Cognos Solutions

Implementation
Methodology
Quick Start Guide

Your use of this document is subject to the Terms of Use governing Cognos Solutions Implementation Methodology. The information contained in this
document is proprietary information of Cognos Incorporated and/or its licensors and is protected under copyright and other applicable laws. You may use the
information and methodologies described in this document 'as is' or you may modify them, however Cognos will not be responsible for any deficiencies or
errors that result from modifications which you make. Copyright 2006 (c) Cognos Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.

Topics
Table of Contents

Methodology introduction
Viewing the methodology
Creating a client specific copy
Creating a MS Project Plan automatically
Updating documents within the methodology
Support

Topics
Table of Contents

Methodology introduction
Objective and purpose
Scope
Components
Methodology hierarchy with supporting roadmaps and

workstreams
Methodology toolkit
Methodology terminology
Viewing the methodology
Creating a client specific copy
Creating a MS Project Plan automatically
Updating documents within the methodology
Support

Methodology Objectives
Why do projects need a methodology?
Methodology
Up

Home

Methodology

Phases

Analyze
Analyze

Design
Design

Build
Build

What it aims to achieve

Methodology

Deploy
Deploy

Operate
Operate

What it is

The Cognos Solutions

Implementation Methodology serves
as the backbone for implementing
enterprise-ready projects.

The Cognos Solutions Implementation

Methodology consists of a step-by-step
guide to conducting a complete
development lifecycle. It describes
activities, deliverables, roles and
responsibilities, inputs, tools, tips and
proven practices.

It provides structured knowledge that

assists Cognos consultants, partners
and customers with working together
efficiently and successfully
completing projects.

The Methodology tool organizes

materials for a project in a clear and
concise fashion.

One Methodology
One consistent methodology will exist for all products

Methodology

Product
Specific
Roadmaps

Supporting
Workstream

Analyze
Analyze

Business
Business
Intelligence
Intelligence

Design
Design

Build
Build

Planning
Planning

Deploy
Deploy

Controller
Controller

Project Management
Project Management

Operate
Operate

One methodology will exist

across the company.

ScoreScorecarding
carding

Product Specific Roadmaps

help drive implementation efforts
for the corresponding tools.

Supporting workstreams will

enhance the methodology and
roadmaps.

Methodology Components
How are projects organized in time?
The methodology comprises 5 phases.

Analyze
Analyze

Design
Design

Build
Build

Deploy
Deploy

Operate
Operate

Analyze

Define what the solution needs to accomplish, both in terms of features and nonfunctional attributes (performance, usability, etc.).

Design

Identify appropriate resources as well as the solution components and their

dependencies.

Build

Build and integrate components. Both the development and QA environments are utilized
here. Individual components are tested in component testing, interactions between
components are tested in assembly testing, and the entire solution is tested in system
testing.

Deploy

Puts the solution in the hands of the users and prepares its continuing operation. This
phase can be applied for multiple sites or user groups, with possible tailoring for each.

Operate

Represents the use of the Cognos solution. Operate includes the maintenance tasks
and checkpoints after roll out that facilitate a successful employment of the solution and
preserve its health.

Project Management Workstream

How are projects organized in time?
Project Management workstream oversees the methodology phases.
Project Management
Project Management

Project
Management

Consists of 4 activities: Initiate, Plan, Execute and Close, each of which assist with
managing and monitoring maintenance of the project.

Project
ProjectManagement
Management
Initiate

Analyze
Analyze

Plan

Execute

Design
Design

Build
Build

Deploy
Deploy

Close

Operate
Operate

Methodology Hierarchy
What is the work breakdown structure assumed for projects?

Up

Home

Overview

The methodology overview will remain consistent across all

product implementations.

Phase

The Project Management supporting workstream will act as

a placeholder, but activities and tasks may be altered to fit the
needs of product specific roadmaps.

Project Management

Phases
Analyze

Design

Up

Home

Build

Deploy

Operate

Phase: Analyze

Activities

Activities

Conduct a
Readiness
Assessment

Analyze
Solution
Scope

Up

Home

Determine
Detailed
Requirements

Refine
Solution
Scope

Validate,
Approve,
Transition

The Drill Down will differ among

areas, as product specific
roadmaps have been created for
implementing the corresponding
tools.

Activity: Conduct a Readiness Assessment

Tasks

Tasks

Assess the
existing
platform and
environment

Assess the
data quality of
operational
systems

Assess
current data
structure and
movement

Assess
current
operational
procedures

Assess
business
culture and
organization

Create
Readiness
Assessment
Report

Methodology Toolkit
What is the Methodology?

