Our partners at IBM have enhanced their BI solution with their latest Cognos Analytics with Watson 11.2.3 long-term release. The update –with improved visualisation reporting and performance improvements — has been well-received by our Cognos customers. So, let’s take a look at what makes IBM Cognos Analytics with Watson 11.2.3 stand out from their previous releases and other BI solutions on the market.
What is Different about Cognos Analytics 11.2.3?
Microsoft Teams Functionality
The most striking and exciting innovation is the ability to share content via Microsoft Teams. Building on its existing integration with Slack, Cognos Analytics now also gives you the option to use Microsoft Teams to share content with colleagues. You can also embed dashboards from your Cognos Analytics environment within Microsoft Teams.
Microsoft Teams users can then perform interactive analyses of the dashboard without having to log in to Cognos Analytics themselves. With people checking their Microsoft Teams account more frequently than their overflowing email inboxes, this makes sharing and consuming data faster and easier for your entire organisation.
Improved Forecasting and New Analytics panel
In this release, IBM has made it easier to access visualization insights and the forecasting feature from their new Analytics panel. To open the Analytics panel, click the Analytics tab, or click the Forecast or Insights icon in the visualization. Open the Analytics Panel to turn on or off insights and forecasts.
This new feature is particularly useful as a lot of changes have been made to improve the forecasting capabilities in Cognos Analytics 11.2.3. The time-series forecasting feature now uses the Watson Core library to increase the prediction accuracy of the forecasts and allow the use of multiple seasons (or nested seasons). Time series that have regular repeating cycles can be modelled with a seasonal component.
Multivariant Forecasting is now also supported in Cognos Analytics 11.2.3. In a multivariate forecast, the forecast takes into consideration multiple variables that work together or have dependencies. This can yield a more accurate forecast. In the new Analytics panel, under Optional factors to consider, add the measures you want the forecast to consider. If the forecast determines that the measures you selected have no dependency on each other, it displays a univariate model instead. A univariate model creates a forecast for one variable without considering any other variables.
Improved Visualisation Reporting
AI-assisted dashboard and visualisation creation make data exploration easier than ever, users at any expertise level can get the answers they need.
With this release, the following new properties are also available:
- Context-sensitive search
You can limit your search results by navigating to a specific location on the Content page and then start your search. - Display multiple measures on rows instead of columns
You can now display multiple measures on the rows instead of the columns in the Crosstab visualization. - Select filter values from a drop-down list
You can now select filter values from a single drop-down list to other visualizations that are on the canvas. - Leaf label formats in treemap visualizations
Leaf labels in treemap visualizations can now be shown as a value, item, or both. - Zoom bar in the area, line, and bar visualizations
The zoom bar allows for horizontal scrolling in a visualization.
Our Takeaway
We are excited by the future direction of IBM Cognos Analytics with Watson 11.2.3 and especially look forward to the advances in the next 24 months as we continue to support our Cognos Analytics with Watson customers.
Supported Versions of Cognos Analytics from IBM
A reminder that Cognos Analytics version 11.0.x end of support was in September of 2021. Cognos Analytics 11.1.7 is the long-term support version and we HIGHLY recommend you are on that version or later. What happens when you are on an older unsupported version? Well in a few words, you will be asked to upgrade to the latest supported version and will not receive support directly from IBM.
Learn more about Cognos Analytics
Cognos brings value to organisations of all sizes with ease of use, automation, and AI-infused capabilities. It’s easy to hit the ground running, and in no time, you’ll be getting all the answers you need in one place.
If you are interested in IBM or AI-powered BI, contact Tahola today.
