Diagnose And Resolve Any Design Problems - IBM Cognos User Manual

You can allocate measures over entire dimensions, over levels within an
individual dimension, or over categories within levels. When allocating
measures, use measures that come directly from your source data rather than
calculated measures, and avoid overloading your model with superfluous detail.
v Consider combining information from another functional area, such as materials
and resource planning or performance quality, with the finance or customer
profitability data already in your business model.
Begin by listing the data columns and determining if there are any gaps,
particularly in the area of cost of materials, or indicators of quality.
Next, map the new dimensions, checking that the time periods are consistent
with each other and with your financial statements. Ensure that revenue and
expense values map to those in the financial statements.
Finally, verify the relationships that exist between the various measures. If these
are not one-to-one relationships, confirm how each relates to your common
dimensions.
Example - Adding Customer Service Data to Refine Your Model
Suppose your initial model includes the following dimensional hierarchy, as well
as values for Inventory Status and Turnover Ranges.
You have data for an extensive list of measures: Sales, Order Qty, Material Cost per
Unit, Discount, Percent Gross Margin, Carrying Cost per Unit, Percent Material
Cost per Sale, Percent Carrying Cost per Sale, Sales per Customer, Percent Profit
per Segment, and Inventory Turnover.
You decide you want to monitor customer service, so you expand your model to
include indicators of service quality. The new dimensions and categories might be
encoded Reasons for Dissatisfaction or Causes of Poor Quality Service.
You must ensure that your source data provides the required measures, such as the
number of complaints, returns, and claims, or the dollar value of returns and
claims.
You can complete your model by incorporating response times, labor costs, time
lost to service claims, rework hours, scrap costs, or any other factor that
significantly affects service quality.

Diagnose and Resolve Any Design Problems

You can use any or all of the following tools and techniques to diagnose and
resolve problems in your model design.
Show Scope
To see how your measures and levels are associated with their corresponding data
sources by allocation, direct association or indirect association, use the Show Scope
command on the Edit menu.
Show Count
To verify that you have maintained a 1:10 ratio or less between the categories in
each level, use the Show Counts command on the Edit menu. Lower ratios allow
for efficient partitioning and faster cube creation times in Cognos Transformer, as
well as easier data exploration in your reporting component.
Chapter 2. Planning Your Model
9