Esri Maps for IBM Cognos

Esri®
Maps for IBM Cognos
An Esri®
White Paper
September 2012

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Esri White Paper i
Esri Maps for IBM Cognos
An Esri White Paper
Contents Page
Who Uses Esri Maps for IBM Cognos? ............................................... 2
Key Components of Esri Maps for IBM Cognos.................................. 2
Standard Workflow for Creating Map-Enabled Reports ...................... 5
Esri Viewer: Extend IBM Cognos Report Studio................................. 5
Intuitive Vantage Administration and Map Studio Tools..................... 6
Vantage Administration.................................................................. 6
Map Studio: Add Dynamic Map Services to Reports..................... 7
Basemaps .................................................................................. 7
Leverage In-Place Esri Map Services and IBM Cognos
BI Data Queries...................................................................... 8
Thematic Map Display........................................................ 8
Point-Based Symbolization....................................................... 8
Heat Maps ................................................................................. 9
Thematic Shading of GIS and/or BI Data................................. 10
Legend Filtering.................................................................. 11
Map to Report Object Broadcasting ......................................... 12
Drill to Details........................................................................... 13
Map Layer Queries and Filters ................................................. 13
Map Printing via PDF............................................................... 14
Geocoding and Routing ............................................................ 14
Map Export ............................................................................... 14
Map Overview Window............................................................ 15
Enterprise Architecture......................................................................... 15
Map Service Options....................................................................... 16
Utilize In-Place Esri Map Services........................................... 16
Cloud-Based Map Services................................................. 16
On-Premises Map Services................................................. 17
System Information and Requirements................................................. 17

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Esri White Paper
Esri® Maps for IBM® Cognos® is a location analytics solution that
integrates Esri maps into IBM Cognos business intelligence (BI)
applications. Organizations using IBM Cognos BI to analyze business data
can instantly add value to existing applications by easily integrating
dynamic maps into their BI reports and dashboards.
When users cannot query a dynamic map, they are limited in their ability to spot trends in
filtered data. When maps are included in a report, patterns jump off the page.
Reports built with an embedded Esri map immediately make business performance
patterns obvious:

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Esri Maps for IBM Cognos offers several key benefits:
■ High impact analytics that delivers immediate value to the business. While BI
users are accustomed to analyzing data using lists of numbers together with charts,
performance indicators, and cross-tabs, Esri Maps for IBM Cognos unites BI data
with maps to deliver a highly intuitive and powerful analytics experience. Users can
see and analyze data simply by clicking thematically shaded regions and/or points on
a map.
■ Nonintrusive, rapid report creation and deployment using in-place data assets
and skills. Esri Maps for IBM Cognos is designed to seamlessly integrate into the
everyday workflows that IBM Cognos BI report authors and users are accustomed to.
The creation of dynamic, map-enabled reports with bidirectional communication
between the underlying BI data and the maps is achieved using existing report-
writing skills, with no requirements for custom coding or GIS expertise. Similarly,
report consumers require no additional skills or tools to start using map-enabled
reports to analyze their data visually.
■ Proven enterprise architecture. Both IBM Cognos BI and the Esri ArcGIS®
platforms are proven enterprise solutions in their respective domains. The combining
of these two highly complementary technologies, both of which are built based on
service-oriented architecture (SOA) principles, offers an intuitive and unified view of
business assets in a spatial context that is often difficult and time-consuming to
achieve using custom-coded solutions.
Who Uses Esri Maps
for IBM Cognos?
Esri Maps for IBM Cognos BI is used primarily by business intelligence report
consumers who have requirements to view and analyze data in a spatial or geographic
context. These consumers utilize IBM Cognos BI reports to make data-driven business
decisions. They range from directors and managers of groups or departments and
business analysts and knowledge workers whose decisions affect how the business runs
to general business users who use reports to understand and influence performance within
their business unit or area of responsibility.
Secondary groups that benefit from Esri Maps for IBM Cognos are the IBM Cognos BI
report authors who build and deploy reports for the consumers described above. BI
system and security administrators who ensure that BI data and applications remain
running efficiently and securely also benefit. Esri Maps for IBM Cognos integrates
tightly with the administrative and security framework of the underlying IBM Cognos
environment.
Key Components of
Esri Maps for IBM
Cognos
Esri Maps for IBM Cognos is an add-in for the IBM Cognos business intelligence suite.
Its out-of-the-box features support close integration of dynamic Esri maps into IBM
Cognos reports and dashboards. The product enables location analytics by business users
via a seamless plug-in that fits in the BI environment.

