{"id":6053,"date":"2021-10-26T11:44:19","date_gmt":"2021-10-26T11:44:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prolifics.com\/us\/?p=6053"},"modified":"2026-05-08T18:30:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T13:00:49","slug":"automated-testing-drives-quick-and-complete-cognos-upgrade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prolifics.com\/usa\/resource-center\/case-studies\/automated-testing-drives-quick-and-complete-cognos-upgrade","title":{"rendered":"Automated Testing Drives Quick and Complete Cognos Upgrade"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Our client is a large, diverse North American company (DNAC) with operations ranging from construction, equipment and shipbuilding to hydro-energy, forestry and logistics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

About our Client<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Challenge<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

An older tech needs an upgrade – fast<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

DNAC had been running Cognos \u2013 IBM\u2019s premier business analytics solution \u2013 throughout its entire enterprise. It was an integral and ingrained part of its business, generating thousands of analytic reports that kept the huge business on course and running smoothly.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

DNAC\u2019s version of Cognos, however, was older. The company was facing support issues and, looking ahead, the current platform was not going to help them with their ongoing analytic requirements. It just wasn’t sufficient enough for the business needs going forward. For DNAC, the decision to upgrade to the newest solution, IBM Cognos Analytics, was an easy one. Cognos Analytics was released as a robust upgrade, with the features, functions and capabilities that DNAC wanted to take advantage of and build on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because Cognos was so essential and ran across the entire DNAC footprint, the challenge was finding a technology partner who could manage a complete upgrade at once \u2013 not a piecemeal approach, meet DNAC\u2019s timing requirements, and understood and shared the company\u2019s sense of urgency.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Action<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Automated testing seals the deal<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Prolifics has worked with DNAC over the years on Cognos planning and analytics pieces, but DNAC had an incumbent company for things like upgrades. However, it became clear to DNAC that the current tech partner would not be able to meet the company\u2019s deadline. DNAC asked us to present our thoughts on an upgrade solution \u2013 and the company liked what they heard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

 \u201cWhat they really liked about what we had, which they didn’t see from other organizations, was the whole testing component. Prolifics automated testing is a core expertise of ours that can be an integral part of any project, from its very beginning. So, what impressed them was our capability to expertly upgrade them to the new version and set-up their new environment, combined with the automating testing that everything, like thousands of reports, was working correctly.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steve Livingstone is Prolifics\u2019 Regional Sales Director, Canada, and works with DNAC.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Many companies can do Cognos upgrades, while other companies have testing abilities, or the client-company might do their own testing. What DNAC saw was the timing efficiency of both our automated testing and not having to split the project (upgrade and testing) to two organizations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Result<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It’s about the best opportunity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Prolifics is currently in the process of doing the upgrade. Our expertise in upgrading and our automated testing will have the project done \u2013 enterprise wide \u2013 in the timing DNAC was looking for. DNAC said it was clear Prolifics would have it all tested, working and operating by their deadline.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steve Livingstone points out that while this client wanted the entire enterprise upgraded at once, it can be done differently depending on client circumstances. \u201cA company that wants to do it in chunks can still take advantage of our process. There’s no need to do things in small increments because of our ability to actually provide a working production environment in a very expedient time, using our know-how and automation. So, while there should be no risk around in going to the new platform in one enterprise move, it doesn\u2019t really matter. If somebody really likes the Cognos Analytics platform, Prolifics gives you the best opportunity to get there in the most expedient amount of time, with the least amount of risk and the most amount of opportunity for success in production.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technology<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Test automation is an integral part of any project<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

IBM Cognos Analytics\u00a0is IBM\u2019s premier and robust business analytics solution for sharing actionable insights and augmented intelligence to drive analysis across your organization.\u00a0IBM Cognos Analytics helps you clean, combine and find new insights from your data. Create striking, dynamic visualizations and share across stakeholders with ease.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Prolifics, test automation is an integral part of any project, from its very beginning. We\u2019re always developing new testing accelerators and digital products, while applying AI\/ML in innovative ways for optimal performance. A test automation strategy will: <\/p>\n\n\n\n