IBM's Cognos Express hits the tracks with new BI solution

Peter Dinham
Tuesday, 15 September 2009 07:46

IT Industry - Market

IBM today released its first all-in-one business intelligence (BI) and planning solution designed and priced specifically for mid-sized companies with the launch of its Cognos Express solution which it says will cater for companies looking for a fast and low-cost way to jump start their analytics strategy. 

Defining mid-sized companies as those with between 100 and 999 employees, IBM says its new BI solution can be employed in a matter of hours, and allows mid-market executives to quickly and “more cost-effectively” capitalise on advanced analytics to make more accurate decisions and take action to reach specific business goals.

Cognos Express is part of a broader family of new software and hardware offerings launched globally today by IBM through its General Business Express Advantage program, and in support of the release of its new BI solution, the company cites its recent Global CIO Study involving 2,500 CIOs from 78 countries – the largest study of CIOs ever conducted – which found that 83 percent of midmarket executives ranked “business intelligence and analytics” as their top priority for improving competitiveness and cutting costs.

“Faced with limited budgets and overstretched IT resources, midsized organisations are seeking faster and more affordable analytics solutions that can help them cope with information overload,” IBM says.

IBM’s director of Cognos midmarket business unit, Ben Plummer, said “midsized organisations are the engines that will lead the global economy back to growth and prosperity,” and he added, “even in today’s unsettled landscape, midsized companies are striving to better harness their information so they can continue to innovate and grow.”

According to Plummer, the new solution provides pre-configured business analytics and planning capabilities in a single offering, “enabling midmarket executives to quickly launch their business analytics strategy and then evolve it as their needs grow.

“The solution easily plugs into an organisation’s existing infrastructure and can be up and running in just a few hours. New capabilities can then be added over time as business requirements change. The new solution also offers a centralised, Web-based console that manages all administrative aspects of installation, deployment and ongoing management, minimising the need for any IT staff assistance.”

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