Cognos, a business intelligence and corporate performance management (CPM) vendor, has announced the immediate general availability of Cognos 8 Business Intelligence, the industry`s first solution that delivers complete BI capabilities in a single product, on a single Web services-based architecture.
Today`s CIOs and business leaders require a BI solution that delivers a complete view of business issues for high value decision-making on a global scale. Cognos 8 BI is a groundbreaking product that addresses this need by providing decision-makers at all levels of the enterprise with a consistent, accurate view of information to better manage performance. As a single product that easily integrates into existing infrastructures with multiple systems and data sources, Cognos 8 BI is a robust technology foundation for BI standardisation and corporate performance management.
Says David McWilliam, managing director of Cognos SA: "Cognos is continually striving toward BI and CPM that knows no boundaries. This is reflected in our recent positioning as a leader for CPM Suites, 2005, and Enterprise Business Intelligence Suites and Platforms, 2005, in Gartner`s `leaders` quadrant for both 2H04 reports. By understanding our clients` information and performance requirements, we continue to deliver according to market demands and have evolved to meet enterprise needs."
BI is a top strategic priority for organisations worldwide. In another recent Gartner EXP CIO survey, BI was listed as number two on the 2005 CIO top 10 technology priority list, up from number 10 in 2004.* IDC`s recent European Market Watch Survey also ranks BI as number two on the `CIO To-Do List` for 2006.**
Showcased to more than 20 000 decision-makers worldwide, Cognos 8 BI is the only solution to deliver a simplified, zero-footprint interface for all users, authors and administrators. Easy to integrate, deploy and use, Cognos 8 BI delivers a simplified BI environment that drives high user adoption and speeds decision-making with relevant, actionable information in the right language and format. Role-based licensing provides flexibility for customers to quickly implement the capabilities they require as they need them.
Cognos 8 BI has also gained overwhelmingly positive reviews from industry analyst thought leaders since its market introduction:
AMR Research:
"The release of Cognos 8 BI continues to raise the stakes for BI standardisation. Cognos` SOA design aids functionality and agility."^1
Bloor Research:
"Cognos 8 has two big advantages over its competitors: it has a unified architecture, which not all of its rivals do; and it has Event Studio, which is a major differentiator."^2
Nucleus Research:
"With this new release of its business intelligence platform, Cognos is making it easier for companies to standardise on its tools to handle all aspects of business analytics, reporting and measurement."^3
Ventana Research:
"We believe the release of Cognos 8 BI strengthens Cognos` market position. The product is a strong option for organisations seeking to standardise their BI product portfolio. With its broad set of functions, tighter integration and new capabilities, Cognos 8 is a strong competitor."^1^1
These published reports address BI standardisation; competitive differentiators, the product`s services-oriented architecture (SOA) and key new features such as extended open data access, dimensional reporting and dynamic dashboards, comparative analysis against multi-dimensionally modelled relational or OLAP data, event management and process integration, and actionable scorecards.
"The market paradigm shift underscored by the industry research and led by Cognos 8 Business Intelligence is the latest phase in the evolution of BI from a departmental `nice-to-have` to a strategic `must-have` solution," says Rob Ashe, president and CEO of Cognos. "Cognos 8 BI delivers a single platform that goes beyond mere `suite integration` by providing the complete spectrum of capabilities enterprises need to achieve their BI goals. It`s a modern BI platform tailored to deliver the proven reliability our customers enjoy and our prospects seek."
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Cognos, the world leader in business intelligence and corporate performance management, delivers software and services that helps companies drive, monitor and understand corporate performance.
Cognos delivers the next level of competitive advantage - corporate performance management (CPM) - achieved through the strategic application of BI on an enterprise scale. Our integrated CPM solution helps customers drive performance through planning; monitor performance through scorecarding; and understand performance through business intelligence.
Cognos serves more than 23 000 customers in over 135 countries. Cognos enterprise business intelligence solutions and services are also available from more than 3 000 worldwide partners and resellers. For more information, visit the Cognos Web site at http://www.cognos.com.
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