Orientation for BMC Decision Support for Server Automation users

This topic describes what is different in TrueSight Smart Reporting for Server Automation 19.2 from BMC Decision Support for Server Automation.

What has changed

BMC Decision Support for Server Automation was a web-based application that uses the IBM Cognos 10 Business Intelligence to create and generate reports.

TrueSight Smart Reporting for Server Automation uses TrueSight Smart Reporting - Platform to administer, compile, and publish reports seamlessly. You can use simple drag-and-drop actions to create complex reports, which offers an enhanced, user-friendly look to your reports.

TrueSight Smart Reporting for Server Automation contains the following components:

TrueSight Server Automation - Data Warehouse
TrueSight Smart Reporting - Platform

How does this impact you

Installation process

With BMC Decision Support for Server Automation, you installed a single product BMC Decision Support for Server Automation.

Now, you must install the following components/products:

TrueSight Server Automation - Data Warehouse : to perform administration activities such as managing databases, running ETL, archiving and restoring data into the data warehouse database.
TrueSight Smart Reporting - Platform : to generate reports with the data present in data warehouse database.

You must then add TrueSight Server Automation - Data Warehouse as a component in TrueSight Smart Reporting - Platform.

User roles and tools

BMC Decision Support for Server Automation users needed Cognos provided tools such as Query Studio and Report Studio for report creation and authoring.

In TrueSight Smart Reporting for Server Automation, users with appropriate permissions in TrueSight Server Automation can create, edit, share, and schedule reports without any tools.

BMC Decision Support for Server Automation had these user authorizations:

Reports.QueryStudio
Reports.Viewer
Reports.Studio
Reports.Administration
Reports.Writer

TrueSight Smart Reporting for Server Automation has these user roles:

TrueSight Server Automation - Data Warehouse Administrator (DWAdmin) - They can perform administration activities such as managing databases, running ETL, archiving and restoring data, and reporting activities such as importing and exporting report artefacts, managing schedules.
User - Refers to users imported from TrueSight Server Automation to TrueSight Server Automation - Data Warehouse through ETL. They can perform the following activities depending on their RBAC permissions in TrueSight Server Automation:
- Create, view, edit, and delete their own reports and dashboards
- Export reports to CSV, XLS, Text, and DOCX format
- Email reports
- Publish reports for themselves and for individual users
- Create, view, edit, and delete schedules for reports
TrueSight Smart Reporting - Platform Administrator - They can perform administration activities in TrueSight Smart Reporting - Platform such as modifying and deleting components, managing schedules, and getting the latest reporting views and models from TrueSight Server Automation - Data Warehouse.

User interface for login

BMC Decision Support for Server Automation had different interfaces, Console and Portal, to manage administration activities and to view reports.

TrueSight Smart Reporting for Server Automation offers a single interface to manage administration activities and to view reports.

TrueSight Server Automation - Data Warehouse administrator, DWAdmin, can use the Reports tab in the TrueSight Server Automation - Data Warehouse console to view reports. Other reporting users can directly log in to the console to view reports.

User-friendly reporting interface

You can perform the following actions by using the new and simpler user interface:

Create custom simple and complex reports. You can compare and analyze reports by using filters, summaries, and calculations. In addition, you can change the appearance of the reports.
Create Drill Through reports. With Drill Through reports, you can click a hyperlink to another report and get a deeper insight into your data. You can create Drill Through reports by creating parent-child relationships between the reports that you want to link.
Export reports in different formats (CSV, DOC, PDF, RTF, Text, XLS, and Print).
Share reports with others on an ad-hoc basis. You can send a report through email or embed a report into an HTML, Wiki, or Blog page.

Broadcast reports. You can send a report to one or more users, based on a defined schedule and set of rules.
Schedule reports through FTP. You can select the format for the report and schedule it to be sent to a FTP location.
Import and export your report models and views. You can migrate your content between multiple instances, such as from QA to production. You can do this by exporting your content into an external file (such as a yfx or xml file) and then importing that file into the destination system.

The following image displays a sample report.

Out-of-the-box reports

The following out-of-the-box reports are available in TrueSight Smart Reporting for Server Automation 19.2:

Support for HTTPS protocol

BMC Decision Support for Server Automation provided support for the HTTP and HTTPS protocols.

TrueSight Smart Reporting for Server Automation provides support for the HTTPS protocol.