Book excerpt: Business intelligence and analytics software enable businesses to analyze performance data in order to make better decisions through the use of cloud computing--an Internet-based model for convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources. This book is a practitioner's guide for successful evaluation and design for implementation of Cognos Business Intelligence cloud solution, for either Cognos 8 BI or Cognos Business Intelligence Version 10. With pragmatic and practical information about the best practices and guidelines, as well as specific software and configuration steps, this guide for solutions and IT architects includes detailed screen shots, code samples, and input instructions.