Unconnected data sources into a single view.

[tbtcust]

Hi all. Is it possible to have some Cognos tool(s) do the following:

1) bring data from multiple unconnected
data sources into a single view

2) perform limited ETL as it bring the
sources together

3) provide ad-hoc query and report building
for business users on top of the single
view. Also, the business users know
the entity and attribute names and don't
know the table and column names

4) have reports and charts that aggregate data,
provide the ability to drill into the
underlying data

Specific tool(s) names and your experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[drlex]

I'll stick my neck out and say 'yes', although I think you might want to consider a trip to Forum353 for Data Warehousing with respect to points 1 & 2. My experience is that SQL server does a good job of 1 & 2 and that impromptu and powerplay deals with 3 & 4. You'll need to consider delivery methods - (web, application) as to the versions required. (ReportNet is perhaps the way to go, but I have no experience of it).


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[tbtcust]

Thanks for your help drlex.

To your comments about points 1 & 2, there will be no warehouse. Instead data from the unconnected data sources has to be pulled together into a single view and ETL performed on the fly. Don't ask.

Other questions:
1) is ReportNet the latest version
of impromptu and powerplay?

2) did you use SQL server as the
underlying database to consolidate
the view or was it more like a
warehouse/data store for the
consolidate data?

 

[drlex]

You're welcome tbt103,
1) AFAIK, ReportNet is an alternative to impromptu and powerplay; best check the cognos website for the 'real' definition or canvass for other users' opinions (?post another thread).

2) I use SQL server as a datamart to:
(a) bring unconnected data sources together to establish relationships that cannot be made in transformer or impromptu (a single impromptu catalogue cannot be created against different databases);
(b) establish relationships in trading data that are unsupported on the trading database;
(c) reduce load on the trading system and speed up data reads for model builds.



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