April 27, 2006 - Cognos met with industry analysts in April to update them on its performance management product and market strategy. Performance management has been central to Cognos’ attempt to reach beyond IT departments, and it was the primary driver behind the acquisitions of Adaytum (which produced planning and budgeting software) and Frango (financial consolidation). Performance management is increasingly important to this company’s top line, and it continues to apply significant development and marketing resources to secure its position in growing markets. Ventana Research thinks Cognos is pursuing the right strategy with the right messages and evolving its software into a package easily integrated with other enterprise software. However, the company will be challenged to differentiate its software in a crowded market, particularly with organizations that have immature approaches to performance management. Moreover, Cognos’ operations-related offerings are more about the intersection of the finance organization with functional or line-of-business units (for example, sales planning is as much about sales communicating with finance as it is about sales management). To achieve a persistent presence outside finance will require that it undertake an ongoing evolution of capabilities to make its software a critical element in operations management, sales, supply chain, customer interaction and workforce/HR.

Login below to read exclusive white papers from thought leaders in the industry.
Become an Online Member today to gain free access to this paper and all the content on this site.
Click here - it's free!