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Esri Maps for IBM Cognos consists of three primary user interface components:
■ An extension to IBM Cognos Report Studio in the form of an Esri Viewer tool
allows IBM Cognos report authors to map enable their reports using the same
toolbox and drag-and-drop capability they use for other reporting capabilities:
■ Design-time components called Vantage Administration and Vantage Map Studio
work together to allow report authors to do the following:
● Configure and style maps embedded into IBM Cognos reports
● Establish how the maps interact with IBM Cognos report objects and data
Vantage Administration provides access to map-enabled IBM Cognos reports, to
which Esri map objects have been added in IBM Cognos Report Studio, as described
above. Vantage Administration is directly accessible from the IBM Cognos
Connection Launch menu:

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Within Vantage Administration, report authors access Vantage Map Studio to do the
following:
● Select basemaps
● Add map service layers for users to employ in analyzing data
● Define how map service layers are symbolized based on IBM Cognos data, Esri
map data, or both
● Define how map service layers interact with other report objects in the IBM
Cognos report
■ A runtime component allows BI users to explore their BI data on maps using simple
gestures and spatial filters to analyze performance.

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Esri White Paper 5
In addition to the major UI components mentioned above, Esri Maps for IBM Cognos
includes flexible options for accessing Esri map services. These options are described
later in this document.
The sections that follow outline the many features delivered by the components of Esri
Maps for IBM Cognos.
Standard Workflow
for Creating Map-
Enabled Reports
1. Build the report in IBM Cognos Report Studio. Add the charts, lists, and cross-tabs
required to support the desired analysis.
2. Add the Esri Viewer object in Report Studio and save the report.
3. Use Vantage Administration and Map Studio to do the following:
a. Add map services and layers to the visualization
b. Thematically shade regions and/or render points based on BI data
c. Enable map-to-report broadcasting actions to drive analytics based on
interactions with the map
4. Test the report.
5. Deploy the report using the normal IBM Cognos deployment tools.
Esri Viewer: Extend
IBM Cognos Report
Studio
IBM Cognos report authors are accustomed to dragging and dropping report objects, such
as lists, cross-tabs, and charts, from a rich palette of tools onto a report canvas. Esri Maps
for IBM Cognos extends this list of tools with the Esri Viewer, which report authors can
simply drag into a report as they would any other report object. There is no new skill or
custom coding required to perform this task. The resultant IBM Cognos report, complete
with Esri map information, is stored as it normally would be in the IBM Cognos content
store, with no duplication or creation of "silo" data across GIS and BI.
Esri Viewer objects embedded within Report Studio means that, like any other object
within a report, the viewer object can be manipulated by the tools within Report Studio.
For example, while the default size set for an embedded Esri map is 500 pixels by
750 pixels, the report author can easily adjust the size of the map to whatever is required
Key Benefits/Features
• Zero-coding, drag-and-drop extension
to Report Studio
• No GIS skills required
• Standard IBM Cognos report developer
workflow fully supported
• Directly integrated with IBM Cognos
report specifications and the IBM
Cognos content store

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September 2012 6
to fit within the dashboard. Similarly, the report author can add borders and formatting
properties to control the intended look and feel of the map in the report.
Intuitive Vantage
Administration and
Map Studio Tools
Vantage
Administration
Once a report has been map enabled as described in the preceding section, report authors
with appropriate privileges can access Vantage Administration and Vantage Map Studio.
Access to the various tools available in an IBM Cognos installation is via the Launch
menu in IBM Cognos Connection, which is the standard portal environment for deployed
IBM Cognos BI applications.
Key Benefits/Features
• No GIS skills required
• Standard IBM Cognos report developer
workflow fully supported
• Directly integrated with IBM Cognos
report specifications and the IBM Cognos
content store
• Standard IBM Cognos report deployment
fully supported
• Leverage full SOA capabilities of IBM
Cognos (security, scalability, failover)
• Rich GIS toolset to apply to IBM Cognos
data and reports for location analytics

