Comments on: Migrating from Cognos to Microsoft BI http://www.bimonkey.com/2010/02/migrating-from-cognos-to-microsoft-bi/ James Beresford on Microsoft BI and Consulting in Sydney, Australia Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:00:48 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Don http://www.bimonkey.com/2010/02/migrating-from-cognos-to-microsoft-bi/comment-page-1/#comment-15241 Don Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:05:20 +0000 http://www.bimonkey.com/?p=718#comment-15241 Thanks for the iOS info. This is exciting but what I was hoping for was something comparable to Active Reports (from IBM). These reports can be used even when the user is disconnected from the Internet. Thanks again. Thanks for the iOS info. This is exciting but what I was hoping for was something comparable to Active Reports (from IBM). These reports can be used even when the user is disconnected from the Internet. Thanks again.

]]> By: BI Monkey http://www.bimonkey.com/2010/02/migrating-from-cognos-to-microsoft-bi/comment-page-1/#comment-15028 BI Monkey Fri, 30 Dec 2011 08:27:40 +0000 http://www.bimonkey.com/?p=718#comment-15028 Currently, no. However in the works - see here: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/microsofts-plan-for-bringing-its-bi-tools-to-ios-android-and-windows-8-devices/11005 - SSRS will deliver content in HTML5 for maximum tablet friendliness. There will also be native apps provided by 3rd parties. Currently, no. However in the works – see here: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/microsofts-plan-for-bringing-its-bi-tools-to-ios-android-and-windows-8-devices/11005 – SSRS will deliver content in HTML5 for maximum tablet friendliness. There will also be native apps provided by 3rd parties.

]]> By: Don http://www.bimonkey.com/2010/02/migrating-from-cognos-to-microsoft-bi/comment-page-1/#comment-15026 Don Fri, 30 Dec 2011 06:51:48 +0000 http://www.bimonkey.com/?p=718#comment-15026 I'm also looking at SSRS as a possible replacement for Cognos. Cognos 10 can deliver reports to iPad/iPhone using a free Cognos app found at the iStore. Do you know if MS delivers such an app for SSRS? Thanks. I’m also looking at SSRS as a possible replacement for Cognos. Cognos 10 can deliver reports to iPad/iPhone using a free Cognos app found at the iStore. Do you know if MS delivers such an app for SSRS?
Thanks.

]]> By: Sri http://www.bimonkey.com/2010/02/migrating-from-cognos-to-microsoft-bi/comment-page-1/#comment-14552 Sri Sun, 18 Dec 2011 03:58:06 +0000 http://www.bimonkey.com/?p=718#comment-14552 I like working on Microsoft BI.. it is excellent tool!! Thanks for the great analysis! Sri I like working on Microsoft BI.. it is excellent tool!!

Thanks for the great analysis!

Sri

]]> By: BI Monkey http://www.bimonkey.com/2010/02/migrating-from-cognos-to-microsoft-bi/comment-page-1/#comment-8214 BI Monkey Fri, 13 May 2011 12:28:48 +0000 http://www.bimonkey.com/?p=718#comment-8214 Jon, thanks for the input - I don't claim to be unbiased but was trying to present a starting point for comparison. The licensing issue is one I've heard raised before, and I think Cognos shoot themselves in the foot a bit with the way they structure it. That's not to say MS licensing agreements can't get a bit complex when the scales get big... I'm interested to hear why Cognos 10 is more scalable or performant that SQL2008 - or indeed any of the other advantages you claim (and I do mean that genuinely, my last practical experience is of Cognos 8). Jon, thanks for the input – I don’t claim to be unbiased but was trying to present a starting point for comparison. The licensing issue is one I’ve heard raised before, and I think Cognos shoot themselves in the foot a bit with the way they structure it. That’s not to say MS licensing agreements can’t get a bit complex when the scales get big…

I’m interested to hear why Cognos 10 is more scalable or performant that SQL2008 – or indeed any of the other advantages you claim (and I do mean that genuinely, my last practical experience is of Cognos 8).

