Delivering a highly efficient, private Cloud deployment for Cognos in the enterprise

IBM Smart Analytics Cloud for System z

Combines the industry-leading IBM System z server
with Cognos software, and IBM services to create a
simple, secure, and highly available private cloud for
delivering business intelligence and analytics services
to diverse users across the enterprise lines of
business from a private cloud

■ Supports line of business for the

creation and ownership of their
own BI solutions

■ Significantly reduces costs for BI

delivery across the enterprise

Eliminates the proliferation of depart-

Highlights
Delivers a competitively priced offering,
consisting of hardware, software and
services for private cloud delivery of
business intelligence (BI)
■ Cognos 8 BI delivers a broad
range of BI, analytics and per-
formance management capability
Provides the skills and infrastructure to
develop a corporate Business
Intelligence Competency Center (BICC)
and corresponding strategy
■ Employs a corporate strategy for
business intelligence and perform-
ance management
mental business intelligence installations
with a centralized business intelligence
(BI) deployment
■ Consolidation of line of business
intelligence and analytic installa-
tions by upwards of 90 percent
■ Significantly reduces capital and
operating costs by aggregating
enterprise budgets and depart-
mental skills
■ Simplifies the enforcement of cor-
porate regulations and standards.

■ Systems z server capacity sup- ■ Enables the delivery of BI as a

ports an efficient platform for cen- service that is available across the
tralization of competitively priced enterprise
hardware,

■ IBM services provides skills to

plan, implement and optimize the
Smart Analytics Cloud
The IBM Smart Analytics Cloud is a
solution offering to enable delivery
of business intelligence and analytics
from a private cloud, securely located
behind the customer firewall. This offer-
ing leverages IBM HW, SW and serv-
ices to offer a complete solution
enabled at the customer site
The Smart Analytics Cloud is optimized
for large customers who want to make
business intelligence a competitive
advantage for the enterprise. It is
intended to support a large base of
users across the lines of business and
therefore must be scalable with support
for enterprise SLAs.
In order to best meet the need of large
enterprise customers, the Smart
Analytics Cloud offering is based on a
System z® foundation. The service
benefits from the massive scale,
unchallenged virtualization leadership,
and trusted qualities for reliability, avail-
ability and security that System z is
uniquely qualified to deliver.
The business intelligence and analytic
functions are provided by Cognos® 8
BI, which offers a broad range of intelli-
gence services and capabilities
designed to enable knowledge dissemi-
nation across a diverse user install base
within and across lines of business.
IBM services completes the offering by
bringing a skilled enablement and
implementation team to create and
deploy the solution, as well as enable a
corporate wide understanding and sup-
port for private cloud BI deployments
beyond the scope of the engagement.
Solving Business Problems
Large enterprises often struggle to
deliver BI, analytics and performance
management (PM) tools effectively to
the growing population of knowledge
workers and information users across
the corporation.
Many companies labor to maintain mul-
tiple BI tools across numerous depart-
ments around the enterprise, with
overall deployments in the double dig-
its. It is exceedingly difficult to support
and comply with corporate and regula-
tory standards with this approach.
Lack of standardization and proliferation
of BI deployments drives the costs of
delivering analytics much higher than a
centralized, cohesive strategy. Each
instance requires initial start-up costs
including hardware, data center set-up
costs, software and skills, plus ongoing
operations costs.
De-centralized or departmental BI
deployments prevent the growth of a
common set of skills that may be
applied throughout the enterprise.
Delivering Business Value
through Private Cloud
Deployment of BI
The Smart Analytics Cloud for System z
can be used to solve business prob-
lems for large enterprise customers.
A corporate wide BI strategy for cen-
tralization and delivery as a service is a
critical tenant of the Smart Analytics
Cloud. This offering enables companies
to form a corporate strategy for BI serv-
ices and private cloud computing. A
strategy that is attractive and supported
by the highest levels of the executive
ranks.
A key strategic theme for the Smart
Analytics Cloud is creating a core,
concentrated service approach to deliv-
ering BI tools across the lines of busi-
ness and respective user install base.
The BI tool is standardized and pre-
serves the LOB control to own and
manage their end-to-end BI solution.
Another key strategic theme is central-
ization. Consolidating BI deployments
across the enterprise to Cognos run-
ning on a System z Linux® platform,
can reduce double digit BI deployments
to a single installation. A single installa-
tion enables a much more efficient uti-
lization of the BI operations skilled
workforce.
Additionally, a centralized service strat-
egy for BI supports simpler enforce-
ment and auditing of corporate and
regulatory standards.
Linux on System z delivers a foundation
for virtualization of resources to drive
greater operational efficiency from BI
deployments. A centralized service
approach for Cognos 8 BI is based on
the economies of scale delivered by
System z. It results in less infrastruc-
ture, fewer components and costs. It
reduces the risks associated with large
scale BI deployments.
Private Cloud Optimized
Cloud computing has great value and
high potential for modern BI deploy-
ments. It is about innovation for the
end user as well as efficiency for the
service provider. The Smart Analytics
Cloud focuses on realizing value for
both the consumer and the provider at
the enterprise level.
A private cloud deployment for BI is
ideal for the large enterprise customer
who is concerned with the SLAs, secu-
rity and integrity of public cloud options.
Private clouds offer the customization
required by large clients, while preserv-
ing corporate data behind the company
firewall.
A key focus area of the Smart
Analytics Cloud is rapid service
deployment and end user acceptance.
With agile Web 2.0 toolkits, user regis-
tration applications are easily created.
Corporate processes are automated
using IBM freeware and guidance
documentation.
Flexible billing models are desirable
features for cloud deployments. The
Smart Analytics Cloud focuses on
enabling the enterprise to deliver cost
effective services back to its enterprise
users. Subscription models provide a
flexible approach to user chargebacks
systems. This can significantly reduce
costs, enabling departmental budgets
to stretch farther and cover more users.
The IBM Smart Analytics Cloud for
System z addresses the most signifi-
cant obstacle to cloud computing
within the large enterprise – cultural
acceptance. Technology is not a barrier.
Cultural acceptance of cloud computing
can be a large and insidious barrier.
IBM services enables the enterprise to
prepare for and address these issues.
Ease of deployment and proper admin-
istration develops the confidence in the
solution required to deliver BI at the
enterprise level.
Flexible Financing
The cloud financing portfolio from
IBM Global Financing is a comprehen-
sive set of funding options that can free
up capital and turn large upfront invest-
ments into affordable monthly pay-
ments. From simple loans to custom
leases, the total cloud solution can be
financed with competitive rates and
customized payment structures for
hardware, software and services from
both IBM and third parties—in one
simple contract with one low periodic
payment.
IGF has announced a 90-day payment
deferral, whereby clients can implement
their cloud solution now, and
make no payments until next year.
ibm.com/financing/us/
For more information
To learn more about the IBM Smart
Analytics Cloud for System z, please
contact your IBM marketing representa-
tive or IBM Business Partner, or visit:
ibm.com/systems/z/solutions/cloud/
smart.html
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2009
IBM Corporation
Systems and Technology Group
Route 100
Somers, NY 10589
Produced in the United States of America
October 2009
All Rights Reserved
IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com, Cognos and
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