. Select Vertica QuickStart for IBM Coghos.
  3. Log in or create an account.
  4. Click Download.

Import the QuickStart Package

Before you can run the QuickStart, you must import it into Cognos. Follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the folder where you downloaded the QuickStart compressed file.

  2. Copy the file to the Cognos deployment directory:
    <Cognos_Installation_Directory>\deployment\VMartQS1022.zip
  3. Expand the file.
  4. In your web browser, open the IBM Cognos Analytics portal. For example: 
    http://<my_cognos_server>/Cognos_URL/

  5. Click Manage, then Administration Console.

  6. In Administration console, navigate to Configuration > Content Administration, then click New Import.

  7. Select VMartQS1022 and click Next.

  8. Specify the name and description for the New Import Wizard, then click Next.

  9. Select the public folders, directory, and library content and click Next.

  10. Select the directory content, then click Next.

  11. Specify the general options as shown, and click Next.

  12. Review the summary and click Next.

  13. Select Save and run once, then click Finish.

  14. Select Now and click Run.

  15. Click OK.

VMartQS11Analytics will be listed under Content Administration on the Configuration tab.

Connect to the VMart Data Source

The QuickStart example application uses JDBC to connect to your VMart database. Follow these steps to create the connection:

  1. On the Cognos Analytics portal, click Manage, then Data server connections.

  2. Click the plus sign (+) to create a new database connection.

  3. Select HP Vertica.

  4. Specify and test the connection:

    1. Type VMart.
    2. Provide the JDBC URL.
    3. Click Test.

  5. When the connection is successful and a Success notification displays, click Save.
  6. Click Close.

Open the QuickStart in Cognos Analytics

To run the reports, follow these steps:

  1. On the Cognos Analytics portal, search for VMart, then click VMart Sample Dashboards.

  2. Click VMart Analysis, then Vmart Sample Dashboards.

  3. When the dashboards display, click Run options.

  4. Click Run HTML.

When the dashboards have run, the QuickStart is ready to use.

About the QuickStart Dashboards

The QuickStart dashboards present sample business and operational data that a large retail chain might track over time. The chain operates brick-and-mortar stores and an online marketplace. It sells a wide variety of products that it purchases from different vendors.

Note The data in your dashboards will not match the data in the screen shots in this document. This is because the VMart data generator generates data randomly.

Images from some of the dashboards appear in the following sections.

Call Center/Employee Dashboard

Customer Dashboard

Executive Dashboard

Inventory Dashboard

Online Sales Dashboard

Produce Dashboard

Vendor Dashboard

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