The first step for integrating data that resides in IBM Cognos BI is to set up a data connection.
From the Welcome page, click on Administer, and then click on Data connections, as shown here:
From here, click on Create new connection. Next (just as you would do for other types of data connections), select a connector type (this time IBM Cognos BI Server):
On the Create new connection dialog, enter a connection name and the URL for your Cognos BI or Cognos Analytics server, as shown here:
The connection name is just an identifier (make it something that, perhaps, describes the data you'll be accessing, rather than just the default). The URL must begin with https://, and this is the address of the Cognos BI server you will be accessing.
Again, as we did earlier when setting up our sample SQL server connection, you should click on Test Connection to verify that the connection information is correct and that the server is able to accept the connection.
Note that you may need to enter login information (as if you were logging in to Cognos BI directly). You might also need to connect directly to your Cognos BI or Cognos Analytics server in another tab or window of your browser (if the security certificate of your Cognos BI or Cognos Analytics server is not signed by a trusted certification authority).
Upon successfully connecting to Cognos BI, you will have a new data connection available in Watson, like this:
Although it may be considered by some to be more convenient to set up direct data connections to various data sources, such as SQL Server and IBM Cognos BI), I find that (at least if I am not sure what data I want to use) exporting data from these sources to a text (CSV) file, and then uploading that file, grants me more flexibility in that it provides me with the opportunity for data review and refinement before uploading to Watson. However, if a report or query is established within the source system that selects exactly the data in the exact format that you want, then a direct connection is the way to go.