]]> By: JonD http://www.bimonkey.com/2010/02/migrating-from-cognos-to-microsoft-bi/comment-page-1/#comment-8213 JonD Fri, 13 May 2011 11:17:55 +0000 http://www.bimonkey.com/?p=718#comment-8213 As someone who works with both Microsoft and Cognos I'm not sure this is a good unbiased and technically accurate comparison of the two platforms but it does raise some good points. Microsoft BI cannot compete with Cognos (particularly with the arrival of Cognos 10) for features, scalability, ease of use, compatibility or performance in almost every area. The biggest exception being SSIS which can be considerably faster than Data Manager. However if you want to produce true `Kimball` data warehouses then I would still say Data Manager is a better tool as it does a lot of the work for you and enforces good practice. Where MS BI wins hands down is licensing. The Cognos licensing system is a huge barrier to BI adoption with each new user needing a license for each component they want to use and these licenses can cost thousands of pounds per user (plus a 25% annual maintenance cost). With Microsoft BI I can give an almost limitless number of users full access to the suite of BI tools with no per user cost as everything is already covered by our existing licensing. As someone who works with both Microsoft and Cognos I’m not sure this is a good unbiased and technically accurate comparison of the two platforms but it does raise some good points.

Microsoft BI cannot compete with Cognos (particularly with the arrival of Cognos 10) for features, scalability, ease of use, compatibility or performance in almost every area. The biggest exception being SSIS which can be considerably faster than Data Manager. However if you want to produce true `Kimball` data warehouses then I would still say Data Manager is a better tool as it does a lot of the work for you and enforces good practice.

Where MS BI wins hands down is licensing. The Cognos licensing system is a huge barrier to BI adoption with each new user needing a license for each component they want to use and these licenses can cost thousands of pounds per user (plus a 25% annual maintenance cost). With Microsoft BI I can give an almost limitless number of users full access to the suite of BI tools with no per user cost as everything is already covered by our existing licensing.

]]> By: Srini http://www.bimonkey.com/2010/02/migrating-from-cognos-to-microsoft-bi/comment-page-1/#comment-7705 Srini Thu, 05 May 2011 04:11:31 +0000 http://www.bimonkey.com/?p=718#comment-7705 As to the 5K cost for SQL Server....if you want Data driven subscriptions you would pay a lot more since you need the Enterprise level license which can be quite pricey. But I guess since you get the database as well as reporting services perhaps its not bad. As to the 5K cost for SQL Server….if you want Data driven subscriptions you would pay a lot more since you need the Enterprise level license which can be quite pricey. But I guess since you get the database as well as reporting services perhaps its not bad.

]]> By: BI Monkey http://www.bimonkey.com/2010/02/migrating-from-cognos-to-microsoft-bi/comment-page-1/#comment-7101 BI Monkey Tue, 19 Apr 2011 00:56:17 +0000 http://www.bimonkey.com/?p=718#comment-7101 Hi Perry - sorry for the slightly slow reply RE: Skillset required to pick up SSRS - I only had very limited exposure to Cognos Reporting Dev environments, but Visual Studio is a pretty simple GUI interface and I can knock up basic reports in minutes. I;m no report developer but the whole thing seemed pretty easy to use. It also seemed pretty code free - there's a GUI for query design and expressions are pretty easy to write. I'm not sure about the other interfaces being overwhelming - as it's all Visual Studio, once you have the hang of it, its pretty easy for all tools. Cheers, James Hi Perry – sorry for the slightly slow reply

RE: Skillset required to pick up SSRS – I only had very limited exposure to Cognos Reporting Dev environments, but Visual Studio is a pretty simple GUI interface and I can knock up basic reports in minutes. I;m no report developer but the whole thing seemed pretty easy to use. It also seemed pretty code free – there’s a GUI for query design and expressions are pretty easy to write.

I’m not sure about the other interfaces being overwhelming – as it’s all Visual Studio, once you have the hang of it, its pretty easy for all tools.

