Every year Gartner publishes the “Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms” and when it’s released the first thing people look for is where each technology sits within the square. I have been working in this space for many years with many different technologies and here at QueBIT we are successfully implementing Cognos Analytics for our customers and I would like to share our thoughts on a product we believe in. While Gartner takes a narrower approach to modern BI, Cognos Analytics takes a broader approach. Our customers are telling us they still need some managed reporting, self-service, and data exploration in one tool to reduce the number of point-solutions that are disconnected from their enterprise systems. Cognos Analytics fulfills these needs plus a lot more. 
We are very excited about all the new features in the latest release of Cognos Analytics 11.1, we believe these new features below in addition to what already existed puts us in a great position to help our clients make smart decisions about their businesses.
- Introduced the AI Assistant, which employs machine learning, natural language generation (NLG), and advanced pattern detection to convey hidden relationships in data through stunning visualizations, plus distilled observations in plain English
- Introduced new visual exploration capabilities, like features in Watson Analytics, that make it easy and intuitive for users, even those with no expertise in business analysis, to uncover compelling insights and hard-to-find answers
- Incorporated many other advanced analytics features that make it faster and easier to discover not only what is happening, but why it happened
- Made data preparation easier and faster than ever, freeing up users to spend more of their time doing actual analysis
- Streamlined our overall approach to the BI market by sun-setting Watson Analytics and infusing augmented intelligence throughout Cognos Analytics to make finding answers easier and faster than ever before for users throughout the organization
There were also several added capabilities that make it easier to reuse and share components, as well as adding reusable styles, more flexible templates, and system-assisted layouts for time savings. Some of the new capabilities include:
- Reuse — reuse content from existing reports and dashboards
- Layout — more flexible templates and system-assisted layouts
- Formatting — more control over layouts and styling in visualizations
- Geospatial — create your own map polygons and interact with data
- Visualization — new visualizations including driver analysis
Cognos Analytics 11.1 is a significant improvement that makes analytics more accessible to business users across all five generations currently active in the workforce. By infusing AI throughout the platform, expanding deployment options, and offering new ways of purchasing, they are bringing the power of advanced analytics to many more users.
Some advice to the long-time owners of Cognos Analytics who may still be treating it as a locked down enterprise tool only supported and developed by IT. If you continue to do so business users will continue to seek out other point solutions to fulfill their analytics needs. It’s time for IT to give the business access to do the analysis they are so craving. Cognos Analytics an easy to use tool, from data modules to data discovery though reporting, it’s built for business users as well as IT.
Click the link to watch our webinar where we go into more detail about the latest release of Cognos Analytics 11.1.
