Certified Data Spine
Audited corporate truth
Maintain the row-level security, general ledger logic, and compliance rules built over the last decade, while upgrading to clean web dashboards and natural language search.
IBM Cognos Analytics & Executive Reporting
Automated board packs & clean dashboards with one verified source of business truth
When different departments bring conflicting numbers to leadership meetings, decision-making stalls. GrandView modernizes your legacy Cognos estate to version 12, clears out years of reporting clutter, and automates monthly board reporting—delivering fast, modern dashboards while protecting the verified financial logic your business depends on.
The foundation behind reports your board can actually sign off on
Modern charting tools are great for quick exploratory graphs. But when you need audited financial statements, multi-currency consolidations, and thousands of scheduled executive summaries, you need a governed reporting engine.
The Safety Net
Zero broken schedules
Using automated verification, we compare report layouts and numbers against your historical outputs before touching live production. Zero broken distribution lists.
Infrastructure Ownership
Cloud and on-premise balance
Deploy on Red Hat OpenShift across AWS, Azure, IBM Cloud, or your own secure data center with zero proprietary hosting locks.
GrandView upgrades older Cognos installations, untangles legacy data models, and automates board distributions so leadership gets reliable numbers every Monday morning.
See our approach to report automation →What is making your enterprise reporting harder today?
Companies rarely undertake reporting modernizations on a whim. They act when an end-of-support deadline, ballooning report clutter, or boardroom data arguments force the issue.
Your installed software has passed official End of Support
With Cognos 11.2 reaching End of Support in April 2026, IT faces compliance audit warnings, steep extended support bills, and browser compatibility issues.
Upgrade smoothly to Cognos Analytics 12, restoring full defect support, modern security patches, and cloud database connectors.
Executive meetings spend twenty minutes debating whose numbers are right
Finance brings Cognos numbers while sales brings custom spreadsheet or Power BI extracts. Discrepancies in EBITDA, headcount, or margins erode trust.
Establish Cognos as the certified data engine that feeds board packs and modern BI tools alike, ensuring everyone reports from identical verified figures.
You have thousands of reports and nobody knows who runs them
Years of ungoverned creation have bloated your system. Most reports are abandoned duplicates, yet IT is afraid to touch anything because an executive report might break.
Run automated usage telemetry to identify true report history, retiring dormant files and modernizing only the core reports that leaders actually use.
Producing the monthly board binder requires painful weekend overtime
Reports run slowly, automated distribution fails, and analysts spend days copying tables into presentation decks and checking rounding errors.
Streamline delivery with automated multi-page bursting, pixel-perfect executive formatting, and self-updating digital management dashboards.
A controlled, step-by-step transition
Fix the semantic foundation Automate board pack generation Retire dormant report clutter
GrandView audits your existing Cognos content and data models first, giving you a transparent catalog of what to keep, optimize, or retire before you commit.
Delays appear during the month-end close The cause sits across accumulated reporting debt
| Layer | What you experience | Why it happens | How it changes with GrandView |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 Executive Close & Board Packs | Analysts work late into the night manually building board binders, fixing rounding errors, and chasing failed distribution schedules. | Massive legacy reports combine heavy formatting with complex database queries without modern caching. | Automated, pixel-perfect board binders generated on schedule, paired with fast, interactive web dashboards. |
| 02 Data Models & Framework Manager | Adding a single new cost center or fiscal dimension takes weeks of consulting time or is rejected as "too risky." | Undocumented data models built years ago lack clear definitions and maintenance history. | GrandView Documenter reverse-engineers models in days, streamlining legacy packages into clean, modern Data Modules. |
| 03 Departmental & Self-Service BI | Business units build private Power BI dashboards that contradict official finance figures. | Departments build disconnected reports from unverified sources, leading to conflicting numbers in leadership meetings. | Governed coexistence: Power BI and Excel connect directly to certified numbers, combining self-service with audited accuracy. |
THE MODERN REPORTING DIFFERENCE
MAKE LEADERSHIP DECISIONS FASTER WITH VERIFIED NUMBERS
We don't wipe the slate clean. We rescue the valuable financial definitions, security rules, and data connections you already have, migrating them into a lean, fast, and automated reporting system.
Executive Board Reporting
Deliver complete board books on schedule without manual copy-paste
Analysts extract numbers into spreadsheets, assemble charts in slides, and manually verify totals over 48 hours of high-stress close.
Board packs assemble and distribute automatically with verified numbers, narrative drill-downs, and flawless executive formatting.
Active Report Library
Maintain a clean, documented catalog instead of thousands of unused legacy reports
12,000 uncatalogued reports, slow platform backups, broken schedule queues, and constant audit questions about data lineage.
A streamlined library of ~800 high-value, fully documented reports and dashboards with automated usage monitoring and version control.
Executive Dashboards & Mobile
Give leadership intuitive web, tablet, and conversational exploration
Clunky desktop tables with complex parameter forms that executives avoid using without analyst support.