Methodology Toolkit

BI
Roadmap

Planning
Roadmap

Controller
Roadmap

Scorecarding
Roadmap

Samples, templates, considerations, tips & proven practices

Cognos Methodology Editorsoftware
powered by Nimbus control-ES
Training & support
The Methodology toolkit consists of multiple Roadmaps.
Each Roadmap has a hierarchy of diagrams with Process Steps. Attached to
Process Steps are links to related documents (samples, templates, considerations,
tips & proven practices).
The Cognos Methodology Editor software provides access to the Roadmaps and
allows tailoring of a client copy of a Roadmap. This is a single-user version of the
software, has been branded for Cognos and is licensed free of charge for Cognos
clients, partners and employees.
Training and support is provided on all aspects of the Methodology Toolkit.
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Methodology Terminology
The components of the Methodology
The Cognos Methodology Editor software has terminology which is referred to throughout this document.

Cognos
The software which manages the Methodology or
Methodology Editor Roadmap, which is powered by Nimbus control-ES.
Methodology or
Roadmap

These are called Maps.

Diagram

The Roadmap is made up of a hierarchy of Diagrams.

Activity Box, Lines

and Text

Each Diagram has Activity Boxes, Lines, and Text.

Resource

Resources are attached below Activity Boxes.

Drilldown Arrow

From each Activity Box you can drill to the Diagram which is a level below. You drill
down by clicking on the red Drilldown Arrow.

Attachments / Links Documents can be attached to Activity Boxes or Lines. To access the attached
documents, click on the paperclip.
Flow Line
Connectors

To maintain the end-to-end flow across multiple Diagrams there are Flow Line
Connectors which are the grey circles on the end of a Line. Click on the circle and you
will be taken to the next Diagram.
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Topics
Table of Contents

Methodology introduction
Viewing the methodology
Opening the Roadmap
Navigating around the Roadmap
Creating a client specific copy
Creating a MS Project Plan automatically
Updating documents within the methodology
Support

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Opening a Roadmap
From the Start menu, click All Programs | Cognos Methodology | Cognos Methodology Editor Edition.
On the Log On screen, type your password, and then click OK.
From the Welcome screen, click Open a process map.

Select the Map and click Open.

12

Reviewing a Roadmap
The top level view

Roadmap name

13

Navigation in the Roadmap

Roadmap Navigation Buttons:
Home:
to the Top Level, as shown in the previous slide
Up:
takes you up a level in the hierarchy
Previous: takes you to the previous diagram you accessed
Search: text search of text on any diagram, inside internal
documents (objective, input, deliverable) and in the
title of attached documents (samples, tips, etc.)

Where you are

in the Roadmap

Name of the
diagram and
roadmap

Which Phase you are in:

Project Management
Analyze
Design-Build-Deploy
Operate

What level you are in:

Phase
Activity
Task
Sub-task

Click on the box

i.e. Analyze - to go to the
top level diagram of that
Phase
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Sample Toolbar

Click to see how to

navigate around the
methodology, as shown
in the next slide

Navigation in the Roadmap

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Navigation in the Roadmap

Click on this button to open the:

Overview Guide
Glossary of Terms
Report Index
Roles & Responsibilities

Click on this button

to open a list of the
Key Deliverables

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Click on this button to view all

the Phases & their Activities
for the Methodology

Topics
Table of Contents

Methodology introduction
Viewing the methodology
Creating a MS Project Plan automatically
Creating a client specific copy
Updating documents within the methodology
Support

17

Creating a MS Project Plan

You can automatically create a MS Project Plan from the Methodology using the Editor software
transferring tasks, resource and costing information.
MS Project has the capability to input from an MPX file, which enables any project information to be
imported easily. The Editor exports the Map information in the MPX format.

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Creating a MS Project Plan

To create a MS Project Plan from a Map, open the Map.
From the File menu, select Import/Export | Export to MS Project.
Browse to the folder where you want the MS Project file
to be stored.
Enter the start date of the project.
Click Export and an .MPX file will be created.
MS Project will then launch the MPX file and convert it
into project plan with the following converted:
Roadmap

MS Project

Process Steps

Tasks

Lines between Process Steps

Dependencies

Resources on Process Steps

Resources

Notes Bubbles on Process Steps

Indicators

Note: If durations are attached to Process Steps using Editor costing functionality,
then the Start Date and Finish Dates will be populated.

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Topics
Table of Contents

Methodology introduction
Viewing the methodology
Creating a MS Project Plan automatically
Creating a client specific copy
Updating documents within the methodology
Support

20

Creating a Client Copy of a Roadmap

To create a copy of the Map for a client project, open the Map.
From the File menu, click Save As.

Type in a new name and click OK.

You can highlight the Current Name
and type Ctrl+C to copy the name
and Ctrl+V to paste it into the
New Name field.

