The global alliance between System Software Associates (SSA) and Cognos has been cemented with a channel agreement between local SSA representative Armada and Cognos in South Africa.
Antony Makins, Armada national sales manager, says this alliance gives further impetus to Armada`s best-of-breed product and alliance strategy.
"Cognos is rated by Gartner Group as combining vision with ability to deliver. Armada customers now have access to a leading business intelligence solution, giving them the ability to analyse their transactional data. This provides real value-add with performance measurement, forecasting and trend analysis. It also offers fast, customisable reporting and drives bottomline benefit from customers` investment in ERP systems."
Alan Mosley, Cognos South African channel manager, outlines the basis for the alliance: "Armada is a Cognos-approved systems integrator. This means Armada is entitled to market all Cognos products and has the expertise to deploy these solutions within their customer set. We have a joint marketing agreement and Cognos has facilitated business intelligence training for Armada."
In order to speed up the implementation of Cognos, Armada customers that use eBPCS, the SSA ERP suite marketed and supported by Armada, have access to business intelligence templates or "headstarts", developed specifically for them.
Makins says: "We understand our customers` data and their business practices. By combining this knowledge with a quickly deployable Cognos business intelligence application, they can identify, evaluate and take immediate advantage of changes in market and customer base."
Mosley points out that the trend towards alliances gives customers greater confidence in solutions being offered.
"While the alliance partner cross-skills, software development remains with the people whose core competency lies in that arena. This supports the ability of alliance partners to deliver on best-of-breed strategies. Armada has added business intelligence skills to its portfolio, but the support of the Cognos infrastructure and continued development of the software ensures that Armada customers remain in the forefront of business intelligence technology."
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