IBM® Cognos End of Support Dates: What You Need to Know

IBM® Cognos is one of the most popular data analytics tools in the world. It is at the core of day-to-day operations for many organizations, driving performance management and engaging BI to help them make more knowledgeable business decisions.

Companies running Cognos 10 are under constant pressure to upgrade to version 11. But updating Cognos is far from a simple lift and shift. A Cognos implementation can take 9 to 12 months – in many cases up to two years – before it is fully deployed.

By the time an IBM product is about to be updated, the version deployed is a pretty stable platform, so Cognos 10 users need to consider whether an update is the solution that best fits their business in terms of stability and security risks, as well as cost.

 

HOW TO MANAGE IBM COGNOS END OF SUPPORT

IBM ended support for Cognos Analytics version 11.0.X in September 2021 and multiple end of support dates will be hitting Cognos version 10.2.X, Cognos version 10.3.X, and Cognos version 7.5.X over the next few years.

IBM is also sunsetting a popular version of the software that was released in 2015, so companies will either need to purchase enhanced support, upgrade Cognos Analytics to a supported version, or consider an option like third-party support to maintain it.

There are three ways forward for companies facing Cognos EoS. The right decision for your company should come from careful consideration of all options.

  1. Develop a strategy to upgrade IBM Cognos. Businesses with active IBM Subscription Support (S&S) always have the option of upgrading to a supported version. Upgrade projects, however, can be quite risky and might be too expensive to justify for a product like Cognos, that generally works well.
  2. Invest in IBM Extended Support. IBM provides service for products past end of support dates for an additional cost on top of the IBM S&S cost. It’s not cheap, and IBM is unlikely to write new fixes for unsupported versions, but IT teams will get some help with issues on their unsupported version of Cognos.
  3. Engage third-party software support. Third-party software support is a popular alternative to expensive OEM upgrades that tend to offer only limited support for EoS products. Companies that rely on IBM Cognos support for all versions can benefit from all-the-time support from IBM product experts that know how to deal with interoperability challenges and keep IBM Cognos healthy and secure.

Read the 2021 Gartner Guide on third-party support

Understanding the Cognos support lifecycle and what your options are is critical to avoiding uncertainties and risk.

 

IBM Cognos 11 End of Support

IBM Cognos Analytics at version 11.0.X End of Support date is on September 30th, 2021. IBM is sunsetting a popular version of the software that was released in 2015, meaning companies will either need to purchase enhanced support, will need to upgrade their Cognos Analytics to a supported version, or will have to look at a third-party provider to maintain it.

 

IBM Cognos 10 End of Support

IBM ended support for Cognos Controller 10.3.X in September 2021 and will end support for Cognos Metrics 10.2.X in 2023. Companies that want to maintain these versions will need to work with their IBM reps to agree on support terms, or connect with a third-party provider and find out if their product version is supportable.

 

IBM Cognos 7.5 End of Support

There are a host of Cognos version 7.5 products hitting end of support in 2023. Organizations have some time to strategize how they’ll handle the move away from – or continued use of – these versions.

 

WHAT HAPPENS IF I OPT-OUT OF IBM UPGRADES?

It’s actually highly likely you don’t need upgrades – unless you are certain that a particular upgrade will bring a critical new feature that will truly add value to the way the organization utilizes the application. And given the maturity of enterprise software, that’s highly unlikely.

You’ve probably been running on old versions with no problem for some time. Moving forward without upgrading is the best choice for most companies that just want to keep Cognos optimized and secure. Of course, you’ll need to explore an option like third-party support and maintenance (TPSM) to make sure your legacy system is always protected.

 

IS THIRD-PARTY SUPPORT A RELIABLE OPTION?

Gartner enthusiastically recommends TPSM for companies that want more flexibility than OEM’s provide and want to keep their IBM products stable and secure while freeing up resources for modernization projects.

Third party support moves companies to a more business-driven roadmap that reduces dependence on OEMs to keep older products supported. It also gives you control of your application lifecycle and cloud migration plans by removing vendor-defined timeline constraints.

TPSM reduces both the risk of disruption to the business and the risk of moving to a new solution that might not fit your business. It opens up the opportunity to future-proof your legacy strategy and define a roadmap for continuous change based on business needs, rather than the path defined by big vendors.

ABOUT ORIGINA

Origina offers a particularly skillful brand of third-party support and maintenance (TPSM) that gives IBM customers 24/7 access to over 600 IBM product experts with a minimum of 15 years supporting and developing IBM products.

Origina shifts you from relying on a single point of vendor support that may or may not deliver a security patch in time, to having a team of legacy software experts that implement an extensive system of checks and balances to greatly limit your exposure to vulnerabilities.

We save our customers hundreds of thousands on OEM upgrades they don’t need, work hard to enhance, extend and protect their IBM products and provide solid advice on how to best migrate business-critical systems.

We’re a team of straight shooters who support software customers’ freedom of choice. Get in touch if you’d like us to do a free feasibility assessment to help you assess whether switching IBM Cognos support to Origina is the right option for your company.

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