It will then copy all the diagrams and internal documents (Objectives, Inputs, Deliverables). All the Diagrams
in the new Map will link back to a single copy of the attached documents (Samples, Tips, etc.) which are in
external formats MSOffice, Adobe Acrobat, etc.

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Topics
Table of Contents

Methodology introduction
Viewing the methodology
Creating a MS Project Plan automatically
Creating a client specific copy
Updating documents within the methodology
Support

22

Updating Documents
Master copy and Draft copy
Each Map has both a Master and Draft copy of all Diagrams. The Master copy is locked (i.e. Read Only), so
no changes can be made. The Draft copy can be updated.
The Map will always open in the Master version.
To change to the Draft, click on the drop down on the top right of the Editor menu bar.

There is a formal authorization cycle to take changes in the Draft copy into the Master copy, but this is not
covered in this Quick Start Guide. (Search on Authorization in the Help|On-line Manual.)

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Updating Documents
Internal Documents

To change an internal document click on

the paperclip on either an Activity Box or
Line.
The image opposite shows 2 internal
documents linked to the paperclip (Objectives
and Process Steps).
Click on the item in the dropdown box and
the internal word processor will open. Edit
the document and then click the green tick.
The document is stored with the Diagram.
Therefore an internal document cannot be
shared between Activity Boxes, Lines or
between Maps.
NOTE: When you copy a Map, you are
making a separate copy of all internal
documents, as they are held within the
Diagrams in the Map.

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Updating Documents
External Documents: Open and View

External documents are created outside the Editor

software application using MSOffice products and
Adobe Acrobat.
The documents are stored in the Process
RepositoryATTACH folder and the paperclip shows
that there are links to the document.
Therefore one document may be linked from many
Activity Boxes, Lines or in more than one Map.
NOTE: When you copy a Roadmap it DOES NOT
copy the attached documents it simply copies
the links.
The attached documents are templates, samples
and hints, and therefore it is expected that if you
want to change or update document you will need to

The Process Steps above has 4 documents attached:

1. Open them in the correct application (e.g.

MSOffice).

Process Steps internal document

Objectives internal document

Phase_completion... attached Microsoft Word DOC

2. Re-save them in a client sub-folder inside

Process RepositoryATTACH with a new name.

Phase_report... attached Microsoft PowerPoint PPT

3. Link the new document to the Activity Box or Line.

This is described in the next few pages.

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Updating Documents
External Documents: Edit and Save As

Click on the document on the drop down

and it will open, provided you have the
correct application on your PC.

Within the application, File | Save As and

create a new name, but save the document
in a client sub-folder inside Process
RepositoryATTACH, which is where all the
documents are stored.

You will then need to link this new document

to the Activity Box or Line alongside the
original document.

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Updating Documents
External Documents: Linking to Process Steps and Lines
Go back into your new client copy (not the original) of the Map in the Editor.
Right-click on the paperclip on the Activity Box or on the Line and select Access/Modify from the menu.
or
Right-click on the Activity Box and select Attachments/Links from the menu.

27

Updating Documents
External Documents: Linking to Process Steps and Lines

Click on New to create a new link, and select

File/Application Link.

Browse in the file you have just created which

is in the client sub-folder inside the Process
RepositoryATTACH folder

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Updating Documents
External Documents: Linking to Process Steps and Lines

Select the file and click Open.

The title field will be automatically filled in with the file

name. This is the name the user will see in the drop
down and you can change it if you want. It will not
change the name of the attached file.
The application which launches the file will be
automatically selected. i.e. in this case MS Word.
Click OK.

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Updating Documents
External Documents: Linking to Process Steps and Lines

The document is now linked. You can

change the order of the documents by
highlighting the document and clicking the up
and down arrows.
Click Close.

Now when the paperclip is clicked the new

document is on the drop down list.
There is a limit of 99 documents that can be
linked to each paperclip. If there are more
than 7 linked, then the first 7 are shown and
at the bottom you can click on the Modify
Links item to see all the documents.

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Updating Documents
External Documents: Updating

Now that the document is linked, the user can click

on it to launch it from the drop down.
If the document is updated and saved as the same
name in the same location then the link will point to
the updated document.

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Topics
Table of Contents

Methodology introduction
Viewing the methodology
Creating a MS Project Plan automatically
Creating a client specific copy
Updating documents within the methodology
Support

32

Support
Want to know more?

In the Map there is a Using the Methodology link on the

top bar.

On the Editor Help menu there are several areas of help

and support.
On-line Manual MSHelp file which lists the Editor
functionality
Tutorial a Map which is interactive and steps through
the key Editor functionality to use the Editor for Process
Mapping
Support there is limited support for this Editor Edition of
the Software directly from the Cognos Services
organization http://support.cognos.com/
Additional information can be obtained by
e-mailing [email protected]
or by visiting
http://support.cognos.com/en/consulting/csim/index.html
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