Cognos 8 Bi for Consumers
The Cognos 8 BI Book Series is composed of step-by-step guides that focus on user and power user functionality.  The guides start with the basics required by all Cognos 8 BI users and steadily expand to the advanced options available to power users who are developing complex reports and dashboards.The initial guide concentrates on Cognos Connection.Cognos Connection is the Cognos 8 BI standard portal that provides a single point of access to all Business Intelligence objects. The user can access public and personal folders where he or she can execute reports, access queries, view analyses, monitor scorecards, and execute monitoring agents. From Cognos Connection, the user is able to access and browse content, see properties, assign permissions, and schedule objects, among other tasks.Additional guides are being developed for the major Cognos 8 BI authoring modules.  The modules, called Studios, are used by authors to develop content for consumers.  Four guides are in the pipeline, focusing on the following modules with their respective roles:Query Studio is a very user-friendly ad hoc query tool that allows users to easily access information. With Query Studio, the user drags and drops fields to execute queries. With multiple options available at a touch of the mouse, Query Studio can group data, create summaries, display charts, filter information, and export data. An author who has access to Query Studio is referred to as a Business Author.Metrics Studio is a powerful scorecard tool that allows an organization to create and monitor goals. An author who has access to Metrics Studio is a Business Manager.Analysis Studio is the user-friendly tool used to quickly analyze summarized information with powerful dimension and variable crossing for complex analysis, discovery of trends, and forecasting. An author who has access to Analysis Studio is a Business Analyst.Report Studio is the professional report-authoring tool. The tool allows for the development of pixel-perfect reports, such as invoices and statements, as well as very complex layouts, such as those required for enterprise dashboards. An author who has access to Report Studio is a Professional Author.