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Vantage Administration provides a mirror image of the entire IBM Cognos content store.
Any report that contains an Esri Viewer object can be configured using the Edit link in
Vantage Administration:
Map Studio: Add
Dynamic Map
Services to Reports
Map Studio is the component where report authors will spend the bulk of their time
configuring map visualizations for IBM Cognos report consumers. It consists of a drag-
and-drop map visualization tool that allows IBM Cognos report authors to build spatially
enabled mashups of map service layers to view and analyze existing BI data.
Basemaps Esri Maps for IBM Cognos provides access to several basemaps available at ArcGISSM
Online:

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September 2012 8
As a result, reports can be delivered with maps that provide the look and feel appropriate
to the map's intended purpose.
Leverage In-Place
Esri Map Services
and IBM Cognos BI
Data Queries
Esri Maps for IBM Cognos can access any map services published by ArcGIS for Server
through its Representational State Transfer (REST) end points. If an organization
currently has these assets in place, they can be quickly and easily added to the list of
consumable map services in Esri Maps for IBM Cognos.
Thematic Map
Display
Many IBM Cognos reports leverage the IBM Cognos query engine to deliver summarized
data values based on regional aggregations, such as country, state, county, or postal zone.
For these reports, Esri Maps for IBM Cognos fully leverages these queries to display the
rendered data via thematic shading on a map.
The ability to join in-place BI data to map service feature layers is done via a wizard-
driven interface.
Point-Based
Symbolization
To visualize and analyze specific locations, such as retail stores, operational facilities,
assets, or any other physical thing that has a latitude and longitude, Esri Maps for IBM
Cognos provides an intuitive wizard-driven interface to join and symbolize IBM Cognos
data to specific map locations. Esri Maps for IBM Cognos comes with built-in symbols.
Users have full control over size and colors and can also upload custom symbols.

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This capability includes point-based symbolization based on the following:
■ Measure values, split into classes in equal intervals or quantiles, for example, display
of revenue, profit, and margin as symbols on a map, split into six quantiles
■ Attributes, for example, showing unique symbols for retail outlets of various types
(small, medium, large)
Heat Maps Esri Maps for IBM Cognos supports the generation of heat maps based on latitude-
longitude coordinates stored as data attributes in the IBM Cognos data model. For
example, suppose a BI application analyzes key measures, such as sales or costs for retail
sales outlets, and the data includes attributes for longitude and latitude, as shown below:

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In such a case, Map Studio allows the report designer to add a Cognos heat map, based
on the locations in the underlying data, as a map layer in the IBM Cognos report:
Thematic Shading of
GIS and/or BI Data
One of the main purposes of a BI system such as IBM Cognos is to develop reporting and
analytics for large volumes of data. Commonly, data is modeled in dimensions, such as
time, product, department, location, and so on, so that business analysts can explore and
analyze it based on any of these key business dimensions. The corollary to this is that
IBM Cognos is very good at executing queries that show data aggregated at summary
levels, including regions. So while the base data may come from transactions that happen
at specific points or locations, the underlying data model queries are built so that it's easy
to issue queries showing data in aggregate, for example, total sales revenue for a ZIP
code region, county, or state or any other region defined in the data model.
Map Studio provides a wizard-driven interface that allows thematic shading of
aggregated IBM Cognos data to published Esri ArcGIS for Server map service layers.
This wizard includes the ability to define the following:
■ How the IBM Cognos data is joined to the map service layer
■ What measures are included in the visualization, from the IBM Cognos data as well
as from data within the map service itself
■ Symbolization for the measures, in terms of how it is rendered by color and
aggregation groups within the visualization

