Johannesburg, 11 Apr 2008
Cognos, an IBM company that specialises in Business Intelligence (BI) and Performance Management (PM) solutions, announced that Study Group, an Australian headquartered and global leader in international education, has selected IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence and IBM Cognos 8 Planning as the performance management standard for streamlining its worldwide operational forecasting, budgeting and planning.
Spanning five continents, Study Group is a global leader in international education, providing the highest quality educational opportunities for students from more than 120 countries. Beginning in 1994 with 7,000 students per year, Study Group now has 50 schools, a global enrolment base of 40,000 students and 2,500 staff.
Under terms of the deal, Cognos will replace Study Group's existing spreadsheet-based budgeting and planning solution and provide the organisation's sales, marketing, finance and planning teams with an integrated performance management dashboard for future budget and programme planning and modelling. With the IBM Cognos software, Study Group will be able to seamlessly align its global network of offices to enable integrated planning and perform 'what if' analysis in real-time, helping the organisation to spot trends and issues in advance, then adjust resources according to demand in specific countries, programmes or courses.
"Cognos is the market leader in performance planning and reporting so when we reviewed our options for delivering an integrated process, Cognos was ahead of the pack. We also liked the company's global market footprint, its expertise in the education and services market sectors, and the solution's powerful ability to enable users to rapidly and accurately plan for the future," says Michael Mangan, chief information officer at Study Group. "Once Cognos is fully deployed, we'll be able to accurately obtain a 360 degree trending view of where our students are enrolling, where they are likely to study, what they are likely to pay in terms of tuition fees and the resulting cost to Study Group for the infrastructure and human resources to deliver the tuition itself. We'll also be able to go behind the scenes and drill down to see what drivers might be at play that can impact student enrolment, and by extension revenues."
Using the expertise of Cognos partner Focus Strategies and Solutions, IBM Cognos 8 Planning will initially be deployed to coincide with the organisation's commencement of its annual planning cycle this September. In parallel, IBM Cognos 8 BI will be deployed to track and assess the student enrolment cycle. The system will then be enhanced with modelling capabilities. All phases of the deployment will be conducted simultaneously across the company's North American, European and Asia Pacific business regions.
"We are thrilled to have Study Group select Cognos and Focus for its global platform and development partner. We work with many organisations in diverse industries, assisting them to select and implement performance management systems to drive their business forward. Focus has a particular strength in the education industry, having partnered with several universities, and we now look forward to being involved in the implementation of the IBM Cognos solution with Study Group, a worldwide leader in its own sector," says Tom Reich, director, Focus Strategies and Solutions.
Business Intelligence and financial planning are key elements of the IBM Cognos Performance Management System, which combines technology, best practices, analytical applications and solutions, and a broad network of partners into a single performance management solution for customers. For further information on performance management, IBM Cognos 8 BI or IBM Cognos 8 Planning, please visit: http://www.cognos.com/products/index.html.
"IBM Cognos solutions allow educational institutions at all levels to effectively leverage information to help evaluate and monitor performance of students, staff, and curriculum, distribute resources for greatest impact, and retain fiscal accountability," says Susan Gold, vice president of industry marketing & solutions at Cognos. "By synchronising data and providing geographically dispersed decision makers with the powerful lens of IBM Cognos solutions, Study Group will be able to obtain a holistic view of the institution. With such consistency, timeliness and accuracy of information, they will be able to better deliver success for both its staff and students."
Cognos is a recognised leader in delivering performance management solutions for higher education. Over 1,000 higher education institutions worldwide use IBM Cognos solutions, including Southern Methodist University, The George Washington University, University of Minnesota, University of Toronto, University of Ulster (Ireland) and University of Wollongong (Australia). More information about IBM Cognos solutions for higher education can be found at www.cognos.com/higher_ed
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