cognos

Business Intelligence blossoms

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 06:59:58 -0500

Business Intelligence, for companies large and small, is alive and kicking in the private sector. There are many companies offering BI tools, including SAS, SPSS, MicroStrategy and Actuate, and you will see plenty of activity in the market space this year. "Go beyond the core tools of reporting and analysis and you'll see lots of data-mining and statistical tool vendors, as well as industry-specific developers," IDC analyst Dan Vesset told InfoWorld.

While a number of big companies--such as Business Objects, Cognos and Hyperion--were acquired by SAP, Oracle and IBM, there is still room for companies to flourish and grow, says Rob Tholemeier, a former industry analyst turned private investor. As Tholmeier puts it, "Clearing out the old-timers leaves a huge vacuum for the dozens of innovative players ready to strut their stuff.'' And as companies struggle to find new ways to use the data they already have, they will continue to look for the tools to help them take the information in hand to new ways to enhance the market.

For more on the bright future for Business Intelligence:
- Check out this InfoWorld Article

ALSO NOTED: Gore joins venture cap firm; IBM: fastest supercomputer yet again;

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 06:59:58 -0500

> Gore joins venture cap firm. Article
> IBM: fastest supercomputer yet again. Article
> SmithAundsen gets new CIO. Article
> ING hires CIO from Coke. Article
> Is Cognos worth $5 billion? Article
> Tesco IT chief steps down. Article

And Finally... Google Android, a Star Trek Tricorder? Article

Cognos acquires Applix for $339M

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 06:59:59 -0400

With vendors like Oracle and Microsoft making inroads into the massive $6.25 billion business performance and analytics software market, smaller vendors are doing all they can to remain competitive. In the latest move, Cognos this week said it would acquire Applix for $339 million in cash. "What's interesting about the deal is it gives Cognos the potential to really focus on finance professionals, making their offering that much more complete and therefore more differentiated from standard budgeting, planning and performance-management tools out there," Rob Kugel, senior vice president at San Mateo, Calif. based Ventana Research, told internetNews. Cognos controls 10 percent of marketshare and ranks third behind Business Objects and SAS in total share of the business intelligence market.

For all the details on the acquisition:
- read the article in Internetnews.com
- and see this press release

Real-time intelligence = faster decision-making

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 20:01:38 -0400

Making sure decision-makers have access to timely, accurate and relevant data on demand is big factor in effectively managing day-to-day business activities that impact operational efficiency. But achieving real-time business intelligence isn't easy, due in part to the current crop of business intelligence tools and infrastructures. Many organizations today have data warehouses that store a version of their transactional information. These data warehouses are updated with periodic snapshots of operational data that are 'cleaned' before being loaded into the warehouse. This process can take from a few hours to several days to complete, leading to potentially outdated data with limited usefulness. The solution is either to upgrade to a newer version of your data warehouse--many vendors are building time-sensitive data warehouse features into their database projects--or to invest in more expensive real-time business intelligence. Business Objects and Informatica are two vendors offering or adapting products for real-time data integration. Other vendors offering products that help with the real-time nature of data include Datamirror, GoldenGate Software, QlikTech, Information Builder, Cognos, Advizor, Spotfire, Tableau and SeeWhy.

Read more about taking BI to the next level:
- read the article at Silicon
- read this on the basics of business intelligence
- read this on how collaboration increases business intelligence
- and this on protecting your intellectual property

ALSO:
- Read this on using BI to avoid useless information
- and this on intelligent business intelligence
- and this on business intelligence and web services

BPM: A window into business performance

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 19:01:38 -0500

Corporate executives have a habit of wanting to know, at a glance, how their companies are performing in various areas. In today's competitive environment, Excel spreadsheets don't do the trick anymore--they are far too simplistic and don't provide information in real-time. For many companies, the answer is business performance management (BPM). This software, from companies like Business Objects, Hyperion, Cognos, Oracle and SAP, makes sense of relevant data about customers, competitors, internal operations and the marketplace--providing executives with the information they need to make the right decisions. Core processes include modeling, analysis and monitoring of key performance indicators, and links to organizational strategy. To drive BPM across your organization, it's important to work from the top down as well as the bottom up, and be able to guarantee all stakeholders that the integrity of the data and reporting systems will be preserved.

Learn more about BPM:
- read the article at CIO Decisions

ALSO:
- read this about focusing on neglected areas using BPM
- and this on why IT must lead the BPM charge

Measuring a city's performance

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 19:01:38 -0500

The city of Atlanta is embarking on an ambitious $2 million business intelligence software deployment, which officials say will provide metrics on department performance and help the city become more efficient in all areas. The application, Cognos 8 BI software, will be deployed to 1,000 users over the next 12 to 18 months and will assess performance metrics on everything from pothole repair time to more complicated reporting needs. The new system replaces other tools such as Excel spreadsheets and performance management software from CorVu, which are currently in use.

For more on the city's performance assessment project:
- read the article at Computerworld

ALSO NOTED: Cognos to shed more than 200 staff; AG says charges are likely in HP spying; and much more...

Thu, 07 Sep 2006 20:00:50 -0400

> Cognos to shed more than 200 staff. Article

> AG says charges are likely in HP spying. Article

> Slow Treo sales cause Palm plunge. Article

> Jigsaw Data doesn't follow standards. Article

And Finally... Xerox reveals changing documents. Article

SPOTLIGHT: In case it's not obvious: Vendors spin

Thu, 20 Apr 2006 20:01:33 -0400

If you sometimes forget to divert vendor news through your BS filter, consider this: Rivals Cognos and SAS each recently announced that a German bank won an award by using their software. Problem is, it was the same bank, which uses both company's products. (Do you trust vendor case studies at all? Email me about their relevance to your IT buying decisions.) Article

Google extends search to enterprise apps

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 20:01:38 -0400

Google has again updated the enterprise version of its data searching appliance. A new feature called OneBox queries applications directly instead of relying on data feeds, so it's faster than before. The updated appliance can now handle twice its previous capacity. Google also announced integration partnerships with Cisco Systems, Cognos, Employease, Netsuite, Oracle and salesforce.com.

For more on data searching:
- read this InformationWeek article

ALSO: SQL Server gets search tools and more. Article

BMC buys Identify Software for $150M

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 19:01:37 -0500

What's your IT problem? BMC hopes its $150 million of acquisition Identity Software can help you solve it. Identity called its tools the AppSight Problem Resolution System, but for BMC they will likely get the Remedy moniker. The software works best in Java 2 Enterprise Edition and Microsoft .Net environments, officials said. It will probably get re-released this summer or fall as a rival to applications from CA, Compuware, IBM/Tivoli and Mercury Interactive.

For more on the deal:
- read this Network World article

ALSO: Cognos to add search to BI. Article