Responsive web dashboards with natural language query, intuitive filters, and instant tablet and mobile accessibility.
Reporting Connected with Planning
Connect audited actuals with dynamic what-if simulation in a single view
Disconnected systems. Cognos reports historical actuals, but forecasts live in isolated sheets. Comparing Plan vs. Actual requires days of manual stitching.
A unified closed loop: Cognos delivers certified board actuals (looking backward), while TM1 calculates forward what-if scenarios dynamically in RAM.
The assessment clarifies what to keep, what to automate, and what to prune. Modernization follows an agreed scope and automated validation plan.
Explore the modernization scope ↓IBM Cognos Analytics 12 Modernization
Know what to preserve, what to improve and where to modernize
We assess, streamline, and modernize IBM Cognos environments—from Framework Manager models and version upgrades to automated board pack pipelines, Planning Analytics integration, and Power BI coexistence.
SELECT A LAYER TO EXPLORE
Keep the logic your business relies on
We protect the battle-tested calculations behind financial statements, allocations, and compliance reporting as we implement changes.
WHAT REMAINS INTACT
General ledger mappings, row-level security and compliance logic
Baseline results are captured and validated before any structural modernization begins.
Automate board delivery and bridge planning
We convert massive, slow-running reports into automated bursting packages, bridge live Planning Analytics cubes into Cognos, and create direct semantic feeds into Power BI and Excel.
WHAT BECOMES SIMPLER
Monthly close distribution, ad hoc self-service and closed-loop forecasting
Eliminates offline spreadsheet assembly between finance and operational teams.
Upgrade to Cognos 12 and regain cloud flexibility
We execute the transition to Cognos Analytics 12 on your cloud of choice or Red Hat OpenShift, pruning dormant content and tuning performance.
WHAT YOU REGAIN
Vendor support, modern web UX, and containerized deployment freedom
The target deployment model is agreed before migration work begins.
A clear, documented basis for your modernization decision
You receive complete visibility into your current Cognos estate, an automated report pruning inventory, and verified calculation testing before you commit to production.
COGNOS MODERNIZATION ADVISORY
Cognos estate map & pruning inventory
DEPENDENCIES & PRUNING INVENTORY
01 / 03
A complete telemetry inventory of your current Cognos reports, packages, and data sources. Powered by MotioPI and GrandView Documenter, this audit identifies dormant assets—allowing you to safely retire up to 75% of legacy report bloat before modernizing.
COGNOS MODERNIZATION ADVISORY
Calculation & layout verification report
MOTIO AUTOMATED PDF DIFF PROOF
02 / 03
A verified regression testing report comparing outputs cell-by-cell and pixel-by-pixel between your legacy Cognos version and Cognos 12. Automated MotioCI testing proves 100% mathematical and layout consistency across executive board books.
COGNOS MODERNIZATION ADVISORY
Phased modernization roadmap & closed-loop blueprint
01
Audit & Pruning Telemetry
Retire dormant reports and catalog active dependencies
02
Automated MotioCI Validation
Verify cell-by-cell calculations & PDF Diff before touching live
03
Zero-Downtime Executive Cutover
Launch Cognos 12 & real-time Planning Analytics closed loop
AGREED SEQUENCE & CLOSED-LOOP BLUEPRINT
03 / 03
A phased implementation roadmap aligned with your monthly close calendar. Defines release checkpoints, native API connections linking Cognos actuals with TM1 driver models, Power BI coexistence guidelines, and ongoing governance.
From assessment to implementationWork with GrandView to turn the agreed roadmap into a lean, fast, and automated reporting environment.
Plan your next stepA structured process, built around your reporting calendar
Your finance and operational teams continue running daily queries and monthly closes uninterrupted while we audit, upgrade, and validate your modern estate in parallel.
Audit usage and retire dormant reports
We run telemetry across your Cognos environment. We catalog active reports, identify orphan assets, and safely archive dormant queries—reducing the migration scope by up to 75%.
Define how modern reporting should flow
Together, we design your target Cognos 12 environment, define modern Data Modules, map the automated board pack pipeline, and connect TM1 cubes so leadership can transition seamlessly from reviewing historical actuals to testing forward-looking scenarios.
Verify 100% calculation and layout accuracy
GrandView configures Cognos 12 and executes automated MotioCI test suites across both environments. Cell-by-cell data checks and pixel-level PDF Diff testing prove that reports reconcile 100% before cutover.
Put modern dashboards to work with your team
We roll out automated board packs, launch interactive executive dashboards, activate the live planning connections, and train internal teams. The legacy environment is cleanly decommissioned.
BRING YOUR REPORTING CHALLENGE
Whether you are facing an unsupported Cognos version, struggling with slow board pack production, or seeking to connect governed Cognos reporting with Planning Analytics forecasts, let's talk. You will speak directly with a seasoned enterprise BI practice lead—no junior staff, no high-pressure sales.
Schedule a Diagnostic Call
Rusty Pennington
CFO & Practice Lead · GrandView
Cognos Analytics & TM1 expertise