In my line of work, I spend a lot of time googling Cognos error codes or investigating Cognos issues online. My online inquiries lead me to many different sources, including many other technical Cognos blogs. What I have discovered at my last two clients is interesting – as part of their “social media” policy, they block access to many blogs hosted on most blogging websites. Essentially, almost any free blogging site is deemed “inappropiate” as per their acceptable web use policy. Of course, they do suggest that you can apply for access to the desired website if you deem it “vital” to your work. But who has time for that? By then I have skipped ahead through the search results, looking for another answer.
I can’t say for sure how widespread this practice is, but if you want maximum exposure for your online material and corporate clients are a key part of your target audience, you may want to consider hosting your blog somewhere under your own registered domain. Otherwise, you may be missing wide swaths of users that work under such a social media policy. While we could argue against such a blanket ban that equates any time spent on a blog with that of time spent on Facebook’s Farmville, I suspect it will take the corporate world some time to buy into the value of professional blogs. In the meantime, make your blog look more professional by hosting under your own domain and then you should be able to get through to everyone.
