What is IBM Cognos 8 PowerPlay?

IBM Cognos 8 PowerPlay provides the data analysis and exploration capabilities that are familiar to IBM Cognos Series 7 PowerPlay report authors, analysts, and users in an IBM Cognos 8 environment.
By integrating with IBM Cognos 8, PowerPlay is able to take advantage of the IBM Cognos 8
architecture and features while preserving your existing PowerPlay applications and user experience.
IBM Cognos 8 PowerPlay brings the proven exploration and analysis capabilities of IBM Cognos
Series 7 PowerPlay into the IBM Cognos 8 environment. IBM Cognos 8 PowerPlay maintains the
familiar appearance and functionality of IBM Cognos Series 7 PowerPlay for report authors and
users, and also provides the enhanced server architecture and scalability of the IBM Cognos 8
environment.
The IBM Cognos 8 service-oriented architecture makes possible the integration of PowerPlay into the IBM Cognos 8 environment.
Among the benefits, this architecture

• allows the PowerPlay service in the IBM Cognos 8 environment to continue to use the same
  query engine as in IBM Cognos Series 7.
  As a result, PowerPlay reports and other content, such as cubes, bookmarks, security policies,
  and Upfront hierarchies, migrate easily into the IBM Cognos 8 environment.
• adds PowerPlay as an IBM Cognos 8 studio and allows PowerPlay to interact with other IBM Cognos 8 studios.
  For example, users can open PowerPlay reports in other studios that are available to them.
  Users can also drill through from PowerPlay to other studios. In IBM Cognos 8, making drill through available to users requires less involvement from modelers and administrators than in IBM Cognos Series 7.
• maintains the data analysis and exploration capabilities of PowerPlay
  Report authors can continue to work with a familiar interface to produce reports, also leverage the features of other IBM Cognos 8 studios.
• provides a single access point for all IBM Cognos 8 administration settings.
  IBM Cognos Administration is a zero-footprint Web-based interface that provides flexible
  access to administration settings.