Cognos
Data visualization Analytics | |
| Website | Official website |
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Cognos Incorporated was an
History
Cognos was founded in 1969 by Alan Rushforth and Peter Glenister.[2] Michael U. Potter joined Cognos in 1972, and was its chief executive officer from 1975 until 1995.[3] It began as a consulting company for the Canadian federal government and offered its first software product, QUIZ, in 1979. During the Canadian recession in the 1980s, Cognos shifted its focus from consulting to software sales.[citation needed]
Originally Quasar Systems Limited, it adopted the Cognos name in 1982. Cognos is a fragment scissored off the Latin word "cognosco," which means "knowledge from personal experience".
In 1995, Ron Zambonini was named CEO and brought new marketing strategies. Cognos grew successful with its business intelligence products for local area networks (LAN), but new Internet technologies had come into the BI industry faster than the company had anticipated. After Cognos issued a notice informing shareholders of a slowdown in growth, many sold their shares, causing prices to fall quickly.[6][unreliable source?][when?]
This prompted Cognos to build its web technology through the acquisition of other companies rather than internal research and development. In September 2007, Cognos announced that it would be acquiring Applix.[7] It had previously acquired Right Information Systems (4Thought), Interweave (Impromptu Web Query), Relational Matters (DecisionStream), Scientific Time Sharing Corporation (LEX2000), NoticeCast, Adaytum, Frango, DataBeacon, and Celequest.
In January 2010, as part of a reorganization of IBM Software Group, software from Cognos and recently acquired
On December 31, 2013, UNICOM Systems, a division of UNICOM Global acquired the PowerHouse product line including PowerHouse 4GL Server, Axiant® 4GL and PowerHouse Web®,[8] so Powerhouse products would no longer be part of the IBM product set.
Federal investigation
In August 2007, the Massachusetts state Information Technology Division awarded Cognos a $13 million
In the course of these investigations, a payoff from former Cognos sales executive
In addition to the payoffs made to close associates of DiMasi, it is known that Vitale helped arrange a below-market mortgage for DiMasi, which violated state Ethics laws.
On December 17, 2008,
Acquisition of Cognos by IBM
In 2007, following
BI market
IBM's purchase of Cognos and other business intelligence software vendors was a step in establishing IBM as a BI "megavendor" (along with Oracle, Microsoft, and SAP). This consolidation may prove beneficial for customers to have fewer vendors to deal with, but this raises concerns about integration of the software as more vendors are bought out by the big four. Another challenge is maintaining the same level of customer service.
Products
On October 26, 2015, at the IBM Insight conference in
On October 25, 2010, at the Business Analytics Forum in
- Report Studio (Professional report authoring tool formatted for the web)
- Query Studio (Ad hoc report authoring tool with instant data preview)
- Analysis Studio (Explore multi-dimensional cube data to answer business questions)
- Metric Studio (Monitor, analyze, and report on KPIs)
- Metric Designer (Define, load, and maintain metrics to be available in Metric Studio)
- Event Studio (Action-based agents to notify decision makers as events happen)
- Framework Manager (Semantic metadata layer tool which creates models or packages)
- PowerPlay Studio (formerly PowerPlay Web)
- Analytic Applications (Packaged BI Applications, built on an adaptable platform and extensible into Business Analytics) [17]
IBM Cognos Express, launched in September 2009, is an integrated business intelligence and planning solution[buzzword] purpose-built to meet the needs of midsize companies. The features of Express are:
- Cognos Express Reporter (Self-service reporting and ad hoc query)
- Cognos Express Advisor (Freeform analysis and visualization)
- Cognos Express Xcelerator (TM1-based planning and business analysis, with Microsoft Excel and web interfaces)
IBM Cognos also offered several application development tools (which IBM later sold to UNICOM Global):
- IBM Cognos PowerHouse4GL
- IBM Cognos PowerHouse Web
- IBM Cognos Axiant 4GL
IBM Cognos Analytics also currently offers a free trial
Recognition
IBM Cognos 8 BI has won numerous awards including the eWEEK Excellence Award in Analytics and Reporting, the LOTUS ADVISOR "Editor's Choice" Award, and TechTarget's SearchCRM.com 2005 Product of the Year.
In 2007, Cognos was named one of Canada's Top 100 Employers, as published in Maclean's magazine, one of only a handful of software development companies to receive this honour.[18]
Prior to being acquired, Cognos had been named to the InformationWeek 500, chosen as one of START-IT Magazine's "Hottest Companies of 2006" and won "Best of Information On Demand Showcase" as part of the IBM Information Management Awards.
Cognos, now as IBM Cognos Software, continues to rank in the Leaders quadrant of Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence.[19]
References
- ^ Riley, Duncan (Nov 12, 2007). "Acquisitions: IBM Buys Cognos, Microsoft Buys Musiwave".
- ISBN 978-1-55028-463-8. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
- ^ "Biography - Mr Michael U Potter". Royal Canadian Air Force. Archived from the original on 21 December 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
- ^ Gale Directory of Company Histories
- ^ IBM Completes Acquisition of Cognos February 1, 2008
- ^ "Company History: Cognos, Inc". Answers.com. Retrieved October 14, 2010.
- ^ Cognos Plans Acquisition Start-IT Magazine September 13, 2007 Archived November 22, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Woodie, Alex (2014-01-21). "Unicom Adds HP3000 Biz with Cognos ADT Buy". Four Hundred Stuff. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
- ^ Estes, Andrea (March 10, 2008). "Software contract called improper". The Boston Globe.
- ^ Cognos Deals Face Federal Scrutiny December 17, 2008
- ^ DiMasi, 3 associates charged with rigging of state contracts June 3, 2009
- ^ Blakely, Rhys (November 12, 2007). "IBM acquires Cognos for $5bn". The Times. London.
- ^ Asay, Matt (November 12, 2007). "IBM buys Cognos for $4.9 billion as industry consolidation hits overdrive". CNet News.
- ^ Henschen, Doug (February 3, 2010). "SAP Questions Gartner BI Magic Quadrant Ranking".
- ^ Weier, Mary Hayes (November 12, 2007). "What IBM's Cognos Acquisition Means For The BI Market And Its Customers".
- ^ "IBM Unveils New Information Management And Analytics Software To Help Organizations Gain Faster Insight For Smarter Business Outcomes". IBM. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
- ^ "Cognos Analytic Applications". Archived from the original on 2011-02-26.
- ^ "Reasons for Selection, 2007 Canada's Top 100 Employers". Archived from the original on 2012-07-29.
- ^ Henschen, Doug (February 3, 2010). "SAP Questions Gartner BI Magic Quadrant Ranking".
Recapping the MQ leaders quadrant, Oracle and Microsoft led on ability to execute while IBM Cognos and SAP BusinessObjects led on completeness of vision. The three other vendors in the quadrant were SAS, MicroStrategy and Information Builders...