Cheers, James

]]> By: Perry S http://www.bimonkey.com/2010/02/migrating-from-cognos-to-microsoft-bi/comment-page-1/#comment-6774 Perry S Thu, 07 Apr 2011 18:18:27 +0000 http://www.bimonkey.com/?p=718#comment-6774 James, I am trying to leave all biases aside as I come from a heavy Cognos dev/implementation background, so I come to you with this question that hasn't really been addressed through all the good dialogue on this post. You all have spoken about the comparisons of both Cognos and SSRS, but the biggest question I have is level of difficulty to learn the Microsoft BI offerings as a developer & admin. Coming from a Cognos BI background, I found that though there was an initial learning curve, the interfaces are very, very user-friendly and allow a ton of flexibility without really having known the tool prior to that. Framework Manager took some time to get used to, but knowing what I know now, I feel very hesitant to shift my focus to another BI tool where it requires a heavy dose of learning and manual coding, which to me seems that is the case with SSRS? (Please correct me if I'm wrong, but please be completely honest with your assessment...please leave your coding background to the side as I know you come from an ETL world where coding is all you crazies do :) While I am on the interface subject, I seem to recall the interfaces for the MS offerings are not the most direct and can feel overwhelming...is this still the case? With Report Studio in Cognos, its extremely easy to navigate and after a week or so of use, one can generally navigate the tool rather easily (obvious more complex functions require more skill, but you get my gist). Basically, I am looking from the developer viewpoint and would like to get an understanding of how difficult it is for an experienced Cognos developer to shift gears and have a pretty good feel for the MS offerings rather easily/quickly. Thank you! Perry Shah James,
I am trying to leave all biases aside as I come from a heavy Cognos dev/implementation background, so I come to you with this question that hasn’t really been addressed through all the good dialogue on this post. You all have spoken about the comparisons of both Cognos and SSRS, but the biggest question I have is level of difficulty to learn the Microsoft BI offerings as a developer & admin.

Coming from a Cognos BI background, I found that though there was an initial learning curve, the interfaces are very, very user-friendly and allow a ton of flexibility without really having known the tool prior to that. Framework Manager took some time to get used to, but knowing what I know now, I feel very hesitant to shift my focus to another BI tool where it requires a heavy dose of learning and manual coding, which to me seems that is the case with SSRS? (Please correct me if I’m wrong, but please be completely honest with your assessment…please leave your coding background to the side as I know you come from an ETL world where coding is all you crazies do :)

While I am on the interface subject, I seem to recall the interfaces for the MS offerings are not the most direct and can feel overwhelming…is this still the case? With Report Studio in Cognos, its extremely easy to navigate and after a week or so of use, one can generally navigate the tool rather easily (obvious more complex functions require more skill, but you get my gist).

Basically, I am looking from the developer viewpoint and would like to get an understanding of how difficult it is for an experienced Cognos developer to shift gears and have a pretty good feel for the MS offerings rather easily/quickly.

Thank you!
Perry Shah

]]> By: BI Monkey http://www.bimonkey.com/2010/02/migrating-from-cognos-to-microsoft-bi/comment-page-1/#comment-4997 BI Monkey Fri, 04 Feb 2011 07:01:15 +0000 http://www.bimonkey.com/?p=718#comment-4997 MS: It appears that Notification Services is actually effectively dropped from SQL Server: http://blog.desktopalert.net/blogs/da_blog/archive/2008/02/16/25.aspx, so i'll update my article to reflect that. So i'd have to say now the only alternative is to roll your own notification system, for example using triggers for data changes. Venkat: How long is a piece of string? You need to consider how much you have to migrate, how complex it is, how much resource you have... i'd advise engaging with an experienced consultancy to help you get this set up correctly. MS: It appears that Notification Services is actually effectively dropped from SQL Server: http://blog.desktopalert.net/blogs/da_blog/archive/2008/02/16/25.aspx, so i’ll update my article to reflect that. So i’d have to say now the only alternative is to roll your own notification system, for example using triggers for data changes.

Venkat: How long is a piece of string? You need to consider how much you have to migrate, how complex it is, how much resource you have… i’d advise engaging with an experienced consultancy to help you get this set up correctly.

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