As Cognos provides a very open structure and easy access to contents and components through SDK and CMS, there are many products built over it. They use Cognos as the powerful application engine to generate the contents and then these tools present the contents in very stylist way. When just Cognos Report Studio can not meet your business requirement, you can consider using such third-party tools to enhance the Cognos services and extract more value out of the investment made in Cognos.
An example of such a tool is AV Dashboard (product owned by INCA Software). This tool gives visual representation of data using embedded reporting. With animated visuals, maps, tickers, charts, transitions, and so on, this tool gives a refreshing and interesting access to information. With the ability to export to PowerPoint, it makes a good choice for business users who need it for presentations and marketing.
(Website: http://www.incasoftware.co.uk/en/1/avdashboard.html)
Another tool called Xcelsius can be used on the top of Cognos output to provide a cute interface in Flash and PowerPoint. This is a SAP product and more information can be found here: http://www.sap.com/solutions/sapbusinessobjects/sme/reporting-dashboarding/xcelsius/index.epx
Sometimes even developers come out with small but useful utilities—a great example is: PimpMyReport (http://pimpmyreport.appspot.com). This is an online tool that allows you to parse the XML specification of report and generate a quick documentation within no time. This cute little application can save your documentation time.
The following is a screenshot of PimpMyReport. All you need to do is 'Copy Report to Clipboard' from Report Studio which in turn copies the XML specification. Paste it into the website and hit the button. Within no time, it will list out all the data items and filters with their expressions—for your documentation purpose.
Above tool is free. However, if you want more sophisticated documentations, you might want to purchase SpecStudio from Assimil8 (Website: http://www.assimil8.com/Featured-Product.aspx). This website offers a free trial wherein you can submit the report XML and the document will be mailed back to you.
Motio is one more company that has several products to help in Cognos Development. These products talk directly to Cognos servers and content manager and provide some functionalities that Cognos tools don't. This suite includes a tool called MotioADF which is an Application Development Framework and the company claims it to be faster and more reliable than developing using Cognos SDK. (Website: http://www.motio.com/products.do)
You can use such tools to aid the Cognos Report Development lifecycle, reduce defects, and improve maintainability.