Technical BI Project Lifecycle

Business Intelligence

BI Project Lifecycle

BI Project Technical Lifecycle

Discuss the Technical Pieces of the BI Project

Lifecycle
Dimensional Modeling
Physical Design
ETL Design and Development
BI Application

Framework Dimensional Model

Framework Relation Model
Transformer OLAP Powercube
Report Studio
Query Studio
Analysis Studio
Cognos Connection

BI Project Lifecycle Dimensional

Modeling

Dimensional Modeling

Using Kimball Methodology to design the

data into a star schema dimensional model.
Dimensions answer the who, what, when,
and where.
Facts give the measure values, the numerical
numbers for the data, how much, how often,
how many.
The dimensional model is denormalized to
allow for ease of reporting.

Granite Logical Dimensional Model

BI Project Lifecycle Physical Design

Granite Physical Model

BI Project Lifecycle ETL Design

ETL Design

ETL stands for Extraction, Transformation,

and Load
Extraction: Gathering the required data from
source systems
Transformation: Convert the data into the
required form for the data mart
Load: Populate the data mart with the data

ETL Dimensional Load

Dim_Staff Dimensional Load
Load into
this
Connection
Build Properties
Data Source and
SQL to extract

Dimensional
Hierarchy

Defines the behavior of the columns,

business and surrogate keys, effective
dates, etc.

Assigns Slowly
Changing
Dimensions and
Indexes to
columns loaded
to data mart

ETL Fact Load

The ETL Fact Load loads the fact table with its measures and dimensional references into the data mart.

Reference Dimensional Lookups

Source
Database
Connection

SQL statement to extract the

data from source, usually also
contains some transformation
in the SQL.

Model to transform the data elements into

the required elements in the data mart.
This would include any calculations or
advanced functions based on inputs. In
this case, most of the transformation was
done in SQL and the mapping is just a
straight pass through of the data. Also
does the reference lookup to find the
surrogate key of the dimension referenced
and passed the surrogate key, not the
business key to the fact table.

The fact load, includes the columns to index,

and how to update the data. The update types
can be a full truncate/refresh, or an
incremental update model depending on the
data needs. Defines how to identify update
rows for optimal performance.

ETL Jobstream
The jobstream manages running all the builds along with any other steps needed to build
the data mart.

Other
Jobstreams

Dimension
Builds

Fact Builds

Data Mart

After all the data modeling and ETL work has

been accomplished, there is now a data mart
available to be used for reporting and
analysis.
This part of the technical process can often
represent 70-80% of the technical
development effort.
Once there is a good data mart with a strong
dimensional model, the reporting and
analysis should be easier to develop and
more responsive.

BI Project Lifecycle BI Application

BI Application Development

Cognos Framework Development to develop

the packages used by report developers,
query studio users and analysis studio users.
Cognos Transformer Development to develop
the OLAP powercubes used for analysis and
dimensional reports.
Cognos Report Studio Development to create
complex reports with guided prompting, drillthroughs, and visualized information to allow
the user to understand their data.

BI Project Lifecycle Cognos

Framework

Framework Model
A framework model defines the metadata
relationships in the data mart and
develops the packages that are published
to the user community. These predefined
relationships and query subjects allows
for users to develop reports and adhoc
queries without having to know SQL,
what a join is, or even what the data
model looks like.

This example shows the basic

diagram of relationships for the
relational model and dimensional
model that was developed for the
Granite data mart.

Framework Relational Models

Query
Tables

Full Relational Model for Report

developers. This model contains all
the data items from the data mart
giving the most power to the
advanced users who have access to
report studio.

Query
Attribute
Query
Identifier

Query
Facts
Query Folders

These
These contain
contain multiple
multiple
query tables.

Query Filters

Predefined
Predefined filters
filters that
that
report developers can
use.
use.

Query
Calculation

Simplified Relational Model for Query

Studio users. Gives users the required
dimensions and measures with
predefined filters, but minimizes the
number of attributes, and uses only a
single query table. This is for Ad-hoc
users to quickly look up data.