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It's important to note that this symbolization can be based on either of the following:
■ Measure values, where aggregated data is split into classes that are thematically
shaded based on colors selected by the report designer
■ Data attributes, such as a region classification or other descriptor (For example, if
regions have a role attribute that defines them as Primary, Secondary, or Other, the
map for these regions can be rendered accordingly, based on the role values.)
Thematic shading is accomplished using a set of customizable palettes, and the joining of
IBM Cognos data to Esri Maps leverages in-place Esri map services.
Legend Filtering Also important to note is that the legend displayed for any thematically shaded layer is
also a filter. Users can hide or show any group displayed on the map simply by clicking
it, for example, to show where values are at extreme high or low ends of the ranges
defined:

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This capability allows business users to see patterns on the map, quickly zero in on what's
important, and use the broadcasting actions (described in the next section) to analyze
other related data in the report.
Map to Report Object
Broadcasting
A primary goal of uniting Esri maps with any BI system is to enable true spatial
analytics, where business data is displayed as a map and where business users and
analysts can interact with the map to interrogate their BI data.
Esri Maps for IBM Cognos includes the ability to define broadcasts from displayed
regions, points, and heat maps to other report objects displayed. This is achieved using a
wizard that links data values in map service layers to equivalent data values in the IBM
Cognos BI queries that underpin the lists, charts, and cross-tabs in the report:
This type of broadcasting can be defined based on click, double-click, or toolSelect
events in the map. The types of analyses possible depend on types of broadcasting
defined:
Broadcast Type Result
click, double-click When a user clicks or double-clicks on a point or region in the map, all related objects
(charts, lists, data cross-tabs, and so on) for which a click broadcast is defined will update
based on the underlying data values for the selected point or shape.
toolSelect This type of broadcast, when defined for a report, activates a bank of tools the user can
use to select regions on the map for broadcasting.
Using these tools, the user can draw shapes on the map to activate the broadcasts defined
to other report objects. Shapes include the following:
■ Rectangular sweep selection
■ Radial selection

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Broadcast Type Result
■ Buffered lines and multisegment lines (polylines)
■ Buffered polygons and freehand polygons
As a result, business analysts can ask and answer questions of their data that is difficult or
impossible without a map. For example, a user could easily issue a query asking, "Show
me total revenue for all retail outlets within 20 miles of either the East or West Coast of
the United States (or any other country with coastal areas)."
Drill to Details Often, IBM Cognos data models are built to support exploration of business data in
aggregate, with the ability to drill down into the underlying details. For example, while a
business manager or analyst may wish to explore sales results at the state level for a
national sales organization, the manager will likely wish to explore the data in more
detail for individual states when an anomaly or unexpected result is detected.
Esri Maps for IBM Cognos supports drilling through to underlying details, whereby
business users and analysts can use the broadcast actions (defined earlier) to drill through
to a more detailed view of the selected region.
Drill-through events can be chained together, so that business users can drill to whatever
depth of detail is required to analyze a business measure or result. For example, the
analysis may begin at the national level, with sales revenue displayed for states. A click
on any state opens the report for that state, with sales revenue details displayed and
thematically shaded at the ZIP code level. If a particular ZIP code warrants deeper
analysis, a drill can be initiated through to a report with a map and related data showing
results for individual locations (for example, retail outlets).
Map Layer Queries
and Filters
To this point, this paper has described analytics based almost solely on the data available
in the IBM Cognos data as it is displayed in map visualizations. But Esri map services are
rich in data as well, and there are many cases in which a business user may wish to
interrogate IBM Cognos BI data based on the data that exists within a map service.
For example, if a map service includes a layer with demographic data, such as average
income, population for a specific target group, or any other value that may influence the
analysis being conducted, the user can find the areas on the map matching specific
demographic profiles and then update the report accordingly. Similarly, if a map includes
shapes relating to severe weather or physical events (such as earthquakes or floods),
business users can interrogate the data in those layers to drive key business analytics.
These examples are achieved using the Map Layer Query and Map Layer Filter features
in Esri Maps for IBM Cognos. These tools allow business users to query the data in the
map and use the results returned to trigger the broadcasting defined earlier in this
document.

