How does data flow into and out of IBM Analytics Solutions Manager on Cloud?
Data is needed by IBM® Analytics Solutions Manager on Cloud in order to successfully make predictions.
Some data is provided through a compressed file called a content pack. There is a default content pack provided by IBM that contains a collection of artifacts, such as predictive models, reports, scripts, and images. You start out by importing the default content pack but later you may want to have an operations engineer customize the default content pack to better fit your environment. For more information about customizing the default content pack, see The default content pack and artifacts.
Other data, such as historical data and real time data, must be gathered from your equipment assets and imported into Analytics Solutions Manager on Cloud.
Where does this data come from?

Data from the customer environment
A data modeler can use IBM Cognos® Framework Manager to model the metadata for reports. IBM Cognos Framework Manager is a metadata modeling tool that drives query generation for IBM Cognos software. The data modeler publishes the model in a package to IBM Cognos BI on Cloud. The model can then be used to produce reports from within Analytics Solutions Manager on Cloud.
Historical data gathered from your equipment assets can be placed into .csv files and uploaded into Analytics Solutions Manager on Cloud.
IBM Maximo® can be configured to create data entries in XML format. An IBM WebSphere® Cast Iron® Live orchestration maps and transforms the Maximo data to the required logical data structure, which it sends to Analytics Solutions Manager on Cloud.
Data from the IBM cloud environment
You import the IBM default content pack when you create your first project in Analytics Solutions Manager on Cloud. The default content pack can be exported, modified, and imported back into Analytics Solutions Manager on Cloud using the following methods:
- A predictive model can be extracted from the content pack and imported into IBM SPSS® Modeler Gold where the model can be modified or extended. For example, you can run an SPSS stream and change it to use a different algorithm. To get it into the content pack, export the model and add it to the content pack.
- Orchestrations can be extracted from the content pack and imported into IBM Analytics Solutions Foundation, where calculations and aggregates can be added for predictions. For example, you can add an aggregate to include average temperature. To get the modified orchestrations into the content pack, export the orchestrations and add them to the content pack.
- A deployment archive containing reports can be extracted from the content pack and imported into IBM Cognos BI on Cloud. A report author can add a new report or modify an existing report. For example, you can add a report that shows the trend of average temperature over time for each asset. To get the new and modified reports into the content pack, export a deployment archive and add it to the content pack.