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Case Study
Ixia Shows 150% ROI Using the Senturus Analytics Connector
Industry:
Software & internet
Focus:
Connecting Tableau to Cognos data
With the Senturus Analytics Connector tying Tableau to their curated Cognos Framework Manager models, Ixia is saving “massive” amounts of reporting time.
Challenge
A relatively small Cognos shop by some standards, network testing company Ixia had 50 existing Framework Manager models. Ixia introduced Tableau Desktop into their BI mix in order to take advantage of its visualizations. However, because analysts could not readily access the data in Cognos, the process of running reports became cumbersome and mistakes were being introduced. Inordinate amounts of time and effort were involved just in the data prep ahead of report creation. As Ixia summed it up, “All that effort…is to duplicate data that is already in Cognos!”
- Data was exported from Cognos into Excel pivot tables then imported into Tableau.
- Metadata layers went out of control as people started performing joins and getting them wrong.
- Report performance cratered.
- Valuable time was being wasted performing duplicative tasks.
- Numbers weren’t matching up.
The Ixia IT team looked at what it would take to recreate each of its FM models as a data warehouse that Tableau could pull from. On a simple FM model, just the data prep alone would take a minimum of 40 hours from proof of concept through the multiple iterative cross-departmental meetings. Ixia had 50 FM models, and not all of them were simple.
Solution
Senturus deployed the Analytics Connector and gave Ixia direct access to their Cognos models and the quality data sets in them.
- Analysts drag and drop measures and dimensions from the FM query subjects into the data source pane in Tableau.
- Tableau users create live, extracted analytics and visualizations from robust data in the Cognos.
- FM is used as “pseudo ETL” for summarizing and arranging data, thereby providing Tableau the flat tables it likes.
Benefits
Processes that took hours or days were whittled down to minutes. The time spent to run a single report in Tableau decreased by 75%. For two reports, Ixia saw a 150% ROI in one year. Other benefits included
- Improved on-time delivery analysis
- Delivered trusted data and correct analyses
- Freed up precious cycles for both IT and analysts
- Saved two days per month with just a single report
When we calculated our time savings using the Senturus Analytics Connector, we figured about a 75% ROI on just one report and 150% for two.
Steve Kiser
Senior Manager
Financial Systems, IXIA
About our client
Acquired by Keysight Technologies Inc. in 2017, Ixia was a public company operating in 25 countries. Headquartered in Calabasas, CA, Ixia had approximately 1750 employees. Customers included Cisco, Alcatel-Lucent, Verizon, NTT, Deutsche Telekom, along with enterprises and government agencies.