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Map Printing via PDF If a business user arrives at a point where he or she wishes to print the analysis or
possibly share it with a peer or manager, Esri Maps for IBM Cognos utilizes the built-in
features of IBM Cognos business intelligence to enable report execution in PDF format.
The report-enabled map is rendered exactly as it's displayed:
Geocoding and
Routing
Use Esri ArcGIS geocoding services to geocode single or multiple type-in addresses on
the map. Similarly, use Esri ArcGIS routing services to determine optimal routes between
specified locations.
Map Export Any map that is displayed in an IBM Cognos BI report can be exported with an image
that can be embedded into documents, for example, PowerPoint presentations or Word
documents.

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Map Overview
Window
Embedded maps can include a map overview window to facilitate zooming and panning
of the map to areas of interest.
Enterprise
Architecture
IBM Cognos BI environments range from simple, single server deployments for a few
departmental users to very complex installations servicing thousands of business users.
Large installations incorporate multiple servers, with tiered components that enable
scalability, reliability, and failover.
The IBM Cognos BI architecture consists of several elements:
■ A gateway tier. The IBM Cognos BI gateway is a lightweight component that sits
on the web server tier and forwards incoming requests to IBM Cognos BI
dispatchers.
■ An application tier. In this tier, IBM Cognos dispatchers send incoming requests (to
run reports, display dashboards, and so on) to IBM Cognos BI services. These
services are provided by one or more IBM Cognos BI servers.
■ A data tier. All the IBM Cognos BI content (metadata, reports, schedules, and so
on) is stored here, as well as the databases for the BI data warehouse(s).
Esri Maps for IBM Cognos adopts a nearly identical tiered architecture that integrates
directly with an IBM Cognos BI deployment. As for IBM Cognos, the architecture
consists of the following:
■ One or more Esri Maps for IBM Cognos Vantage gateways, which reside on the web
server tier
■ One or more Esri Maps for IBM Cognos Vantage dispatchers, which reside in the
IBM Cognos BI application tier, together with the IBM Cognos BI dispatchers
■ One or more Esri Maps for IBM Cognos Vantage servers
The result of this multitier architecture is that, like both ArcGIS for Server and IBM
Cognos BI, Esri Maps for IBM Cognos can scale up and out to meet enterprise demand.

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Map Service Options As shown in the diagram above, Esri Maps for IBM Cognos provides total flexibility
when it comes to map services. For all the options listed in this section, users can access
and employ basemaps via ArcGIS Online.
Utilize In-Place Esri
Map Services
If an organization is already using ArcGIS for Server and has published dynamic,
queryable map services that can be consumed using the REST interface, these services
can be consumed in Esri Maps for IBM Cognos.
If an organization is currently using IBM Cognos BI but does not have access to ArcGIS
for Server, there are two options: cloud-based map services and on-premises map
services.
Cloud-Based Map
Services
This option is most attractive to organizations that meet the following criteria:
■ Need Esri Maps for IBM Cognos to drive location analytics
■ Will analyze BI data based on known regions (for example, state, province, ZIP or
postal code, county)
■ Wish to leverage totally secure, scalable, web-based cloud map services to perform
analyses

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The map services provided via this option grant access to a suite of known boundaries.
Delivery of these map services is totally secured, and no client BI data is ever utilized by
or transmitted to the cloud servers.
On-Premises Map
Services
In cases where organizations require all their software solutions to be on premises, behind
the corporate firewall, there is the option to install and configure as many instances of
ArcGIS for Server Enterprise Standard as are required to meet the need of anticipated use
by their IBM Cognos BI applications. This solution is subject to the condition that
utilization of on-premises ArcGIS servers is restricted solely to use with IBM Cognos BI
applications.
System Information
and Requirements
Esri Maps for IBM Cognos supports IBM Cognos BI version 8.4 and greater. It is also
supported on the following platforms:
■ Windows® Server 2003, 2008 (32 or 64 bit)
■ SUSE Linux (32 or 64 bit)
■ Red Hat® Linux (32 or 64 bit)
■ IBM AIX®, IBM z-Linux

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Esri Maps for IBM Cognos

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