Easier reporting in IBM Cognos

TIMETOACT simplifies reporting in IBM Cognos through integrated search and grouping functionality .

Note: This reference dates from before the merger and was created by TIMETOACT – now part of ATVANTAGE. Our experience remains the same – only our name has changed. You can find more information about the merger here.

Reports for visualizing data are of great importance for keeping an eye on company processes. The more complex and versatile the dimensions and analysis elements are, the higher the demand for clarity and convenient operation of the tool when creating reports. IBM Cognos meets these requirements insufficiently in the standard version. In the course of modernizing the application for Bette GmbH & Co. KG, TIMETOACT extended the filter and selection options individually to include important customer-specific functions. The family-owned company particularly benefits from the search and grouping function.

Initial situation:

  • Bette GmbH & Co. KG has been using IBM Cognos for years in controlling for reporting and for analyzing company data. 
  • IBM Cognos insufficiently fulfills requirements such as clarity of the user interface, search and selection functions, and multilingualism in the standard version.

Solution:

  • Update of IBM Cognos to the current version
  • Development of new filter boxes with various dynamic selection options and new features that complement or improve IBM Cognos in the standard:
    • Integrated search function
    • Grouping function
    • Continued multilingualism
    • Simple selection and multiple selection
    • Size of filter boxes individually adjustable

Added value:

  • More clarity in the user interface through convenient and easy-to-use (multiple) selection options and grouping function
  • Better filtering options
  • More dynamic analysis
  • Space-saving work
  • Search function facilitates work in IBM Cognos

We are very satisfied with the implementation. Our reports already run on the current Cognos version, including the desired extensions, and everything works as intended.

Kim Michael Wiegel Controlling Bette GmbH & Co. KG

Modernization and customization of the front-end

Cognos Analytics is an IBM solution for preparing and using enterprise-wide data. With the reporting and analysis functions, AI-based visualizations and dashboards can be created and processed by users.

At the heart of report creation are dynamic filters and selection fields to make the interface flexible, convenient and clear to use, and to prepare data appropriately. IBM Cognos alone did not offer Bette sufficient functionality, especially with regard to the size of the selection fields, multilingualism, a missing search function, and overall little variability. Until now, an individual solution from a third-party provider was used for this purpose.

The most important requirement in the project was updating IBM Cognos to the current version. Since the third-party solution was no longer executable, individual adjustments were to be made to the filters and additional selection options were to be created in order to achieve better usability and performance of the application.

Standard with individual extensions

After the modernization, TIMETOACT experts developed in close cooperation with Bette GmbH & Co. KG a completely new solution for the filter boxes with various dynamic selection options. In an agile development project, the requirements for this were defined with the family-owned company. In the second step, TIMETOACT developed an MVP (Most Viable Product), which was tested and finalized in the customer's live environment and then integrated into the productive environment.

Based on current IBM Cognos Analytics technology, the TIMETOACT experts developed selection fields in Java Script that supplement the Cognos standard with additional functions. At the request of Bette GmbH & Co. KG's, the development focused primarily on the following important features:

  • Size of the filter box individually adjustable
  • Simple selection or multiple selection 
  • Grouping of contents
  • Availability of multilingualism (German, English)
  • Parameterized preassignment with content
  • Linking with any report objects 
  • Automatic refresh of report contents
  • Integrated search function
  • Fast response times

These features complement or enhance the standard functions of IBM Cognos Analytics, so that the family business can use the familiar functions again and the additional valuable enhancements simplify the work in the interface.

IBM Cognos Dashboard before project start
IBM Cognos Dashboard after project end with new filter and selection options

The filter and selection options simplify our work in the tool enormously. It was the right decision to entrust the project to TIMETOACT.

Kim Michael Wiegel Controlling Bette GmbH & Co. KG

Search and grouping as valuable functions

By the time the project was completed, IBM Cognos Analytics had been adapted to the individual requirements of Bette GmbH & Co. KG. The confusing interface, which required long scrolling and a lot of space due to the lack of a search function, has been replaced by convenient and easy-to-use (multiple) selection options. As a result, users have significantly better filtering options, can analyze more dynamically in the interfaces, and the filters take up less space on the report pages. In the future, it will even be possible to save the filters set. The customer particularly benefits not only from the new search function, which enables faster and space-saving work, but also from the grouping option, which was not a standard feature before. Now it significantly improves the clarity in the filter boxes. 

Customizable for every customer

The enhancements in IBM Cognos with integrated search and grouping functions were developed and implemented specifically for the requirements of Bette GmbH & Co. KG. However, the extensions are so modular and flexible that they can be developed and customized for each customer without any problems – even if they already cover the majority of customer requirements.

Download Use Case as PDF

Used technologies:

Bette is a German family-owned company. Since 1952, they have been producing high-quality architectural bath elements made of pure natural glazed titanium steel in Delbrück, Germany.

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