Framework Dimensional Model

Dimensional Model is used in Report Studio and Analysis Studio to
generate dimensional style reports like crosstabs and charts. It uses sets
and slices to display the data instead of grouping and filters.
Dimension

Measure Dimensions
Alternate Drill Downs

Measures

Attributes
of member

Folders containing
multiple dimensions
Hierarchy
Predefined Filters
Levels

BI Project Lifecycle Cognos

Transformer

Transformer Model

Dimensional structure of the cube showing hierarchy

and alternate drill down paths.

List of measures
used in the
powercube.

List of
powercubes
created. Can
have multiple
cubes based on
a dimensional
structure.

Data sources using SQL coded

IQD files with the columns.
Structure data (dimensions)
before measure data.

Properties for a measure, here

showing the types of rollup to
apply to that measure.

The transformer model is used to design

the OLAP (OnLine Analytical Processing)
Powercube. A powercube allows for the
data to be analyzed quickly and easily. It is
a pre-summarized dimensional data
structure that can be used in Analysis
Studio for online analysis, or in Report
Studio as a dimensional data source.
Since the cube is a separate data
structure, it can return results quickly, and
can be transported separate from the
database. A powercube is used for
summary analysis, while the detail data is
still left in the data mart for drill-through
reporting.

BI Project Lifecycle Cognos Studios

Cognos 8 Web Based Tools

Everything shown so far is the back end work that

needs to be accomplished to present the data to the
user, whether the user is a report developer,
business analyst, or consumer, they will then use
one of the following tools to access this data.
Report Studio Advanced development platform for
writing complex reports.
Query Studio Simplified Online Ad-hoc environment
for business analysts.
Analysis Studio Online analysis tool to access
dimensional data with slice/dice, drill-up/drill-down
and crosstab.
Cognos Connection Web portal to access the

Report Studio

Insertable Objects
for the report

Properties pane for

the select object.

Page Layout for the report, with

Title, Headers, Grouping, List
Frame, data objects, and footer.
One of the data objects is blue to
indicate that there is a drill-through
allowed on that data object.

The Report Studio is an

advanced IDE platform for
report design. It allows for
complex multipage reports
with prompts, drill-throughs,
java script, multiple queries
and other advanced
functionality. Report
Studio is intended for
the advanced developer
to create reports to be
consumed. Even
though these are
created reports, they
can be dynamic with
complex prompts that
execute at run-time.

Query Studio

Quer
y
Item
List

Report Layout page with drag and drop

addition of query items. This design is
online, meaning data items will show up
from the database when added to the
report.

Filter design to add a filter to the query

using a simple GUI interface.

Query Studio utilizes a

simplified data package and
allows for business analysts
and other advanced users
to write ad-hoc queries
against the data without
having to request a full
report be developed. This
allows the users to get
access to their required
data without needing to
know how to use the
advanced tools in Report
Studio or utilize a report
studio developer.

Any ad-hoc query

developed in query
studio can be moved into
Report Studio and
expanded upon if the
report needs to be
further developed or
formatted for larger
community usage.

Analysis Studio
Data Element and Context Pane

Chart
Object

Insertable
Objects

Crosstab
Object

Analysis Studio is for

business analysts to
quickly work with
their dimensional
data. Analsysis
Studio can be used
against any
dimensional data
source, a
dimensional
package from
framework, a
powercube, or
another OLAP
system.
Analysis Studio is
online and all work
with the data is
interactive. A user
can click on
dimensional
elements in the
crosstab or charts to
drill-up or drill-down
the hierarchy of that
dimension. The user
can easily add or
remove rows and
columns. Also, a
user can slice the
data by adding
dimensional
members to the
Context pane.

Cognos Connection
Cognos Connection is the
portal page that users can
use to access reports,
archives, and studios. Any
user who has access to
Cognos utilizes the Cognos
Connection to get to their
objects. The consumer
level user who can only
access reports would
utilize this page to find the
report and click on the run
or view archive to either
dynamically generate the
report or access a
previously run version.

Studios available to the user

Last modification date of

the object, when the
report spec was updated
or the report archive was
updated.

List of objects (reports,

queries, report views,
packages) that the user has
access to.

List of actions the

user can do with
the object. See
properties, run
report, open the
report studio,
create a report
view, schedule the
report