Cognos Sharepoint integration

When deploying IBM Cognos in large or mid-sized companies often means it replaces an existing BI solution.  Companies of that size often already have intranet or document management solutions, and in some cases that might be the Microsoft solution : Sharepoint.

As part of the Microsoft BI suite, Sharepoint might be very well integrated in the company, and users are often reluctant to be relying on more than 1 portal to get the information they want.

In an effort to combine both technologies, IBM Cognos provides so called "Web Parts" for Microsoft Sharepoints.  These web parts can be deployed to the Sharepoint server, and can be integrated in the existing portal solution.

Implementing the integration is not so straight-forward.  There are several steps to follow such as

  • Setting up IIS
  • Copying the web parts found in the IBM Cognos installation directory
  • Setting up a security trust
  • Modifying a web.config file
  • Edit the web parts catalog file
  • Implementing SSO in IBM Cognos
  • Configuring the portal services
  • Setting up the Cognos Application Firewall (CAF)
  • Deploying the solution on Sharepoint
  • And finally, adding a port let to  Sharepoint page
Quite a tall order, but luckily IBM provides an excellent walk-through on DeveloperWorks.  The link to the walk-through can be found below.  

Good luck!